What grows here?

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

• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 26. 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: 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.

Salt air is a different problem from wind, and this is the group that solves both.

• Light: About 28.9 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: Salt tolerance is specific. A plant that shrugs off wind inland can still burn in a coastal gale.

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

Height and depth quickly, at the cost of the space it takes.

• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 26. 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: These reach the height quickly and then keep going. Plan the maintenance, not just the planting.

Examples, not recommendations: Photinia; Viburnum tinus; Laurel where it is not invasive. 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 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 24. 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 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.

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

• Light: About 28.9 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.

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

• Hardiness: Zone 9.1 is outside this group's usual range of 4 to 9. Hardiness is a floor, not a plan.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 30. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.

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.

Salt air is a different problem from wind, and this is the group that solves both.

• Light: About 28.9 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: Salt tolerance is specific. A plant that shrugs off wind inland can still burn in a coastal gale.

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

Height and depth quickly, at the cost of the space it takes.

• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 26. 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: These reach the height quickly and then keep going. Plan the maintenance, not just the planting.

Examples, not recommendations: Photinia; Viburnum tinus; Laurel where it is not invasive. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

A single object doing architectural work, and utterly dependent on watering.

• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 24. This is the right light band.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Container specimens die from missed watering in a heat spell, which is a scheduling problem more than a plant one.

Examples, not recommendations: Bay; Olive in mild climates; Clipped holly. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Wants a hot wall in summer and somewhere frost-free in winter, which makes it a decision about storage as much as position.

• Moisture: This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 32. This is the right light band.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: It is the winter that costs. Somewhere bright, frost-free and unheated is a harder brief than the summer position.

Examples, not recommendations: Lemon; Calamondin; Kumquat. 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 28.9 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.

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 28.9 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.

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

• Hardiness: Zone 9.1 is outside this group's usual range of 3 to 9. Hardiness is a floor, not a plan.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 26. This is the right light band.
• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.

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.

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

• Hardiness: Zone 9.1 is outside this group's usual range of 4 to 9. Hardiness is a floor, not a plan.
• Moisture: This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 36. This is the right light band.

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.

Wants a hot wall in summer and somewhere frost-free in winter, which makes it a decision about storage as much as position.

• Moisture: This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 32. This is the right light band.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: It is the winter that costs. Somewhere bright, frost-free and unheated is a harder brief than the summer position.

Examples, not recommendations: Lemon; Calamondin; Kumquat. 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.

• Moisture: This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 35. This is the right light band.
• 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.

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

• Moisture: This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does.
• Light: About 28.9 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: 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.

Built for hard sun, sharp drainage and being ignored.

• Moisture: This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 34. This is the right light band.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Wet feet in winter kills these more reliably than cold does. Drainage, not hardiness, is the question.

Examples, not recommendations: Lavender; Rosemary; Cistus. 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 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 26. 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: 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.

Deliberately temporary, which makes it the right answer to an awkward spot.

• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 28. 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: Daily watering in summer. If nobody will do that, this is a plan to buy plants and kill them.

Examples, not recommendations: Regional bedding for the season. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

A single object doing architectural work, and utterly dependent on watering.

• Moisture: Moisture here sits inside what this group will accept.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 24. This is the right light band.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: Container specimens die from missed watering in a heat spell, which is a scheduling problem more than a plant one.

Examples, not recommendations: Bay; Olive in mild climates; Clipped holly. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.

Wants a hot wall in summer and somewhere frost-free in winter, which makes it a decision about storage as much as position.

• Moisture: This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does.
• Light: About 28.9 moles a day, against an ideal of 32. This is the right light band.
• Reflected heat: Surface heat here is not the limiting factor.

Watch for: It is the winter that costs. Somewhere bright, frost-free and unheated is a harder brief than the summer position.

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