How to choose trees/plants/flowers

I really need advice. How do people get started in choosing which trees and plants to get for their garden? I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of different types of plants out there.

In my garden at the moment i have a tree,lawn,pond and borders. I know i want a couple more small trees, and shrubs around those, then herbs and flowers for colour.

I'm just lost, any advice apreciated

 

Hiya Newbie,

Had/have same problem myself. Decided on a couple of standards, one pink willow, looks very nice and only 5 ft tall, bushes out nicely with age, and an Olive tree at the back of garden.

I then put in semi-circle beds with wooden edging and filled these with whatever perennials I fancied, australian bottle brush, rhodedendron, red hot pokers, camelia, roses - the roses also grow up and around a stump that was left in when we moved here.

Then added south african daisies for extra colour and all that.

We won't mention the pink pampas that is being removed once it stops raining t'day

I almost sound like I know what i'm talking about but if you were to let me loose on your garden then the phrase "be afraid, be very afraid" springs to mind. (Remember I introduced myself by saying I KILL PLANTS

 

Thanks Paula

Yeah, i was reading about your pampas, i didn't realise they were such a nightmare to remove once they were established. I think you giving them to the garden centre is proberly the best thing for you to do

Dont worry about killing plants, you'll get better. I reckon its almost about finding the plants that suit you, ie, finding the plants that like the amount of water you'll give them.

 

I started by spotting a plant I liked at the garden centre, read up on the label to see how big it gets etc, and then bought it. But having no knowledge I ended up with some that were invasive, or wouldn't tolerate exposed sites, or dry weather, etc etc. I think part of learning is your mistakes - I've learned much more about what not to do than what I should do. However it does get expensive like that.

Now if I don't know, I'll ask someone at the garden centre. Find a good GC with employees who know what they're on about and are happy to share their knowledge. I have dozens locally but only 3 have decent information desks. Unfortunately one of them have plants that have about a 20% survival rate, so I usually only use them for information! (The others are 95%)

It's easy to get the bug during late spring/ early summer months, buy a load of plants in one go, and next year they all flower together for 4 weeks and then you have nothing. Go back to the GC once a month and see what the current plants in flower are.

Look at what the neighbours have - if it survives there then it will probably survive in yours. The only problem being it's not always obvious what the plant is, and "tall pink thingy" doesn't help at the GC! But if there's a neighbour who's garden is always looking good then strike up a conversation about it, usually gardeners are enthusiastic, love a bit of praise and to be able to pass on what they know.
Get info from friends or relatives who are gardeners - though be careful, they may be prejudiced against some plants simply because they killed one through lack of knowledge!
Get online and chat to other gardeners. Doh!
Get a book out of the library that is only about plants only - not cultivation or planting ideas etc etc, just pictures and info., and spend some time flicking through it, figuring out what type of flower you like, if leaf shape is important to you etc. The RHS plant book is gives a load of information on so many plants and is nicely laid out. (eg Trees, by size, by season, by colour; shrubs, by size, by season, by colour, etc etc.) Worth a purchase IMO even if it is expensive.

Or the easy way for a whole border is to get a few books with planting ideas (library again). Or JParkers spring brochure have some borders you can order en masse (wrong time of year for that now), and Crocus.co.uk also have some planting ideas for problem areas. However this may not feel like your garden at the end of it.

Don't think you have to complete it all right now - it's never a finished project. Any holes can be fixed with bedding if you're desperate. There is always next year and the year after. In the meantime just hoe over the borders every couple of weeks during the growing season to keep those weeds off - if they reach flower then you'll have 10x next year, and all the while they're growing they're removing the goodness from the soil.

 

You got it in one Newbie,

I tend to put plants that don't need much water up on the patio/trellis area ('cos i forget they are there all too often) - went up there a couple of days ago and clematis has become an entangled beligerent mass. I tried to "sling" the overhang over into the front garden but it waits until my back is turned and slinks back over again

I love lots of eclectic colour, not much of one for formal colour co-ordinated stuff. I have gladioli in so many different colours it looks electric. The black leaf geraniums are looking good although the red flowers are a lot smaller than in the catalogue

I also seem to be having some success with golden honeysuckle, more due to the dogs "watering it" than me i'm afraid but it is quite prolific.

I must get my computer wiz son to copy some pics onto the pc as i am useless at all that stuff.

We used to have a large raised pond in the garden but hubby took a 14lb hammer to it when I didn't agree to it being made into a hot tub (delusions of grandeur there me thinks, just 'cos he's a plumber and wanted to show off ). It is now an extension to the patio (otherwise known as a concrete base so far).

Patio is nice but this extension of it is questionable. I'm waiting for the right time to tell him about the water feature i have bought to put on it when he has paved it :D

I love to see bluebells around tree's coupled with crocus and other such bulbs but thats just me.

Make sure you post pics of your chosen plants when you finish your project, i'm sure it will look lovely.

TTFN