The cool season from November to February is the perfect time to plant hardy trees, shrubs and ground covers in our area. So the next few weeks will be the perfect time to plan your landscaping projects.
Think about what you need to do for your landscape and make plans now. Whether it's planting shade trees, creating a ground cover, creating privacy with a fence or enhancing your landscape with shrubs and flower beds, you can take advantage of the upcoming planting season to plant plants.
When it comes to choosing the best plants for your landscaping project, the key to success is planting the right plants in the right places. Although it seems relatively simple, there are many elements that come into play when deciding what to plant and where.
guiding principles
There are two main aspects to consider when choosing plants. First, the plant must feel good in the place where it is planted. This involves determining the growing conditions in the planting area, specifically the amount of light that area will receive, and then choosing plants that prefer those growing conditions.
Second, the plants must match the purpose of planting. What role do plants play in the landscape? If the goal is to add color to your sunbed all winter long, there are some great cool season bedding to help you achieve that. If the purpose of the planting is to create a privacy screen, the trees chosen should be evergreen, deciduous, bushy and reach an appropriate height. When choosing a shade tree, it should be large enough to provide the necessary shade, but not so large that it clutters the yard.
Where to start?
When planning a landscaping project, people often make the mistake of trying to think of the specific plants they will use early in the planning process. Most people don't walk around with a plant encyclopedia in their heads. An ordinary person cannot make a list of suitable trees if you look at the situation. But before you ask a professional for reference materials, online information, or advice, you need to make some decisions.
Instead of trying to think of a specific plant right away, first evaluate the growing conditions in your area. Then list the plant characteristics needed to achieve the planting goals, including desired mature size, growth pattern, flowering period, flower color, evergreen or deciduous, etc. Use this information to check recommendations or to consult with experts for selection. Plants that best suit the growing conditions in a particular area and best match the list of desired traits.
Walking around the nursery waiting for inspiration without considering the growing conditions and desired traits is very risky. In this case, plants are sometimes chosen simply because they sell or because of their immediate appeal. Often these plants are not the best or most suitable choices. They can eventually grow too large, grow poorly where they are planted, or cause other serious problems.
People usually ask the nursery staff to recommend a “good shade tree”. But this question is not necessarily about choosing the best tree for your landscape. The employee needs more information to properly assist you. It's like walking into a shoe store and asking the salesperson to recommend a good pair of shoes. Without knowing your shoe size, what you wear, your taste, your budget and various other factors, the salesperson cannot help you properly.
Understand variables
Let's use shade tree selection as an example of how to choose plants for your landscape. First of all, the tree must be well adapted to our climate and the growing conditions of the place where you are going to plant it.
Then decide what characteristics the tree needs for planting (shade, bright flowers, visual shade, etc.). What size shade tree do you need, should the tree be evergreen or deciduous, can it grow straight, is a spreading tree preferred, are you interested in producing special products such as flowers, colorful autumn leaves, flavor or game food? ?
Rather than asking an expert to recommend a good shade tree, it makes more sense to say, "Please recommend a shade tree that is good for our area, grows to about 40 feet tall, is deciduous, fast growing and have poor drainage. . "" This narrows down the possible choices considerably. Then the gardener may recommend a local red maple (Acer Rubrum var. drummondii) because it fits the description of the desired characteristics you are looking for.
Place, place, place
This decision-making process should be used when choosing any type of plant to use in your landscape. Whether you choose shrubs, ground covers, annuals, perennials or lawns, you will find a very useful tool to help you avoid mistakes that are almost always difficult to correct.
When using references to help you in this process, it is important to choose books written for Louisiana or the Southern Gulf Coast. The internet can be confusing. The planting recommendations you see are not necessarily suitable for southern Louisiana. Make sure the plants you are looking at are adapted to our unique climate.
The LSU AgCenter is a unique source of information on Louisiana-adapted plants. You'll find local information about trees, shrubs, ground covers, vines and flowers suitable for Louisiana. Go to www.lsuagcenter.com, click on Lawn & Garden, then Ornamentals. You can also email the LSU AgCenter Extension horticulturist in your parish for a personal consultation.
By carefully considering the growing conditions and characteristics of your plants, you are less likely to plant the wrong plant in the wrong place and regret the result.
Garden columnist Dan Gill answers questions from readers every week. To ask a question, email dgill@agcenter.lsu.edu.
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