Plant siting: What's your approach?

I'd be curious to know how others approach the siting of plants they collect. Do you place a priority on design/aesthetics, or is culture paramount? Do you ever buy a plant without first knowing where it will be planted? I am not blessed with especially good soil, and I tend to plant where I think it has the very best chance of thriving, or in some cases with very marginal plants, surviving. I also tend to plant by groups (i.e. Asian Maples, Firs, Deciduous Conifers, etc.) in the same general area vs. spread around the property. The area immediately around the house and nearby structures would not be included in this, but for whatever reason I like keeping related plants in the same general area. I'm not saying this is the best way to do it, but its the approach I've followed for better or worse.

I recently picked up a grouping of Fothergilla 'Mt Airy', and had a dickens of a time trying to figure out where I wanted to plant them. I ended up going back to my basic approach of putting them where I thought they'd preform best, rather than worrying about how I could fit them into some grand design concept. They were planted in the absolutely best soil I have, so if they do not make it it'll be my only attempt at growing them.

Bob

I am trying to become more disciplined in my new garden, but at my old house my approach was to buy something because I thought it was cool or unusual or pretty, and then put it wherever it would fit in my overstuffed garden. I did pay attention to sun/shade and moisture requirements, but beyond that it really was just where it fit. I had one area that was devoted (mostly) to butterfly/hummingbird plants, and one that was mostly California/Australia/South African natives (this was the part of the yard that the sprinkler system didn't reach). But other than that there was no plan or organization.

Discipline? Whaz that?

I do not place a priority on design/aesthetics. I personally could care less. Unfortunately, my husband does care about curb appeal and recently asked me to start cleaning up my act. I've been trying to pull plantings together around here but the look is not all that appealing to me. I like my plantings to have the appearance of having existed forever and favor purchasing "accessories" that have age to them such as rocks with lichen and tree stumps that have been weathered for decades or a concrete birdbath with a crack in it. I'm not a raised bed type person and I'm not into landscape islands but that's what's currently underway here much to my chagrin. I'm not saying that traditional design elements don't have their place and don't look incredibly appealing but they don't lend themselves to this particular property in my opinion. Fortunately, these new landscape elements are only being added to the areas closest to our home leaving the rest of the natural areas unscathed. Husband thinks what I am doing is genius and truly loves the "new" look... I feel like sticking my finger down my throat.

(Big Sigh) I would most probably be classified as a stick gardener. I most certainly do purchase plants with wild abandon without first knowing where they will be planted however there are several distinct ecosystems present on my property so there always seems to be a place to "stick" what ever I purchase. I love native fruiting plants and that would include Poison Ivy which I do allow to grow here in areas where the kids don't play. The more the merrier over here as far as I am concerned. If I see a fruiting plant that catches my eye, I buy it and I generally haven't a clue as to where I will plant it until I get it home and start poking around for an appropriate site.

I attempt to focus on meeting the cultural requirements of a plant first and foremost. I tend to plant in communities as opposed to planting by groups however I recently began my first grouping in an attempt to provide shelter from the elements for my birds as well as to create a windbreak of conifers for our home. That is the only group planting I have here. I'm not a collector per se but more of a wildlife conservationist with a major emphasis on habitat restoration and preservation. I believe that to be the driving force behind many of my choices.

As a result of my beliefs pertaining to the EAB (it's over folks and I've been saying that for a few years now), I have been "companion" planting native woody species to take over the niche the Ash will no longer be able to fill. I literally am establishing replacement plants within a few feet of the existing Ash trees that are currently healthy.

Does this satiate your curiosity ;)

Lauren

For me it is form, texture, color and structure. Plants, trees and shrubs are paints on a pallet. The challenge is siting each where it will fit the scheme AND thrive. What upsets the plan is the desire to add that "gotta have it" specimen. Then the plan goes out the window and usually the result is better than the original idea. I also like to include hardscape and physical structures like arbors, stonework, benches, water and plants that attract birds and other wildlife - except deer. They all have to work together to create the setting. Having a small suburban lot forces you to make the most of what you have. My greatest dream would be to have lots of room to work with plants in groups like a conifer garden and rhodies and azaleas. And most of all I covet zone 7.

Boy, ain't THAT the truth! (But not in summer!)

I think most of us here probably are garden designers as well as plant collectors, with the proportion varying from person to person. I have established some basic themes and viewsheds, and I give careful consideration to seasonal changes and color displays as well as structure. But I usually try to place plants where I think they could be expected to be found if they were native to this site. We have dry uplands, flood plains, riparian areas, slopes facing all directions, and even some constructed dunes, so there should be a suitable home for almost anything.

Due to our summer droughts and severe limitations on labor and irrigation, once a plant is established here it must survive without much help. This means new plants must be given every feasible advantage during site selection and preparation. Some of them are "naturalized" in relatively protected, wild settings where I allow them to compete, with minor competition control and touchup pruning when needed. Others are situated in designed portions of the landscape -- but never, never, never in contrived, formal, symmetrical arrangements. Balance and transition, yes; formal symmetry, never.

