Plant Selection
Your goal is obviously to select plants that are compatible with your design. However, you also need to select plants that are going to be compatible with the site and environment. This means you need plants that match the available moisture and light. They should also be able to adapt within the local fluctuations in temperature and moisture. It is a common misconception about Xeriscape designs that they use plants that are drought tolerant. That is an important consideration but not the only one. A plant's ability to survive periods of heavy moisture if necessary may also be a selection criteria.
In addition to the considerations of the planting site environment you may also want to consider other factors:
What is the plants size and form going to be when it is mature? Will it overgrow the site or crowd out other plants? Will it's mature size maintain the proper scale in the design?
What is the plant's growth rate? Will it require a lot of maintenance to keep it pruned and nicely formed?
What is the plant's appearance? What is the leaf texture and how does it fit in with other plants? What are the plant's colors and do they mix well with other adjacent plants or landscape elements? Does the plant have seasonal colors?
Does the plant serve the correct functional purpose? Does it serve as a screen or provide ground cover? Is it the correct form and size for the specific planting site?
It is important to remember that one of the key elements of the initial Planning & Design was the creation of water use zones. You want to select plants that are also appropriate for each of your zones. This may seem like a lot to consider and it may seem very constraining. Many plants and grasses can survive without supplement water once they are established. The key is group your plants according to their water needs and then match those to your site conditions and design.
The Use of Turf principle is your next big consideration. This should have been considered during the initial Planning & Design in terms of what areas need to be turf to meet the design requirements and to meet the use requirements.
Continue exploring the seven principles: