Solution Gardening: How Most People Pick Their Plants

June 1st, 2021

   When people head to the garden center to buy plants, most of the time they’re not there looking for a certain plant.

So many plants… which ones to pick?

   They’re generally looking to carry out a goal or solve a problem.

   A disconnect happens when would-be plant-buyers find that the gazillion plants available aren’t grouped by goals or problems but by their type (perennial, shrub, tree, etc.) – usually arranged in alphabetical order.

   Dr. Allan Armitage, the prolific garden-book author and horticulture professor emeritus at the University of Georgia, believes it’s time to rethink that strategy to better help people zero in on the plants that’ll get their job done.

   Armitage coined the idea “solution gardening” to describe how most people shop for plants.

   He says the problem is compounded because the average person doesn’t know enough about plants to determine which ones solve which problems or address which goals.

   Some garden centers attempt to help by producing lists of plants that address different issues, i.e. Plants that Deer Don’t Like, Plants for Under Trees, and Plants for Wet Areas.

   Others publish lists online, as do some Extension services, growers, and other plant organizations.

   If you’ve never noticed it, my website has a “George’s Handy Lists” section in which I post a few dozen of these lists – all free for the viewing.

   And I’ve put together an 18-page “Survivor Plants of Pennsylvania” booklet that zeroes in on hundreds of the best varieties with sizes, bloom times, and other important attributes that help gardeners get the right plant in the right place. It’s available as a $5.95 download on my “Buy Helpful Info” page.

   The best point-of-sale option is the good old-fashioned, ask-the-expert-at-the-garden-center. But that chews up a ton of time and requires lots of sales staff, especially when everyone compacts their plant-shopping into the same few weeks in spring.

   That’s practically non-existent at box stores, and even solid independent garden centers don’t have the size and expertise of sales staff as in the past.

   Unless/until Armitage’s solution-gardening suggestion catches on, I thought I’d weigh in with Pennsylvania-geared solution-gardening lists of perennials, shrubs, and evergreens. I’ll start here with seven of the more common issues and cover 14 more over the next two weeks.

Deer usually don’t mess with Virginia sweetspire.

Plants that Deer Don’t Like

Perennials: agastache, ajuga, amsonia, artemisia, baptisia, barrenwort, bleeding heart, brunnera, butterfly weed, campanula, catmint, coreopsis, euphorbia, fern, goldenrod, globe thistle, helleborus, iris, lamb’s ear, lamium, liatris, lavender, lungwort, monkshood, ornamental grasses, peony, poppy, Russian sage, salvia, sedum, sneezeweed, sweet woodruff, turtlehead, yarrow, yucca

Shrubs: abelia, aralia, bayberry, beautyberry, beautybush, butterfly bush, caryopteris, deutzia, fothergilla, rose of Sharon, spirea, sumac, summersweet, St. Johnswort, Virginia sweetspire

Evergreens: birds nest spruce, boxwood, cotoneaster, falsecypress, Japanese plum yew, juniper, leucothoe, pieris, Russian cypress, sweetbox

Plants that Don’t Take Much Maintenance

Sweetbox is a low shrub that takes virtually no maintenance.

Perennials: agastache, amsonia, barrenwort, betony, brunnera, coralbells, euphorbia, ferns, foamflower, dwarf goldenrod, dwarf Russian sage, hardy geranium, hens and chicks, hosta, iris, leadwort, salvia, sedum, yucca

Shrubs: caryopteris, deutzia, dwarf abelia, fothergilla, hydrangea, spirea, summersweet, sweetshrub, viburnum, winterberry holly

Evergreens: birds nest spruce, dwarf cryptomeria, dwarf Hinoki cypress, dwarf nandina, juniper, Russian cypress, sweetbox

Plants for Wet Spots

Turtlehead is a good perennial-flower choice for a damp, shaded area.

Perennials: beebalm, blue lobelia, cardinal flower, columbine, most ferns, foamflower, golden alexander, goldenrod, Japanese or Siberian iris, Joe Pye weed, liatris, ligularia, marsh marigold, New England and New York asters, sedge, sneezeweed, spiderwort, swamp milkweed, swamp rose mallow, sweetflag, turtlehead

Shrubs: arrowwood and cranberry viburnums, buttonbush, chokeberry, elderberry, New Jersey tea, ninebark, red osier dogwood, summersweet, spicebush, swamp azalea, sweetshrub, Virginia sweetspire, winterberry holly

Evergreens: inkberry holly, leucothoe

Plants that Tolerate Poor Soil

Viburnums generally do well in less-than-ideal soil.

