“A fool and his money are soon parted“ – so said a wise Englishman in 1573 and there are times when I have no option but to agree with him wholeheartedly. I see examples of this particular issue all the time in people’s gardens but I encountered a corker of a case in point only last week.
Plant today, think for tomorrow.
I went to see a new garden and client recently. This couple had recently moved into an old house which had the potential to be really nice. The house itself was lovely but the reason the property was not yet living up to its promise was because of some shrubs placed in front of the windows of the sitting room and kitchen. That in itself doesn’t sound all that bad except for the fact that they had been planted right against the wall of the house and then they had grown.
Please don’t do this.
And by grown, I mean BIG. These shrubs were at least 3m (just under 10ft in old money) and had completely blocked the light from the rooms of the house, both downstairs and upstairs, making the interior of the whole house completely dark.
Answer – Read the label.
Thankfully the solution was reasonably straight forward to carry out and the result was satisfyingly transformational but here’s the point I want to make to you:-
Find out how big the plant is that you want to buy or plant BEFORE you put it in. It’s easy to do – just read the label! (however many languages it’s in).
Avoid ‘trouble at mill’.
By doing this simple thing, you will avoid so much trouble in the future when the plant gets out of control and too big for the place you’ve put it. It was a real shame to have to take those shrubs out in the situation I’ve just described as they were healthy and beautiful and would have cost a reasonable amount to buy in the first place too.
You could say that this is a classic case of the fool and his money …
If this is something you’ve done, don’t worry, you’re not alone and some of the best plant combos have come about in this way. But, if possible, avoid making this potentially very expensive mistake again.
Have a go this weekend
Have a look at the plants in your garden and work out if they are in the right position or will they get too big for the location you’ve put them in. Don’t panic if the answer is Yes as plants grow slowly enough for you do do something about it, at a time that suits you.
