Plant nurseries and garden centers may only offer these plant selections below as a selected cultivar. They also will rotate their inventory to keep their stock” fresh”, so despite this list below being a list of plants that we see will perform well in the Greater Cincinnati region, these plants will not be consistently available. This list is intended for most Southwestern Ohio gardens having the prevailing conditions ideal for these plants. Other plants not mentioned will do well in the Greater Cincinnati area. Having the right microclimate and soil pH will give the gardener the opportunity to grow an Ericaceous garden full of Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel and Sourwood. Few such places exist here but so do bog and fen-like conditions that foster their plant communities.
One of our mottos is to put the right plant in the right place. Another proverb we offer is to install the planting green side up, meaning that it must be properly planted as it would be seen in a natural setting. Seeing the poor quality of some landscape plant installations rings true the second phrase. Nature sets the rules; a walk in the woods shows which plants best perform in each site (disregarding the colonized invasive plants). Looking at the Proper Plant Installation page, one will clearly see that nature does not provide for mulch mounded trees or trees that resemble a pole stuck in the ground (no visible root flare). Plants did not evolve to be incorporated with wire baskets burlap wrap designed only for their transport.
We plant trees and shrubs in the Spring Grove landscape with the intention that they will be thriving in 100-years plus barring a natural catastrophe like a lightning strike or wind shear.
Know your site conditions and select a plant accordingly. Install your planting using the practices expounded on the Proper Plant Installation page and follow through with correct pruning when needed and timely irrigation for the first couple years. Maintain deer exclusion barriers and remove stake and guying when the plant roots have firmly anchored the tree.
Plant the right tree in the right place for yourself and those who will see it after you have left. Record your planted tree with Taking Root, the campaign to restore Greater Cincinnati’s urban forest (www.takingroot.info)
Upland drier sites in full sun:
Lowland wetter sites in full sun:
Difficult sites in full sun:
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