TIMOTHY DALY: Select plants adapted to site conditions

With spring in full bloom, garden centers have many plants available. Many trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, vegetables and other plants can enhance the home landscape. When choosing what to plant, consider the cost, mature plant size, location of planting, maintenance needs and personal tastes. Most plants that perform poorly in the landscape result from their inability to adapt to or tolerate their environment.

Consider how large the plants will be at maturity. It needs to fill its allotted space but not overgrow its site. Consideration must be given to the tree’s roots to eventually not damage sidewalks, foundations and septic systems. Shrubs used as foundation plants should be slow-growing, so pruning every week is unnecessary. Do not plan on keeping the size of a plant that grows taller than you would like at a lower height by constant pruning. Often you see trees planted under power lines that should not be there in the first place. They continuously need to be pruned back heavily or “topped,” as the practice is known, which is detrimental to the tree.