Before You Shop...

Like many gardeners, I like going to the nursery to check out all of the lovely plants. They’re calling my name, begging me to bring them home and take care of them. But a trip to the nursery can be expensive and it makes sense to have a game plan before making your purchases.

• Select an area. It’s easy to get sidetracked and start purchasing plants that have a pretty flower but you don’t know where you are going to place it. 
• Right plant, right place. What is the sun exposure of the area you want to plant?  Is it sunny, shady or a little of both?  Knowing this helps to eliminate at least one-half of the plant selections and makes your decisions less overwhelming. Love that rose that requires at least six hours of sun a day but you are planting a shady section of the yard?  Keep on walking! 
• Keep in mind the eventual size of the plant. Many times I have had to take out a large plant that is planted just two inches away from the base of the house. Read the plant tag or pot and keep the mature size of the plant in mind before selecting and planting.  Plants do grow and transplanting a three-foot plant is no fun!
• Buy multiples.  A planting bed looks more pleasing where there is repetition.  I usually buy the same plant in groups of three to five.  If I am doing a larger area I expand that number accordingly. Buying multiples also limits the number of plants you have to coordinate – making your plant decisions a little easier.
• Choose different leaf sizes and colors.  I’ve made the mistake of buying a large quantity of plants and then noticing that it all looks the same, save for the flower color. There is little interest in this – balance is the key.  Select a plant that has a large or interesting shape of leaf then select a plant that has a smaller leaf.  Or pick a plant that has a maroon leaf and pair it with a plant with a green leaf.
• Flowers.  Usually this is what most people notice first, but flowers are usually only around for a few months at most and then you have a green blob in your garden that doesn’t offer much.  Flowers are great but make sure you like the rest of the plant as well.

 There are other considerations but I find that keeping the above in mind makes the most of my time and money and usually results in something to be proud of.