Some Basic Knowledge Can Help When Selecting Trees or Shrubs

My goal is to increase your knowledge about the very different trees and shrubs available to gardeners in primarily the northeastern region of the country. However, the basic principles of landscaping design can be applied to all regions of the United States.

So, let’s begin.

As I stated when I began this blog there are many different opinions on landscape designing. But for me, when evaluating trees or shrubs for a landscape use, these basic characteristics I consider when recommending a tree or shrub for the landscape.

Mature Size of the Plant.
Generally, plant tags in a garden center will under state the mature size of the tree or shrub. Even the landscape designer or landscape installer will understate the plant’s ultimate size.

Often times the home or business owner wants a mature landscape immediately. This overcrowding of plant material is most noticeable around commercial sites, which generally need to up and ready to service the visiting customers.

That small little lilac bush will grow into a bush 6-8 foot unpruned. An oak tree planted too close to a house or building will overwhelm the structure of the house. A flowering crabapple, when small can be quite manageable, but if not pruned the small flowering tree on the end of the house can crowd out the corner of the house and all other plant material growing near it.

So the maturity of the plant needs to be taken into consideration when purchasing a plant.

Plant Habit.
The ultimate shape of the plant should be considered. Some possible plant habits may be weeping; pyramidal, low growing prostate, and upright. A plants' seasonal characteristics can be included in this discussion. In the northeast, with four distinct seasons, many plants can provide some interest in each season.

Plant Hardiness.
I like plant material that does not require a great deal of work to keep it thriving.

If you have to protect the plant every winter or spray the plant for diseases or insects then that plant may not be one you would enjoy.

Tea roses in Ohio can be very temperamental (winter kill, insect damage, fungus problems), but a shrub rose may prove to be more hardy. A hydrangea may bloom profusely in the southern part of the state or in the microclimates of New York City. , But in the colder parts of the state (as my yard) the gardener may have intermittent periods of heavy blooming and has a plant with large green leaves and not the mass of blue flowers as promised.

A reputable garden center should only sell plant material hardy to the growing area the garden center is located and if some plants are difficult to grow, provides the homeowner some warning.

Landscape Use.

Keeping it simple: plant material should accentuate the design of the house or building. A building is not being designed around the plant or water fountain.

Personally, I think the front of a home can be a bit more formal and organized whereas the backyard can be less formal.

Plants can be planted as an individual plant (specimen) or in a group (mass planting).

As I write this blog, I will attempt to address these issues when describing plant choices for the landscape.