Plants are similar to clothes in that they go in and out of fashion, the big problem is when they are out of fashion they are much bigger than they were when purchased. It is therefore advisable to think long and hard when designing a landscape plan or simply choosing a single plant simply because ‘it looks nice’!

Location is important for a number of reasons, primarily location is important as it relates to plant hardiness, tender plants will not tolerate coastal locations and will be burnt up by wind and salt spray. Shade loving plants will suffer when in full sun and sun loving plants will struggle in shady areas, simply because they are not growing in their preferred locations. The same criteria applies to size of plant, this may sound a little strange as the first response to such a statement is simply, ‘one can keep it cut’ and therefore in bounds. Why would you want to purchase a plant that you chose for a specific reason and then not allow it to perform, e.g. why purchase a flowering plant and keep it trimmed constantly so its flowering potential is reduced dramatically?

Determine the potential size of a plant before you include it in a design or for a particular location in the garden, this will allow the plant to attain its full potential and flowering habit without having its growth impeded. Planting distances between plants have a great impact on the long term success of the design and the plants development. How often does one see a constant hacking of material because it is ‘rubbing shoulders’ with its neighbour or is over hanging a road or footpath? By knowing the growth habit and rate it becomes easier to determine its location in the garden and in relation to other plants. Imagine the cost incurred on constantly having to cut back a hedge that is overhanging a road or path, then relate it to the simple fact if the hedge had been planted another couple of feet further back the labour involved would be minimal at best.

One of the worst case scenarios is oft found when palms are planted too close to each, the road or the building. A palm in a one or four gallon container has relatively small leaves, e.g. canary island date palm (Phoenix canariensis), fast forward five, ten or fifteen years and consider the length of leaf in the container as being maybe eighteen inches to two feet in length and look at the length after the fifteenth year perhaps each frond is seven to ten feet, and you planted the palm five feet from the road or house!!!! Trees of course are in the same category with the eventual canopy of tree having a spread of perhaps thirty feet plus, and it is only fifteen feet from the house, so you prune the branches back so its not a problem————but what about the root system that is still growing merrily away and of course it the roots are in the tank the growth will be greater!!!

Many a hedge is ‘ruined’ by too close in the row planting, in such situations the branch system becomes more congested and in the case of oleander very upright. This often leads to poor pruning techniques whereby only the sides and top are cut creating rows of bare branches with a crew cut foliage laden top. Planting at the right distances in the row will with correct pruning create a good thick screen with foliage from low down to the top of the plant, exactly what a hedge or screen should do.

For weed control in beds, the quicker the coverage the better for smothering potential weed growth, therefore by planting at the correct distance and encouraging ‘fill in’ of growth the goal of weed control is in place.

Grass is of course a plant and should be treated in a similar fashion to that of its bigger companions. When developing a lawn a popular method is to install plugs and allow them to grow in. This is a good quick method of creating a lawn with the method of installation being the determining factor as to time for fill in is complete. How often do I see large slabs of sod being dropped into the soil spaced at whatever width; this method creates an uneven and often weed infested lawn. If plugs are planted at four to six inches apart in the spring/summer months and watered in regularly the in fill time is rapid, and weed infestation eliminated.

Location is therefore important in more ways than one; forward planning will eliminate many of the pitfalls that become the uninitiated, with the resulting well planned garden that is aesthetically pleasing and a lower maintenance level being the end product.