PLANT HOARDER

 You refuse to pull out volunteer coneflowers because, even though they have spread throughout your entire garden, they are soooo pretty.  You have collections of plants sitting on your patio, waiting to be planted for over two months because you fell in love at the garden center but you also have zero room left in your garden.  You take every free plant that your gardening friends offer up … even the bishop’s weed and the green and white hostas.  You plant 100 tomatoes each year because you can’t bear to thin the babies when you start them inside.  You audibly gasp when someone tells you they dug out a plant and threw it in the compost bin. (In contrast, my husband gasped when I told him that I threw out the three plain green hostas that had been sitting on top of the soil in my new shade garden for months. I felt so proud of myself … now I have room for a dwarf oakleaf hydrangea instead of three boring green hostas! Winning!)

I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to throw away plants. There is such a thing as too many plants. We have a saying around Wasco Nursery — “We can’t have all the things.” That is what keeps us from bringing home thousands of plants each year and having no place to put them! (Don’t get me wrong: Our staff buys plenty of plants without thinking … and we also goad each other into buying stuff just so we can see it growing if we don’t have room — but it’s our job!) But we can have MOST of the things if we plan the garden accordingly and “triage” our plantings. I have gotten very ruthless in my advanced age when it comes to plants. I have no tolerance for plants that don’t perform. They take up valuable real estate in my garden. I’d just as soon toss a boring hosta in order to plant a gorgeous dragontail fern that gives a nice texture contrast to the fancier “June” hosta that is one my top 10 hosta faves. I spent so much time last season removing weed species, groundcover that ran amok, and seedlings from overambitious Joe Pye weed, goldenrod and Liriope (all good plants in moderation), so much so that I have learned a valuable lesson in throwing away plants that are of no value to me, replacing them with things I love and that will behave with all of my other plants. That’s not to say that the volunteer coneflower and the bumper crop of tomatoes aren’t valuable, but they just aren’t to me in my own garden. You have to stop and think about the plant’s value, characteristics (good and bad), overall appearance, size and mature growth habit. It makes no sense to plant five hydrangeas when you only have room for one! Besides, you can always give your hoard to another garden friend … also win-win. I have had many projects this year with clients who have massive, aging landscape beds that are full of a mix of volunteers, good plants and just overall chaos. The common theme is that they felt bad thinning the herd and throwing away anything. But it’s so much better to remove plants that aren’t worth keeping, make beds smaller to decrease maintenance and mulch costs, and replant things that YOU enjoy. There are no plant police who will arrest you for throwing out the 200 black-eyed Susans that completely engulfed your front courtyard even though they flower so nicely. These clients were so much happier when we left them with organized, clean, colorful, well-thought-out gardens that still give them “all the things.” So, from one plant hoarder to another, I see you. I get it. I love plants. BUT… learning to organize your garden wish list and branch out into more well-thought-out gardens, collecting desirable plants and removing the “extras” will reward you in the future. You’ll be a happier gardener.

Meagan is the Senior Landscape Designer at Wasco Nursery in St. Charles. She can be reached at 630-584-4424 or design@ wasconursery.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!