Garden wisdom: First year it sleeps…

First year it sleeps, second year it creeps, third year it leaps.

I say this all the time to my landscape design clients when we are about to plant their gardens. Mostly I say this so that they don’t go into shock when they see little plants dotting their gardens after paying good money to buy them. What the usually don’t realize is that the extra space I leave between plants will be covered once the plants their maturity.

When I design a garden, I’m designing for the future. The last thing you want is to have plants overgrowing each other within a few months. This would require pulling out some plants to give the others space to grow – a waste of money and energy!

The rule of thumb for California is that perennials and shrubs take about 2-3 years to reach maturity, while trees and larger plants take about 5-7 years.

I’ve had some funny experiences where a client calls me 6 months after installing their garden saying all the plants are dead. I run over and see that what actually has happened is one plant has burst into action, growing at a very fast rate. By comparison, are all other plants seem to be growing in slow motion.

So, this is where the old adage comes in:

• First year it sleeps – the plants are in shock after transplant.
• Second year it creeps – plants, especially perennials, start to come alive.  Flowers bloom and the plants start to grow a little.
• Third year it leaps – I’ve seen vines that seemed slow at start take over entire walls in the third year. You’ll see a big difference in growth since the plants have now had two seasons of rain and adjustment.

See the old adage in action:

 

 

If you don’t like the gaps between plans in the first year, there are a couple of short-term solutions:

• Annuals make a nice short-term cover. They’re relatively inexpensive and easy to plant.
• Laying mulch down is both good for retaining moisture as well as providing an attractive cover in the meantime.