Know the Right Plant for the Right Place

The first of nine Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ practices that can help you grow healthy plants with less effort and protect the environment is “Right Plant, Right Place.”

This practice should be used for every plant you add to your yard and is just as important for native plants as it is for non-natives. 

Every plant has preferences and tolerances for soil pH, light conditions, soil moisture and hardiness zone. When it comes to soil pH, most plants tolerate a wide range except for Bahiagrass, American holly, ixora, azalea and blueberry plants. These plants are easier to grow in an acid soil versus an alkaline soil with a pH over 7. 

If you have ever seen ixora shrubs growing on the barrier islands, you have probably seen some with bright yellow leaves and green in the center. This is a classic sign of minor element nutritional deficiency. Ixora are tough shrubs and can survive in alkaline soils.

A foliar spray of liquid seaweed, sprayed regularly, can help to prevent minor element deficiency, but if the deficiency is already evident in the foliage, foliar sprays of a citrus nutritional spray containing magnesium will help to correct the deficiency faster. If you have never tested your soil, or it has been more than a couple of years, do so (now) before choosing new plants for the area.

Light conditions are very important to consider, especially with many of the blooming plants, as ample sunlight is needed to promote flowering. Most of the blooming plants that we grow will bloom best in locations that receive full sun. 

When vegetable gardening, be sure that the plants that produce fruit, such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc. also receive plenty of sunlight. A full sun location will receive at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. 

In addition to full sun, there is also partial shade, which receives direct sunlight for part of the day and full shade locations which never receive any direct sunlight.  Plants that prefer shady locations, such as cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior) and corn plants (Dracaena fragrans) turn a yellowish-green if planted in a sunny location. 

The yellowish color often resembles a nitrogen deficiency, but in the case of shade loving plants, all they need is more shade to green up naturally. Plants growing in the wrong light levels will be stressed, making them more susceptible to pests. I had some native tropical sage growing in my north facing front yard. 

Every tropical sage came down with a horrible infestation of cottony cushion scale and I couldn’t figure out why my native plants were covered in scale and yet all the non-native plants around them were fine. It took a while, but I finally realized that the cottony cushion scale was only showing up in the winter, when the area was in shade almost the entire day. In the summer, the plants received more sunlight and the cottony cushion scale never showed up then. 

It is also important to pay attention to a plant’s soil moisture preferences and tolerances which can range from well-drained, moist, or wet. For locations that have well-draining soil, choose plants that are drought tolerant. Though we receive ample rainfall at times, we can go long periods between good rainfall amounts so, drought conditions are common.

If you have heavy soil or poor drainage, there may be areas of your yard that stay moist most of the year. There are plants that can tolerate moist soils and extended flooding so, think back to when we have had large rain events, such as tropical storm Faye and most recently, hurricane Irma. If your yard never held standing water during either of those storms, you have well-draining soil. 

A plant’s hardiness zone hasn’t been as important since the winter of 2010, but this winter it may have become an important issue again. If you want to plant something that you won’t have to worry about losing in a freeze, choose a plant that can handle at least zone 9B and you can always look for cold hardy plants that also grow in zone eighth or seven. 

The last thing to consider is a plant’s mature height and spread. Make sure to check how tall and wide it will be when full grown. The mature height becomes very important if there are powerlines present.  Small trees, that stay 25 feet or less, can be planted directly below powerlines.

For medium trees (25-50’ tall) and large growing trees (50’ or taller) consider both their maximum height and spread when choosing a location for planting. Plant it far enough away so that the branches won’t grow through the powerlines (at least half the distance of their full mature spread) and the tree couldn’t bring the lines down if it falls (its mature height).

Both you and many of your neighbors would appreciate that. The mature spread of a plant is also important if there will be other plants, a fence or a sidewalk near the location. Take the maximum spread and divide it in half, and plant it that far away from the fence, driveway or walkway.

When planting foundation plants around a home, it is a good idea to add a foot or two to half of the plant’s mature spread so that there is room to paint the house or inspect the foundation for subterranean termite mud tubes.

When an area of your yard is filled with plants that will receive the correct amount of sunlight and water, plus they will fit well together even when they are full grown, you will have an attractive, low-maintenance spot to enjoy. Taking the time to plan thoroughly will pay off in the future because there will be no need to remove plants that grew too large or became infested with pests later.

Sally Scalera is an urban horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences.