Your "which plant should I use" is now answered by a Certified Horticulturist.
A list of plants for specific purposes is fairly easy to compile and readily available on the internet. The problem I have is giving recommendations to homeowners, they go to the nursery, the nursery doesn’t have the plants, they come back to me, I send more examples, they find it at the nursery and don’t like it or the nursery person doesn’t recommend it, they come back to me…etc.
This is the reason I usually send people to the nursery and tell them to come back to me with five plants they find at the nursery and then I go through and tell them the pluses and minuses of each. This is why I hate recommending plants in a blog. You are faced with availability problems and the likes and dislikes of a homeowner. It is not like making a pesticide or fertilizer recommendation.
That's part of why I hate being a landscape architect...many clients are like pitting the cult of personality or popularity up against climate, and few listen. Just not enough people that have the backs of those who try to help. And no helping people who will almost always choose a huge (Red-Tip Photinia, Crape Myrtle, etc mesic habitual) fresh from the coastal grower, over a smaller (xeric native or adapted plant) that's hardened off but healthy.
ReplyDelete