Before investing your hard earned money into garden plants, it’s important to first consider the conditions that plant will be growing in. Is your garden sunny or shady? Is the soil sandy or clay like? Are there any other unique conditions these plants will be facing in your garden?
Testing your soil’s PH level is important. Although most plants prefer a slightly acidic condition, some thrive in soil that is more alkaline. It’s important to know what your soil is and which plant prefers which condition before you plant. Soil additives are fairly easy to add to alter your soil PH when needed.
Will you plant your plants in groups, or by individual plant? If you buy one of everything, sometimes your garden can look a bit chaotic, but then even that can have a charming look of it’s own. Group plantings that are more organized tend to look more harmonious and offers a lot of creative design ideas.
Place your plants in their pots around the prospective areas you plan to plant. It helps to give you a visual of spacing and where they are going before they are planted. Avoid planting close to trees as the competition for water and nutrients are fierce. Tall plants should go towards the back or center of the garden while shorter plants up front. Grouping in sets of 3 or 5 tends to look better than even numbers. Keep an eye out for color combinations and textures to add interest as well.
Another thing to consider is the plant’s bloom season. Try to choose plants that vary in their display so you always have interesting things going on in that garden all year. You don’t want it to be all glory for one to two weeks, then nothing the rest of the year. It also lends naturally to looking at unusual plants to help fill those harder times of year to find plants in bloom.
The right color scheme is one way to maintain the harmony in your garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may clash with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.
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