Maintaining your project
You bought your plant, planted it and watered it the first year to get it established. The plants look great. What happens next? Time ... plants grow, develop their full personality and to the surprise of many homeowners ... their mature size.
A key element to reducing the amount of time required for you to take care of your planting is picking a plant that is appropriate for the space. It may seem obvious--but don't put a plant that wants to grow to 10' tall and 6' wide in a narrow planting bed in front of your first floor windows. Neither you or the plant is going to be happy.
Keeping these points in mind will help you have less to do:
A review of your overall landscape will help you manage what needs to be done more efficiently. Advice and assistance with pruning, weeding (and ways to minimize that task), what to pinch, mulch versus ground covers, etc. are available upon request.
A key element to reducing the amount of time required for you to take care of your planting is picking a plant that is appropriate for the space. It may seem obvious--but don't put a plant that wants to grow to 10' tall and 6' wide in a narrow planting bed in front of your first floor windows. Neither you or the plant is going to be happy.
Keeping these points in mind will help you have less to do:
- Knowing the mature plant size. Is it going to fit in a space 5, 10, 15 years from when you plant it.
- Trees and shrubs make less work than perennial and annual beds. I love perennials and have them, but I am someone who enjoys walking through my garden. I'll do a snip here, a pinch there to keep things looking fresh. Are you?
- Hedges create strong lines and keep your planting areas defined. They also create maintenance unless you select a shrub that doesn't exceed your maximum height preference.
- How does a plant grow? Does it send out stolons or does it stay right where you planted it? This point applies to all plants. Certain shrubs will slowly or sometimes quickly expand and cover an area. Perennials can do the same. Is this what you want? If you're trying to hold a slope, this characteristic can be an asset. If not, you might find some of your favorite plants getting choked out by these.
A review of your overall landscape will help you manage what needs to be done more efficiently. Advice and assistance with pruning, weeding (and ways to minimize that task), what to pinch, mulch versus ground covers, etc. are available upon request.