Choosing plants for your garden

Creating a Planting Plan

So you’ve landed upon a theme for your dream garden and it’s got you so excited that you’ve already decided on the hard materials, accessories, and layout for this oasis.

The next step is – many would say – the most fun part. Choosing your plants! But how do you work out what plants to put in and where they should go?

You’ve come to the right person!

Here are my best-kept secrets.

Do your research

Before making a trip to the nearest nursery and grabbing the most beautiful plant you see, it’s important to take certain things into consideration. Most notably, these include:

Your needs
Your family’s and pet’s needs
Your site conditions
The plant’s requirements – what it needs to thrive
Any potential allergies affecting your family or pets
The effect you want to create!

Balcony garden

Burwood

Vermont South A

Hawthorn East Rear Courtyard

Chinese Star Jasmine - Vermont South

All of these considerations may seem daunting to go through but I assure you that all the time and effort that goes into it will pay off dividends!

Now, what do I mean by your needs? Think aesthetically and functionally. Consider whether you’re able to maintain the plant and whether you’ll like the look of the plant when it is mature.

Do you have pets that dig or children that still put things into their mouths? If so, then consider how toxic the plants are to them if ingested or if the sap gets onto their skin or eyes. There are resources available on this topic from various pet welfare websites and also from some local government agencies. If you are unsure, give me a call and I can pop over and discuss!

Site conditions. Refer to the next section too for some tips.

Plant’s requirements. This is probably the trickiest bit if you’re not comfortable or familiar with many plants. Spend more time on this aspect and thoroughly research the plant and its needs to thrive!

Allergies are a tricky one. I get asked a lot whether a particular plant will cause hayfever/asthma or dermatitis. There is little guidance out there but it is good to have a go and read up on this. An example would be to research the grass you are buying, if you are intending to roll around in it with your kids or your pet dogs! From experience, I’ve had a few clients to to suppliers I have suggested to them and have confirmed that they are sensitive to many of the grasses in the market!

Effect. Well, think garden style. Do you want a tropical garden? Or something whimsical? Better still, you need all your favourite plants in your garden so think about how you place them next to each other and how they are going to look like all grown up!

Vermont South A

Doncaster East

Ashburton B

Kew

Survey the site conditions

What do I mean by this? You need to look at your garden areas and perform what we in the industry call a site analysis.

Indoors or outdoors. Even if indoors, you need to consider how much sun that aspect in your home has. I’ve had my own plants burnt only because I totally forgot that particular window sill gets too much sun for the plant type I’ve bought. And yup, you know what happened to that poor plant in the end!

Outdoors. Work out the shady spots and where the sun impacts the garden beds the most. Do you have a large tree that impacts the amount of sun that your understorey plants get? (That will also impact how the understorey plants get their nutrition and whether they are tough enough to withstand the root competition from the tree!)

Also, look at the composition of your soil. That may involve doing some digging and getting dirty – but that’s half the joy of being outdoors! Check whether your soil is clay. Test the pH levels – learn how by visiting the Soil Testing case study on my website.

The list goes on but this will be a good starting point. My Create the Garden of Your Dreams workbook will help you collect this information and put it into a plan.

Conduct plant profiling

You’re nearly there. You’ve already chosen a theme or style for your garden (if you haven’t, consult my website, magazines, books, Houzz, or Pinterest for inspiration).

This is not where you start looking at specific plants. This is where you profile the best plants for your garden by thinking about characteristics like height and growth patterns.

Have some fun and sketch it all out to visualise what you want to create. Get dreamy with colours and textures, shapes and forms, and evaluate how comfortable you are putting them all together.

Camberwell

Vermont South B

Doncaster East

Doncaster

Vermont South A

Red flax used in Vermont South landscape design

Head to the nursery

Combining all the above information, you can finally head to that nursery! You’re equipped with the perfect plant profile so you can go about choosing plant species that match your needs.

Don’t just rely on the plant tags but ask the nursery staff about their experiences with the plant and whether there’s anything else you need to know. Be particularly mindful of any allergies within the family. It’s even a good idea to consult Google to make sure the plant suits your needs.

If you’re overwhelmed by options, listen to your heart – the garden is your baby so make it about what you’d like to see in it!

Give me a call if all the above seems daunting. I’ll be happy to book in a garden consult to chat about your specific plant choices or even make a trip to the nursery with you to discuss your options!

If you’re after a professionally-designed planting plan, we can whip one up to suit your budget, area size, and needs!

Remember, spending the time and money now to think through the steps above properly will lead to a better outcome for you and your family. Plus it will keep your garden looking great when the plants mature and will save you money and time in the long term!