"Not Every Plant is Right for Every Garden or Gardener" Clint Eastwood in one of his immortal "Dirty Harry" movies uttered that now infamous line "a man has to know his limitations". How true that statement is for so many things. But this truism doesn’t seem to sink in with us gardeners, for we are a stubborn lot. Or perhaps we are simply determined. I guess the difference lies in our point of view. As a whole we simply refuse to concede defeat when it comes to our gardens. How often have we tried repeatedly to grow a particular plant only to have it fail to thrive or just plain fail to grow at all. Yet we keep coming back to try it again don’t we, in the belief (or hope) that things will be different the next time. We carefully plant it, care for it and nurture the plant. We pamper it, spray it, feed  it and perhaps even pray over it. Often the plant will take off and start to grow fantastically and we step back, pat ourselves on the back and remind ourselves how good of a gardener we are. Then in a seemingly cruel sense of fate - it happens! The plant (or crop) starts to deteriorate and get sick, often seemingly overnight. We may find it wilted, the leaves discolored or misshapen into contorted masses of chlorophylic modern art, or simply loses vigor and refuses to grow. We try watering , feeding , spraying and mulching - but to no avail. The plant or crop may sputter along for a while as it clings to life but never regains any vigor or just plain dies outright. And we are left to wonder what went wrong? Then the next year we do it all over again don’t we? For the seasoned gardener, we instinctively inspect the plant or crop for insects, diseases or soil problems and, if found, take appropriate steps to alleviate the problem. But what about the other times when no problem seems evident to correct? This is when the investigator comes out in the true gardener because as a gardener - I want to know! This process of investigation needs to follow logical and verifiable steps in order to increase our chances of success and in the process broadens our knowledge and makes us better gardeners. Listed below are a series of steps that I follow when I encounter difficult plants: - What’s the history and origin of the plant I wish to grow? Most of the plants offered to American gardeners today have their origins outside North America. Usually these plants are imported into this country and are test grown in various parts of the country to determine the adaptability, disease resistance, pest resistance and overall hardiness of the species. But with the extreme competitiveness of American nurseries
 and the pressure to offer new and never before seen varieties to American gardeners,  adequate information is not always available. Often, in regards to the best growing conditions, a "best guess" approach must be applied. In the case of non-native plants, it can be extremely helpful to know something about its native growing conditions. This will allow the gardener the opportunity to better mimic some of the plants native growing conditions whenever possible. Along this line of thought one must also consider evolutionary processes that have occurred in that plant species to make it successful where it was growing:
- Elevation it normally grew. Plants growing at higher elevations have evolved to receive a different amount of solar energy than say a plant growing at sea level.
- What are winters like where the plant normally grew? Some plants will take extreme cold but won’t tolerate having their roots frozen for very long or vice-versa. Some plants evolved for wet winters while some like dry winters.
- Form and type of precipitation the plant normally received. Did the plant evolve to receive frequent lighter rains
 or hard deluges of rain on less frequent intervals? This could have a determining factor on its water holding capacity.
- Did the winters and summers of its native growing area maintain a relatively stable temperature during the growing season? If so, this could have a big impact on the success of the plant here in the Midwest where temperature extremes and extreme fluctuations are the norm. Many more could be listed but I think you can see that all plants have evolved to be successful in their native habitat. While all plants are adaptable to one extent or another, not all plants offered will adapt to your individual climate and garden conditions.
- Where is the nursery located that is supplying the plant that I wish to grow? In this day of "fast freight" and "overnight delivery" along with the internet it is truly a "global market" for the American gardener. If you go down to your local plant supplier, whether nursery
 or discount store, there is a very good chance  that the plants you are looking at were not grown locally. When you get those wonderful catalogs in the mail you have a physical address for the business office and maybe the location of the main nursery, but now days many of the plants they offer are from contracted growers in the far-flung corners of America or even outside of America. While most nurseries work very hard at supplying top quality plants  that are highly adaptable to a wide range of conditions, the fact remains that many nursery plants "climatize" to one degree or another to their local conditions. This means that the plant or plants and their parent stock, have been growing under a particular set of conditions for so long that they have become accustomed or adapted to those conditions. In this case, adapting to your conditions may be difficult or in some cases impossible. For this reason, I have found it extremely helpful to try to find out where the plant or plants in question were grown. This is especially true for "field-grown" plants. I try to choose plants that are grown as close as possible to home, or at least as close as possible to the conditions found where I wish to grow them.
- What is the actual climate conditions where I wish to grow a particular plant? While most gardeners are at least somewhat familiar with what climate zone they garden in, an alarming number of gardeners are only vaguely familiar with "micro-climates". Even fewer still, are the number of gardeners who realize that micro-climates can themselves have micro-climates within the larger micro-climate. Every growing area, yard, etc. has areas within the overall area where the conditions will be somewhat different than the rest of the area as a whole. These are called "micro-climates" and generally will support plants that normally grow one, or in rare cases two, climate zones above or below the normal growing zone as a whole. A typical micro-climate will be any place that is shielded from the surrounding climate conditions
 to create a smaller, modified climate area within the overall area. Typical micro- climate areas would be the north and particularly south side of a building, especially if it is brick, rock or masonry, along brick, rock or masonry walls and along hedges and tree lines. Other areas to look for micro-climates would be depressions and areas between buildings and hedge rows where the wind is funneled and generally moves faster. These areas along with depressions or low areas tend to stay cooler than the surrounding area. Low areas also often tend to stay wetter and drainage could be an issue here. Look for areas within these micro-climates where the climate may be modified even further. In my own zone 6 garden area I found that along the south side of our brick house was approximately 30 feet of ideal zone 7 growing are. Additionally, I found that at one end of the area I had a small area that could be considered a weak zone 8. Another area I found was the north side of the house, which due to a funneling of the winds  between buildings ran cool enough in the winter and summer to be considered a zone 5. Sometimes finding micro-climates can be nothing more than an educated guess based on sound reasoning and understanding the principles of micro-climates. Sometimes it can be as simple as getting familiar with the growing habits of native plants in the area (weeds) and observing how they grow within different areas. I personally prefer a combination of common sense, based on the principles of micro- climates and scientific research (thermometer and a flag or weathervane to watch air movements). In any case, knowing the certainties of any potential micro-climate takes a little bit of educated guesswork and time . But by whatever method you choose, it’s worth the time and effort in your growing success and the diversity of plants you can successfully grow.
