How to Choose Plants for a Country Plot?

Decided to start a garden but haven't figured out what to plant? Experts from Derevo Park studio share how to make a choice and what to consider when purchasing.

Evaluate the planting conditions

This is important for new plants that haven't yet adapted to the characteristics of your soil. Check sunlight, soil quality, and terrain. Based on this, experts can select the most suitable option.

Look at neighboring plants

Once you've decided on the plants, take a look around. Do your neighbors grow similar varieties? Sometimes it's better to get cuttings from a neighbor, especially if they are perennials. Plants on their plot have already adapted to local conditions and will easily survive transplanting.

By the way, perennials should be divided and thinned every few years. So you can be sure that plants for your garden will definitely be found among your neighbors.

Choose a suitable nursery

First, check customer reviews. Make sure that the plant’s species, variety, origin, and other details are clearly provided.

If it was grown in a nursery, inspect the density of leaves or needles, the condition of young shoots, and whether flowering or bud-bearing plants have buds or flowers. Also observe any color changes in bark, leaves, or shoots, and check for new growth on the vegetative parts.

Inspect the root system: if it's a perennial in a container or a small shrub, ask the seller to remove it from the container. If the soil clump doesn’t crumble and roots look fresh, everything is fine.

If the plant is from a European nursery and its condition doesn’t raise concerns, find out what hardiness zone it was imported from. Are you trying to buy a non-hardy Lawson's Cypress (which looks like our yews and junipers) or Magnolia with Glycine – these plants won’t survive the winter in open ground.

Also, avoid buying seedlings from untrustworthy sellers who promise tomato trees, climbing lilac, ampelous strawberries the size of apples, or watermelons for open-ground cultivation in northern regions.

Pay attention to details

For example, if you need plants for a fruit orchard, you’ll have to find a nearby nursery that grows rootstocks and performs grafting. It’s crucial that the nursery has its own mother plantings or buys grafting material only from verified, certified suppliers.

Otherwise, you may wait for a harvest for a long time without success: many garden centers near roads, fairs, and markets sell southern seedlings that won’t survive in our conditions.

Consult professionals

This is especially important if you’re planning large-scale plantings with large trees. Heavy machinery, up to 100-ton cranes, may also be required.