Written by Cinthia Milner of B.B. Barns Garden Center
“Right plant, right spot.” Have you heard that before? I’m forever telling clients that catchy, little phrase. Interpreted, it means, don’t plant a crape myrtle that reaches 20’ x 15’ in a two-foot space next to the garage, no matter how pretty its multi-stem arching trunks look there now.
Sooner over later, you’re going to hate that plant because it will grow and grow, and you will prune and prune, and eventually the plant will win, and you’ll be parking on the street.
Here’s the rub: Your neighbor has the same crape myrtle, and it never seems to grow, and it fits perfectly in their two-foot spot by their garage and has for years. They aren’t parking on the street.
Yeah, plants are like that. They don’t read our plant tags. They grow beyond their noted maturity size; or, conversely, they never grow at all.
So, then, what’s all the bother with right plant, right spot?
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