- What is the past history of the growing area? This may be one of the most difficult areas for many
 gardeners to overcome, especially if you haven’t lived in your present location very long. Past activities and practices can have a huge impact on the growing success or failure of any potential planting location. Some of the activities I have seen that make a big impact on gardening are:
around buildings. In years past chemicals have been employed that are still having an impact on the soil and its ability to grow plants well. I have even seen where used motor oil had even been applied around foundations in an inexpensive yet disastrous attempt to keep invasive termites out of a building. The soil may look fine on the surface but the detrimental impact lingers on for years to come. Unfortunately, if you suspect a foreign agent as the culprit, your only option (other than finding a different planting location) may be to have the soil tested by an independent testing laboratory. Even worse still is the remediation, which usually involves removing the soil and replacing it with new, uncontaminated soil. One word of caution is in order here. In a worst case scenario, the soil could be considered as a hazardous waste (depending on what is found) and you could incur very high charges for its disposal. Check with your local and state regulatory agencies on how best to handle it in this is the case and whether or not any assistance programs are available. - Another situation I have witnessed, and is more common than people realize, is entire housing developments being built on top of old dump sights or landfills. The dump may be covered by only a foot or two of soil but everything below that is anything and everything that humans no longer wanted around them. I think you can get the picture from here. These will have little root zone available and who knows what to inhibit quality plant growth.
- The last situation I wish to point out is a person who tried to garden in a spot that was in good grass (at least in the spring when he moved in). The soil looked good on the surface but the garden plants all had shallow roots and seemed to dry out over night. Basically they couldn’t seem to grow anything that needed deep roots and they couldn’t keep enough water on it, even with mulch. Further investigation revealed that the area had been a horse coral for more than 20 years and the soil was so compacted that water and roots couldn’t penetrate the soil. With all of this said, the problem with growing a plant or plants could lie in the history of the soil. Dog runs would be another example of this that is really quite common. If pets are allowed to run a fence line for years for instance, this same phenomena will be observed if you later try to plant there. A huge example of this that is still quite evident even today can be seen at various places to the west of Kansas City, MO. From certain locations it is to this day still evident where the huge
 cattle trails were that led into Kansas City from the west and southwest. In the late 1800's when cattle were normally "driven on foot" to markets located in Kansas City (the largest cattle market, rail and steamboat center at the time), the cattle were driven over set trails leading into town. Over the years thousands (if not millions) of head of cattle were driven over these same trails. This resulted in the soil becoming so compacted that even to this day the trail is evident by being several feet lower than the surrounding area. Not much grows in these areas except grass, streets, homes and factories now.
- Does the plant fit my personality and lifestyle? One area that most gardeners, or Americans in general for that matter, don’t do so well at is time management. We mean well and have good intentions but we find ourselves in "must do overload". We have this to do and that to do and in the middle of it all we have
 garden chores to tend to. So between appointments that we must keep, we grab a water hose and douse everything in sight before we have to run to our next appointment. Tomorrow the same thing but you don’t remember which ones need water and which ones don’t, so you douse them all again. The next day you remember that this or that plant needs repotted and those need fed, but you’re late, so you’ll get them tomorrow, which you forget. Those plants by the fence need rabbit wire around them before the rabbits find them for lunch, but you’ll get them later, you’ve got to get the kids to soccer practice and swimming lessons. Then it’s vacation time - ahhhh, two weeks to get away from it all!
Sound familiar? Or maybe you’re one of the ones who is the opposite. You care little about what’s going on around you but you’ve always got to be "fiddling" in the garden. The fact is that most plants require a certain amount of attention. Some more than others. Some plants require that certain things be done at specific times (like flowering annuals must be dead-headed to keep blooming well) and others, like Echinacea (cone flowers) and desert plants, just plain don’t like to be messed with. Consequently, a plant that needs a lot of attention in the hands of an overly busy person is probably going to not do well, possibly even die. As is a plant that thrives on neglect may fail in the hands of a "fussbudget" gardener. For this reason it is very important to the overall success of any gardener to accurately gauge both how much time you have to devote to a plant or garden and when that time would be available. Knowing this will help you better choose plants that fit your personality and lifestyle.  In closing, if you have done all of your homework and it appears that you have all of your "Ducks-in a-Row" so to speak, the odds are that the plant or plants will do fine. But sometimes it just plain won’t work - Period! Despite all of your efforts and preparations, sometimes plants just won’t grow. I have this problem also with certain plants. But you know what - THAT’S OK! The creator of this planet created such a wide diversity of plants that while we may not be able to grow them all, there are so many that we CAN grow well. After all, it was our success with these many other plants that developed and fueled our interest in the few that elude us. So in the meantime, keep trying with those difficult plants and - "DANCE WITH THE ONE WHO BRUNG YA".
Good luck and good gardening! "The Hillbilly Gardener" Would you like to comment on this article or want to suggest future articles? Contact us at this link: 
Created - April 17, 2007
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