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Posted on: April 6, 2011

Blunder busters

Don’t let the rush to bloom create gardening goofs along the way

By Dawn Klingensmith
CTW Features

A landscaping project or renovation turns the yard, or part of the yard, into a blank canvas. Too bad it’s not paint-by-numbers because it’s common to get so caught up in choosing a palette and envisioning the glorious end results we lose patience and perspective. Landscaping basics are ignored, and mistakes are made in our rush to create a masterpiece.

“It’s the hurrying process that causes the most blunders,” from poor planning and misguided plant selection to improper placement and care, says Nicholas Staddon, director of new plants at Monrovia garden plant producers, headquartered in Azusa, Calif.

He and other experts share common gardening gaffes committed by overeager homeowners.

1. Assuming every plant has it made in the shade.

“Know how much sun or shade your planting area gets throughout the day. Trust me, plants care about this,” says Ashburn, Va.-based gardening consultant Starla J. King.

Even if they take the time to figure this out, people still have a tendency to put sun-loving plants in shady areas, or vice versa, and hope for the best.

“They will probably still grow but will be spindly and pathetic-looking,” King says. “Likewise, a shade-loving plant will burn to a crisp in a full-sun area.”

2. Thinking all soil is created equal. It’s important to know whether the soil is sandy or clay-like, and choose plantings accordingly. A soil test will show whether it’s necessary to amend the dirt to make up for nutrients it lacks.

“New garden beds may need some added topsoil or soil conditioner mixed with the original soil,” King says.

3. Setting the scene for growing pains.

“Plants will try to grow to their intended size even if you don’t give them enough space,” King says. “Be kind to them and buy plants whose mature size matches your available space.”

In the beginning, gaps are good. Yet overcrowding tends to occur because “someone wants to fill in space quickly,” Staddon says. Knowing, for example, how pretty a bed of petunias looks when the blooms fill out and blanket the ground, they don’t have the patience to wait, he says: “They want to leap in and have the best landscaping on the block. So they plant too close together, and pretty soon it becomes a tangled mass that needs to be thinned out.”

4. Letting water run where it may. Homebuilders are supposed to grade the yard so surface water is directed away from the foundation. If homeowners and landscaping companies change the lay of the land, they need to pay attention to water flow and drainage or they may flood the basement or crawlspace or weaken the foundation, says Reggie Marston, president, Residential Equity Management Home Inspections, Springfield, Va.

“I have inspected houses where vegetable gardens were installed up against the foundation and every time the owner watered the garden, water poured into the basement,” he says.

5. Attracting the wrong element. As pollinators, bees are usually welcome garden guests. But plants that attract bees should not be placed too closely to children’s play areas, Staddon says. And toxic plants have no place in areas where kids and pets are free to explore.

6. Setting off a flower bomb. After the gloom of winter, folks are so eager for spring that they put on a spectacular show of early bloomers. Tulips, daffodils and lilacs come on strong, but make an early exit and leave behind something of a wasteland where nothing is blooming. Staddon calls this the “summer doldrums,” when everything is unrelentingly green until the leaves start changing color for fall. A well-planned garden has color and something blooming all the time.

With planning and patience, most landscaping blunders could be avoided. Staddon urges folks to let go of the idea of creating a masterpiece and embrace the fact that a landscape is always a work-in-progress. Gardening “is not about the end result,” he says. “It’s about the journey.”