Digging in: Looking beyond next Wednesday 

By Peter Wimberg

We all know someone who doesn’t look beyond next Wednesday when planning their finances, work and household chores or their new gardens. Some things in life we can do on the fly and find success, so I’ve been told. I like to have a thoughtful plan to achieve my goals. I apply the same commitment to long-term planning I used to grow a business to starting a new garden. To have a successful garden, one that is attractive to me year-round while supporting nature, I need to plan what the garden will look like in early spring, when the snow persists in shadier parts of the landscape, until the late fall when the blooms have faded and then through the winter months. 

Gardens are not static. Gardens evolve, mature, come into their own and alter their identity over time. We use careful consideration when selecting and placing plants, then nature takes control. Plants migrate, thrive or struggle, sometimes with no apparent reason beyond its nature and living things don’t always conform to our beautifully drawn garden plans.

 Knowing a garden is constantly transforming, why do we assume that the only plants we should use in our new gardens are those that looked good over the Mother’s Day weekend? To select only those plants that look good in May is not looking beyond next Wednesday in the garden. What will you have blooming in June, or as far out as October? What will your garden have to offer for winter interest? Will you have interesting seedheads intermingled with soft grasses in the winter garden to add beauty to the landscape while supporting nature or will you have a sparse planting and a sea of mulch? 

Many plants that are crucial in the creation of a year-round beneficial garden are either not particularly alluring in the nursery in the spring or they may not yet be available for purchase. That’s why we need to make a year-round planting plan. With a plan we know that a plant that looks less than enticing in the early spring will reward us with fall blooms and interesting structure in the winter garden.

Gardening is not easy.  To be successful, we can’t rely on plants that only look good in the spring and expect fabulous results all season long. For many of us, especially those new to gardening, we need to continuously study our garden space, spend time reading garden-related books and magazines, tour public gardens and visit local plant nurseries several times a year. If this all sounds like a task, then perhaps gardening is not for you. Those that relish a lushly planted garden that offers something of interest in blooms, foliage, textures and movement value their time spent learning about and exploring gardens.  

Learning how to be a successful gardener requires commitment beyond next Wednesday. Case in point, Mexican Bush Sage. I’ve mentioned this plant before as it’s an inexpensive, easy-to-grow plant. The kicker is if you only saw it in the nursery in May, it may not garner a second glance from you. It’s small and not revealing a hint of what it will become in the late summer: a taller, slender, gentle plant with spectacular velvety purple blooms. Same can be said of Callicarpa. An unassuming shrub with a few thin stems emerging from a gallon pot doesn’t scream — you need me in your garden! But, add this plant and pay it no attention through the summer when it’s still unimpressive, and you will be rewarded in the fall when it’s bedecked in purple berries.  

The point is many plants aren’t showstoppers in the early spring. If we pass those over on Mother’s Day because that’s the only day we plan and plant our garden, we will sell our gardens short. Remember, gardening for nature has no beginning or end. There’s no start to the new garden season, rather it’s one continuous cycle of the garden changing month to month. 

Peter Wimberg is the president of Wimberg Landscaping, a full-service landscaping firm that has been in operation for more than 44 years. Peter is a strong proponent of planting with nature. The Wimberg office and its extensive pollinator gardens are located at 1354 US Route 50 in Milford, Ohio. For more on his gardening philosophy, go to wimberglandscaping/changing-the-landscape.