Perennials: aster, betony, black-eyed susan, bleeding heart, butterfly weed, campanula, catmint, daylily, goldenrod, hardy ginger, helleborus, heliopsis, hosta, Joe Pye weed, liatris, liriope, ornamental grasses, purple coneflower, salvia, sea holly, sedum, sneezeweed, yarrow, yucca

Shrubs: abelia, aralia, bayberry, beautybush, chokeberry, deutzia, forsythia, fothergilla, honeysuckle, Japanese kerria, ninebark, oakleaf hydrangea, rose of Sharon, rugosa rose, St. Johnswort, sumac, spirea, sweetshrub, viburnum, weigela, yew

Evergreens: arborvitae, boxwood, blue holly, cotoneaster, euonymus, goldthread falsecypress, Hinoki cypress, inkberry holly, Japanese plum yew, juniper, nandina, yew

Plants that Don’t Need Much Water

Dry soil? Consider salvia.

Perennials: amsonia, artemisia, aster, baptisia, betony, beautyberry, beautybush, black-eyed susan, blackberry lily, candytuft, catmint, centaurea, coreopsis, daylily, dianthus, euphorbia, gaillardia, garden phlox, gaura, geum, goldenrod, hens and chicks, lamb’s ears, liatris, liriope, ornamental grasses, perennial sunflower, penstemon, purple coneflower, red hot poker, Russian sage, salvia, sedum, sea holly, yarrow

Shrubs: abelia, aralia, bayberry, butterfly bush, caryopteris, deutzia, fothergilla, honeysuckle, lilac, ninebark, oakleaf hydrangea, potentilla, pyracantha, rose of Sharon, St. Johnswort, spirea, sumac, shrub rose, viburnum (most), weigela, yucca

Evergreens: arborvitae, boxwood, cherry laurel, cotoneaster, dwarf cryptomeria, dwarf spruce, goldthread/greenthread falsecypress, Hinoki cypress, juniper, nandina, yew

Plants that Tolerate Dry Shade and Root Competition under Trees

Hosta holds its own in the root competition under big trees.

Perennials: barrenwort, bergenia, bleeding heart, brunnera, coralbells, creeping phlox, daylily, false or variegated Solomon’s seal, foamflower, foamybell, goats beard, hardy begonia, hardy ginger, helleborus, hosta, Japanese forest grass, Japanese painted fern, lamium, leadwort, liriope, pachysandra, sweet woodruff, viburnum, wood aster, wood ferns, woodland stonecrop

Shrubs: aralia, bayberry, beautyberry, fothergilla, Japanese kerria, oakleaf hydrangea, smooth hydrangea, spicebush, St. Johnswort, viburnum

Evergreens: blue holly, boxwood, cherry laurel, cotoneaster, dwarf Hinoki cypress, globe arborvitae, Japanese plum yew, nandina, Russian cypress, yew

Plants for Hot, Sunny Areas

Try catmint in your hottest, sunniest areas.

Perennials: agastache, allium, amsonia, aster, baptisia, betony, black-eyed susan, catmint, coreopsis, creeping sedum, daylily, dianthus, euphorbia, gaillardia, gaura, goldenrod, hardy geranium, hardy hibiscus, heliopsis, hens and chicks, iris, lavender, liatris, lilies, ornamental grasses, mums, peony, penstemon, perennial sunflower, phlox, purple coneflower, Russian sage, salvia, sedum, shasta daisy, veronica, yarrow, yucca   

Shrubs: abelia, bayberry, beautyberry, beautybush, butterfly bush, caryopteris, dwarf crape myrtle, forsythia, lilac, ninebark, panicle hydrangea, rose, spirea, St. Johnswort, stephanandra, sumac, weigela

Evergreens: arborvitae, holly, dwarf blue spruce, goldthread/greenthread falsecypress, Hinoki cypress, juniper, nandina, yew