When you look at the empty canvas of a backyard without a garden it can all be a little confusing as to where to start and what plants will be the most successful in the space. You want to create a landscape design that's pretty and manageable and will last for the entire season. The best way to do that is to choose plants that are native to where you live or come from similar climates. Flowers that you saw on vacation in Mexico just might not work in your Canadian backyard. Here is how to get started when choosing plants.
The first thing that you need to do is check out the quality of the soil, monitor how much light your garden will get during the day, and access how much space you have to work with. If you're creating a small herb garden on a small square of land behind your home your selection process will certainly be different from someone who has an acre of land to work with out in the country. If you are dealing with a city backyard, you may want to invest in some fertilizer and manure to get the ground back to a state that can support new plant life.
Once you have a full picture of the conditions in your garden, its time to research which plants are native to your area. There will be experts at any good garden centre who can help you here. Choosing plants that also grow in the wild in your area is the best path to getting a low maintenance, high production garden. You can also branch out a little from this group of flowers to include species that are native to similar climates, though this might mean that these plants need a little more of your time and care. If you're interested in plants native to your area, for instance, and you want to grow them, you may have to water them often in the spring.
You are going to find that some plants are better suited to sunny areas and others thrive in the shade. Try to plan out your garden space beforehand to accommodate for this. If you bought a home with a substantial garden space, it will save you a lot of stress and trouble by creating a floor plan for your garden. This will allow you to create a pleasing aesthetic as well as take advantage of different spaces within your yard. Even though your garden is all going to be in roughly the same soil, it's likely that some areas are softer and more plant-friendly than others.
Click for an online garden planner. You can also learn what climate zone you live in.
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