What grows here?

Screens in summer, filters in winter, and holds brown leaves through the cold.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day against an ideal of 26. There is no stated ceiling for this group, but that is a lot more light than it is built for.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Winter screening is partial. If the problem is a winter sightline, this is not the answer.

Examples, not recommendations: Beech; Hornbeam. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Fast, tall, evergreen screening, and the one plant most likely to become somebody else's problem.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day against an ideal of 26. There is no stated ceiling for this group, but that is a lot more light than it is built for.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Only clumping species, and only with a root barrier. Running bamboo in a small garden is a decade-long regret.

Examples, not recommendations: Clumping Fargesia. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Dense all year, and it wants more width than people allow for.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day against an ideal of 24. There is no stated ceiling for this group, but that is a lot more light than it is built for.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: A hedge kept below its natural width thins at the base, which is exactly where a seated sightline runs.

Examples, not recommendations: Yew; Portuguese laurel; Holly. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Screening in the depth of a wall rather than the width of a hedge.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day against an ideal of 22. There is no stated ceiling for this group, but that is a lot more light than it is built for.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: The support carries the load, and most trellis sold for this is not fixed well enough to hold a wet mature climber.

Examples, not recommendations: Trachelospermum; Evergreen clematis in mild areas; Ivy where it is not a nuisance. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Summer shade that gives the winter sun back. The best shade device there is, and the slowest.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 30. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Mature spread is the number that matters, and it is almost always larger than the space allowed.

Examples, not recommendations: Field maple; Serviceberry; Hop hornbeam. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Shade over a pergola in July and bare timber in January, which is usually exactly right.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 30. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Wisteria in particular puts real load on a structure. Build for it before planting it.

Examples, not recommendations: Grape vine; Wisteria, given the structure for it; Virginia creeper. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

The most productive use of a sunny wall there is, and it takes real commitment.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 34. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: This needs pruning twice a year, forever. Skipped for two seasons it becomes a shrub against a wall.

Examples, not recommendations: Apple; Pear; Fig in warm positions. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Summer shade that gives the winter sun back. The best shade device there is, and the slowest.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 30. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Mature spread is the number that matters, and it is almost always larger than the space allowed.

Examples, not recommendations: Field maple; Serviceberry; Hop hornbeam. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Movement instead of resistance, which is why these survive a balcony.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 30. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Grasses in containers on a windy terrace dry out faster than anything else on the plot.

Examples, not recommendations: Miscanthus; Calamagrostis; Stipa. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

For the corner that never dries, which most planting advice treats as a fault to fix.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day against an ideal of 24. There is no stated ceiling for this group, but that is a lot more light than it is built for.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surfaces here reach about 121°F. A container in that is a watering commitment, not a planting decision.

Watch for: These want consistent moisture, not stagnant water. Standing water still needs solving.

Examples, not recommendations: Astilbe; Ligularia; Iris sibirica. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Planted as a community rather than as specimens, and it wants full sun and poor soil.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 36. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Rich soil and shade both make it flop. It is a group that is ruined by kindness.

Examples, not recommendations: Echinacea; Little bluestem; Achillea. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

The only group that will take a shallow, baking, exposed substrate and stay alive without watering.

• Moisture: This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does.
• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 38. This is the right light band.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: It fails in shade, not in drought. Under an overhang or a parapet shadow it thins out and the substrate takes over.

Examples, not recommendations: Sedum album; Sedum spurium; Sempervivum in the gaps. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

The most common failed planting in any garden, usually because it was never a light problem people checked.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 30. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Below about twelve moles a day, no grass mix holds. That is when a different ground cover is the answer, not more seed.

Examples, not recommendations: Fine fescue mixes; Clover and micro-clover blends; Moss, accepted rather than fought. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

For ground that floods and then dries hard, which is a different problem from ground that is simply wet.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day against an ideal of 26. There is no stated ceiling for this group, but that is a lot more light than it is built for.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: The cycle is the point. Anything that only tolerates constant wet dies in the August between floods.

Examples, not recommendations: Iris in damp ground; Switchgrass; Joe Pye weed in North America. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

The most light-hungry thing most people try to grow, and the one most often put in the wrong place.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 38. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Leaves grow at fifteen moles a day; fruit needs more than twenty. That gap is why people get plants and no crop.

Examples, not recommendations: Tomato; Pepper; Courgette. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

The most productive use of a sunny wall there is, and it takes real commitment.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 34. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: This needs pruning twice a year, forever. Skipped for two seasons it becomes a shrub against a wall.

Examples, not recommendations: Apple; Pear; Fig in warm positions. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Wants a hot wall, a lot of light and someone who waters it.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 35. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: A container against a sunlit wall can run twenty degrees above air temperature. That is a watering problem, not a light problem.

Examples, not recommendations: Basil; Thyme in a deep pot; Oregano. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Reliable in less light than people expect, and destroyed by still, damp air.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day against an ideal of 26. There is no stated ceiling for this group, but that is a lot more light than it is built for.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Airflow matters more than the last few moles of light. A still corner gives mildew every year whatever else is right.

Examples, not recommendations: Raspberry; Blackcurrant; Gooseberry. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

The most light-hungry thing most people try to grow, and the one most often put in the wrong place.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 38. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Leaves grow at fifteen moles a day; fruit needs more than twenty. That gap is why people get plants and no crop.

Examples, not recommendations: Tomato; Pepper; Courgette. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Wants a hot wall, a lot of light and someone who waters it.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 35. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: A container against a sunlit wall can run twenty degrees above air temperature. That is a watering problem, not a light problem.

Examples, not recommendations: Basil; Thyme in a deep pot; Oregano. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Movement instead of resistance, which is why these survive a balcony.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day, against an ideal of 30. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Grasses in containers on a windy terrace dry out faster than anything else on the plot.

Examples, not recommendations: Miscanthus; Calamagrostis; Stipa. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Fast, tall, evergreen screening, and the one plant most likely to become somebody else's problem.

• Light: About 39.3 moles a day against an ideal of 26. There is no stated ceiling for this group, but that is a lot more light than it is built for.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Only clumping species, and only with a root barrier. Running bamboo in a small garden is a decade-long regret.

Examples, not recommendations: Clumping Fargesia. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.