Don’t Dig Before You Design

Buying garden plants at a nursery or garden center can be so much fun.  All those flower blossoms filled with beautiful colors and fragrances.  There are endless possibilities.  Like most people, you may buy a variety of plants you are drawn to.  You become excited about your new garden as you drive home with a carload of beautiful new plants. You imagine how gorgeous your yard is going to look and how you’ll be the envy of the neighborhood.  You’ll start to dream about sweeping up the last crumbs of soil when you’re finished planting, and enjoying your beautiful new garden with a friend and a relaxing glass of wine as you share stories into the night.  It’s that simple, right?

Back to the drive home: You now pull into the driveway, unload your plants in the driveway and your heart starts racing with anxiety as reality sets in.  “Where are all these plants going to go?”  “Did I buy enough?”  “Did I buy too few?”  “Which plants go together and how big will they get?” “Which plants do best in the hot sunny and dry part of my yard and which do best in the shady, damp part of my yard?” “Will I still have room to put in a new patio?”  In cases like these sometimes the plants never even make it past the driveway and all that time and money spent goes to waste.

If you can relate to this scenario, you are not alone.  One of the biggest mistakes people make when updating their landscape is to buy plants and dig holes before they have some sense of the overall design.  There are so many variables that need to be factored into designing outdoor spaces, that it’s almost impossible to think it all through in one plant buying trip.  Hire a professional designer who is knowledgeable about plant growing conditions, maintenance requirements, plant combinations and sizes and a host of other variables.  Just think, if you actually have a plan with all the details specified, you can take it with you to the garden center, purchase only the group of plants you can handle that day and know exactly where to plant them when you get home.  Ultimately, you’ll have a beautiful and professional looking landscape while only investing in the right plants for your specific yard.