Now spring is approaching you are probably itching to go nuts and plant lots of stuff in your garden. Choosing the right plants for your garden is important. You want to get it right the first time if possible so you are not having to replace plants that haven't worked for you. Here are a few things to think about before visiting the nursery and buying plants.
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Hardy Varieties - Look out for plant cultivars and varieties that have been developed for their hardiness. Remember for our climate they should be dry-tolerant and frost-hardy. These plants are generally tough and usually require very little care to stay looking good.
Grasses - There are some fabulous water-wise grasses available. Grasses such as liriope, lomandra and dianella, are easy-care plants that need little attention and can look great too. There are literally hundreds to choose from. Mix them with more traditional cottage-style plants or mass plant them for a zero maintenance effect.
Perennials - Look out for long-lived perennials such as salvia, gaura, statice, cat mint or verbena. These types of plants give a relaxed feel to the garden and live for many years. A good cut back when they look a little tired and they bounce back as good as new.
Drought-Tolerant Plants - Search for plants that need little water to survive. Ask nursery staff to point them out to you. Plants that have silver foliage (check out Teucrium fruticans, Convolvulus Silver Bush, Westringia, Cerastium) are generally very tough as are plants with fleshy leaves (succulents).
Plant in Drifts - Rather than planting just one of each plant, think about planting in groups or drifts of the same plant. Mass plantings of the one plant can look great.
Think Colour - Combine plants with different coloured leaves for year-round interest, without the need for flowers. When buying trees incorporate trees with gold foliage amongst the green and also include trees that will give you fabulous autumn tones.
Easy Fillers - Check out the seedling section for hardy semi-perennial seedlings that make great low cost fillers for gardens and pots.
Look out for dianthus, verbena, erigeron, madeira daisy, snow daisy, rudbeckia.
Also look out for annuals that seed readily that will come up again next year such as vinca, cosmos, violas and larkspurs.
If you team all of the above with some great advice from your local garden centre then you cannot go wrong.
Don't be afraid to ask for advice, it's their job to help you. Happy planting.