My father's old WWII army air corps group published a directory each year, with the last page devoted to those who had gone "missing from the formation" since the previous edition. I always think of this whenever I'm tempted to plant anything in a formal pattern -- what will happen to the design when some plants start to fall out of the formation. IMHO a formal landscape is an arrogant delusion of human superiority over nature; an informal one is an enlightened celebration of nature's infinite superiority over all. It takes a straightedge and measuring tape held by a moron to create a formal landscape; it takes a designer to create an informal one that works synergistically with nature and incorporates all the elements of aesthetics, biology, maintenance requirements, growth, habitat, and constant change that make a successful living garden so unique among human endeavors. It's the whip and spurs versus the horse-whisperer.

Oh, yeah -- I also succumb occasionally to the "gotta have it" disease, knowing that SOMEWHERE on this acreage there must be a place for whatever it is I thought I couldn't live without. Face it -- design of a living landscape is an evolution. No one has all the pieces in advance or gets it right on the first try. And I also plant some things too close, knowing they will be thinned later if they all survive. As my dear old friend Dick van Hoey Smith told me once "The chainsaw is my paintbrush." Whatever!

Guy S.

I design gardens for others and follow a strict aesthetic inclination towards good classic design (not formal, classic), and yet my garden is a trial garden, and a place for a collection. It is a dilemma. I really try to make my own garden appear as "designed" as possible.

It is very difficult when a lot of the plants I'm growing are really not described anywhere in the literature. So I don't know what size, shape, color, texture etc. something might be when it gets planted. I also might not know what its cultural needs are. Consequently, I wind up doing some moving, a lot of shovel pruning, some regular pruning, and a lot of over-looking.

I'm fast approaching the point where if something goes in, something must come out. I'm also fast approaching the point where a sizeable portion of my garden is coming into maturity, which means a lot of my heretofore flexibility is diminishing. The next several years promise to be stressful and interesting.

Scott

This message was edited Aug 19, 2006 7:56 PM

Gimme your cast offs Scott! You have impeccable taste. Your cast offs would be a step up for me.

Oops, edited to fix quote

This message was edited Aug 19, 2006 7:33 PM

Scott:

You need to come down to Louisville, posthaste, and learn the old Japanese garden design technique of "the borrowed scenery" or the landscape beyond, as exemplified by my very good friend Mike Hayman. I'll explain further, if you'd like.

Which is a good paraphrase of FLO, Sr., who wasn't afraid of "...a little judicious use of the axe..." more than a century ago.



À la Roberto Burle Marx, who wasn't afraid of a little whimsy. Snapple, your quote made me think of this image, where I was yesterday.

Buy one of everything, plant them in the correct cultural environment(if you don't have that, make it), and put small things in front/tall things in back, unless it's in the woods, where anything goes. There I let mother nature sort out my incorrect placements. Plant wussy plants by the house, tough plants farther away. Wet loving plants go by the pond. Dry loving plants go on the slopes or in the prairie. That sums up my placement. Color? Who cares!

VV,

Why is that name Mike Hayman familiar? And, yes, I'd be glad to hear more.

Oh, and a word about raised beds. A nice 4-6" raised bed, nicely worked up with organic matter solves a lot of cultural issues. The spectrum of plants that can be grown well in such sites is much greater than in the unworked, unraised soil adjacent to it.

Scott

Going native has given me a focus I didn't have before. Like Kevin, I plant the grasses in the "prairie," the ferns and spring ephemerals in the "woodland" and a few exotics close to the house. Once I put in a pond, I hope to have a boggy area. I'm also planting a wildlife hedgerow at the back of our property, and will be replacing weedy understory trees next spring or fall with native trees yet to be selected. I've gotten away from too much color as I've gotten older and find I like different shades of green and white.

Well, I don't know about the impeccable part, but I will try to intercept any Decrepit castoffs that head north loooong before they ever reach you up there on the border of Cheese-land!

Guy S.

Goey, Run! Run very far and run very fast. I staked claim to his cast offs first. Aside from that, you aren't even sure about the impeccable part whilst I am. Back off boy!

Scott, don't be fooled -- i've heard her say some VERY bad things about you when she thought you weren't listening!!!
Now, about those cast-offs . . .
Guy S.

Guy- Liar liar pants on fire.

Scott- oh great and powerful woodie experty- cast offs go to me! Because I asked first!

This message was edited Aug 19, 2006 8:11 PM

See what she just called you?

Ah Decumbent - Raised beds are wooooonderful! A new bed carved out of the lawn starts with digging off the sod and setting it aside. The bed is dug out to a depth of about a foot to 18 inches, depending on how my back is that particular day, and the soil is set aside on tarps. The bottom of the bed is turned over in place. Then the sod goes in upside down on the bottom. This layer is watered. Then the soil that was set aside goes back in with whatever amendments needed, usually the mix winds up being 1/3 soil 1/3 peat and 1/3 compost. This usually resuts in a raised bed of about ten inches after settling. I can think of nothing finer than that moment of stepping back from the new empty bed, with the chosen plant choices at hand and ready to go in. Heaven!

Endloaders are nice for doing that . . .
;-)

Thanks to everyone for sharing your gardening philosophy. I found it all very interesting and I wish I could visit everyone's garden! Your comments help me to keep a healthy perspective on my efforts as I move deeper into this thing called gardening that seems to have overtaken me. I sometimes wonder how and the heck did I get into this. All I know is I'm glad I found it (or it me) and appreciate having contact with others that share my passion. Thanks!

Bob

Well, one at a time . . . start now!