Plant labels....a wealth of information
As a garden designer, I’m frequently asked to give garden
beds a facelift. The beds are either
overgrown and crowded, or patchy with dead plants and lots of weeds. More often than not, beds are a combination
of the two. Many of the problems
homeowners encounter can be avoided by just reading the labels that accompany
every plant.
Every plant comes with a care label that usually gives a
picture of the plant after a few years of growth. Along with this is the plant’s height and
width at maturity. This is critical
information! A shrub that grows to
10-12’ in height and width will soon outgrow a 3’x3’ space. A perennial that grows to only 12” will
disappear if planted behind one that grows to 3’ tall. Plants are like children….they start out
small but eventually grow up. True, you
can prune a tree or shrub to fit a smaller space but why would you want to do
that? Not only is that going against
nature but it’s also creating unnecessary work for you.
Too often plants are placed in spots where they receive
either too much or not enough light. Light
requirements are another bit of key information on a plant label. A plant that requires full sun will wither
and wane in shade. A shade plant will bake and die back pretty quickly if placed in full summer sun. Unsure of your garden’s light conditions? Try watching the area for a couple of days and record the time the sun hits the garden. The best months to evaluate light are May, June, and July.Let’s demystify sunlight requirements:
o
Full sun: 6 hours or more of direct mid-day sun
(10am-6pm)
o
Partial sun: 4-5 hours of direct mid-day sun
(10am-6pm)
o
Part sun:
Filtered sun throughout the day, with 1-2 hours direct sun in either the
morning or late day.
o
Shade:
Either no sun at all or a small amount in the early morning or late day.
Bloom period is another great piece of information included
on a plant tag. This is really important
if you want continuous blooms in your gardens.
Selecting a variety of spring, summer, and fall blooming plants will
give you months of changing color and provide ongoing visual interest.
Lastly, pay attention to the plant’s water
requirements. Placing plants that
require frequently watering alongside those that prefer little water is asking
for trouble. A whole bunch of problems
arise with root rot and disease.
