“Grow where you’re planted”. This quote, attributed to Earl Nightingale, is great advice for encouraging people to make the most of their current circumstances and opportunities, but it loses some credibility when applied to horticulture. Now that spring has finally arrived many homeowners will want to plant flowers or install trees and shrubs on their properties. Perhaps there is no better predictor of long term success for a plant or a group of plants than the location in which they are installed. The factors most important to consider are light requirements, cold hardiness, soil moisture requirements, exposure to drying winds, and space requirements. It does little good to plant a shade loving plant such as a dogwood tree in a sunny, open expanse of lawn. Under such conditions the dogwood tree will struggle and will most likely ultimately fail. Same goes for installing a Deodar Cedar in a small bed adjacent to a house or other structure. To do so ensures this large tree will never reach its genetic potential due to the constraints of limited space. A Colorado blue spruce would almost surely struggle and fail to flourish if installed in an open area exposed to our hot summer winds. While all three of these species are lovely plants, and would do well in the right spot, careful consideration of their basic cultural requirements should be given when selecting them or any other plants to install on your property. After all, trees and shrubs don’t have feet and they can’t simply pick themselves up and move to a more suitable location once planted. Their success depends largely on where we plant them. If you have any questions about any plants you would like to install and need to know their site requirements call our office and either I or any of our horticulturalists on staff would be happy to visit with you.