Smart Plant Placement & Selection: Enhance Your Home's Landscape


Right plant, right place. 

Sounds easy enough. 

Choose plants that are well suited and happy where you plop them, and they’ll flourish, with healthy root systems and just the right amount of light and water. 

Miss the mark, and you’re setting your green friends up for overcrowding, disease, insect damage or just plain dying of thirst. 

Need some tips on proper plant placement and selection?

Here you go:

Remember: Plants Grow


We know you can’t wait to see your lush, full garden explode with color and texture.

We get it — it’s hard to wait. It’s tempting to plant the little guys close together. Instant garden. 

But if you stuff your landscaping with too many plants, tucked too close together, you’re setting up your garden to fail. 

Read our Detailed Guide to Planning your Landscape Design in Idaho

Remember, plants grow, so you have to choose them and plant them with their future growth in mind.

Landscape with proper plant placement

Plants need air circulation as they grow. 

Read the plant tags. They’ll tell you exactly how far apart to space your plants, and how tall and wide they’ll be when full grown.  

Right plant, right place.

How to Place Plants & Which Ones to Choose


Use these tips for plant placement and selection and your plants will thrive. 

  • Don’t crowd plants too close together. They need to breathe.

  • Don’t plant trees or shrubs too close to a building or other structure. Think about their size at maturity — not what they look like now.

  • Don’t mix plants with different light and water needs. You don’t want a shade-loving plant next to a sun-loving plant. One of them will suffer.  Cluster drought-tolerant plants together so they can share the same watering needs.

  • Do read the plant tags. They’re there to help you. They’ll tell you exactly how far apart to space plants, how much light and water they need, how tall and wide they’ll eventually grow. It’s an easy instruction manual — on a little plastic tag.

  • Do think about your lifestyle, not just pretty plants you like. Need privacy? The right plants can offer a nice natural screen. Have dogs? Look for sturdy ground covers that can stand up to scampering paws. Curious toddlers? Read plant labels to be sure your plants aren’t toxic.

  • Do choose plants that bloom at different times throughout the season, so you have color to enjoy for several months.  Again, those all-important plant tags will help you out here.

Why Some Plants Work — And Some Don’t


Not every plant will work great in every spot. They’re not one place fits all. 

You might love those fluffy, water-loving hydrangea, but if your yard is sunny and dry, they’ll die of thirst. 

Love the idea of a hosta bed along your property that’s bordered by woods?

Think again. Deer love hosta. You’ll basically be serving up a salad bar.

Love daisies? Roses? Zinnia? Be sure your property gets the sun they need to thrive. “Full sun” means at least six hours a day. 

A Word Tree Placement


If you plant a few black-eyed Susans too close together, you can always move them around and re-space them. No biggie.

But if you plant a big tree in the wrong spot, you’ll regret it. Not right away. It could take years.

Healthy trees and shrubs

If a tree is too close to your house, it could pose a hazard, dropping big limbs on your roof. Or just a nuisance, dropping leaves or pine needles that can clog gutters or damage your shingles.

Tree roots can grow up to three times the width of the tree’s crown, which can damage your driveway, patio or underground pipes.

Do your research. Or let us do it for you.

Lots of trees are slow growers. It may take years before you find out you made a big mistake. 

Perplexed About Proper Plant Placement in Idaho Falls? Call Outback


At Outback Landscape, we’re plant experts. Our skilled designers know exactly how much room each plant needs, how much light it wants, what type of soil it needs to thrive.

When we design your landscape, we start with our expertise in proper plant placement and selection.

You’ll love what we plant — and your plants will love where they live.  

Located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, we serve residential and commercial properties in Idaho Falls, Rexburg and Pocatello, Idaho, as well as Bonneville, Madison and Bannock counties.

Contact Outback Landscape at 208-656-3220, or fill out the contact form to schedule an onsite consultation.

We’d love to hear from you.

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