How do I choose plants for my garden?

Almost every plant that struggles is in the wrong place. Conditions can be modified a little, but a sun-lover in shade or a moisture-lover in dry soil will always underperform, regardless of care. Choosing for what you have is far more effective than trying to change it.

What you'll need

• Soil pH test kit (optional)
• Notebook (optional)

Step by step

1. Observe how much direct sun each area gets, at different times of day.Full sun is six hours or more. Partial shade is three to six. Full shade is less. Note it over a few days rather than guessing.
2. Identify your soil type by squeezing a moist handful.Sticky and holds a shape: clay. Gritty and falls apart: sand. Smooth and crumbly: loam.
3. Check how quickly the ground drains after rain.Standing water hours later means heavy, poorly drained soil, which rules out a lot of Mediterranean plants.
4. Test the pH if plants have struggled for no obvious reason.Most plants tolerate 6.0–7.5. Acid-loving plants like rhododendrons will not thrive in alkaline soil whatever you do.
5. Note exposure — wind, frost pockets, and shelter from walls.A sheltered south wall is a completely different growing environment from an exposed corner ten metres away.
6. Read plant labels against those conditions, not against the picture.The label states sun, soil and hardiness requirements. Those are the parts that decide whether it lives.
7. Choose a few plants that thrive rather than many that struggle.Repeating a plant that suits your conditions looks far better than a collection of unhappy specimens.
8. Include some evergreen structure so the garden works in winter.A garden that is entirely herbaceous disappears for five months of the year.

Tips

• Look at what grows well in neighbouring gardens. It is the most reliable local guide to soil and climate you will get.
• Buying three or five of one plant rather than one each of five looks more considered and is usually cheaper.
• Plants in pots are a way of providing conditions you do not have — ericaceous compost for acid-lovers, gritty compost for Mediterranean plants.

Common mistakes

• Buying on appearance in the garden centre — Everything looks good there. Whether it suits your conditions is what determines how it looks in a year.
• Ignoring the plant label — Sun, soil and hardiness requirements are the information that matters and it is printed on every label.
• Fighting the conditions — Amending soil helps a little; changing a shady garden into a sunny one is not possible. Choose plants that suit what you have.

Questions people ask