When choosing the right plant for your garden, a few things need to be considered: what colours and textures would you like to add to your existing garden bed, what size will the plant be when it’s mature, and what plants are going to enjoy the soil, sun and water conditions available to them.
It is important to understand the conditions your new plants are going to be subjected to because every plant has quite specific requirements. The majority of plants are best suited to certain soil conditions, including soil type and soil pH. Some species of acacia, correa and lomandra prefer clay soils, while some species of grevillea and callistemon are better suited to low pH soils. Understanding the nature of your soils is going to benefit you in making the right plant choices and thus achieve better results over time. It is worth doing some research on soil types to becomes familiar with the soils in your garden.
Light requirements for your plants is also important. Planting a species that isn’t suited to the location or aspect will generally lead to poor performance of your new plants. For example, planting a sun-loving species in heavy shade will cause the plant to become ‘leggy’ and thus lose its natural form. On the other hand, planting a species in full sun that naturally grows in very shady areas may lead to burning of the leaves during the warmer months.
Water requirements is also a biggie. Plants that tolerate damp soils are going to struggle in very dry areas, while plants that tolerate little soil moisture will suffer having constantly wet roots. To overcome this first scenario, installing irrigation for your water-loving plants may alleviate issues when we haven’t received much rain for a while. However, planting dry-zone plants in wet areas will more often than not lead to complications.
An easy way to help you make plant choices is to see what plants are doing well in your area, whether at a neighbour’s place or in local road reserves and parklands. We spoke about indigenous plants in last month’s issue of the magazine and, as a starting point, choosing plants that naturally occur in your area will generally ensure they perform much better than those sourced from further away.
Your local nursery will be able to assist you with making these plant choices, and your council website should also have lists available of the species that do well in your area.
Happy gardening!
