You see it at your local nursery and you think to yourself, "Awww, what a cute little tree! It would look so good in such-and-such a place!" You take the little guy home and give it some lovin'. But after a few years your cute tree has now turned into something... not so cute.
Your intentions in the beginning were purely innocent! You just didn't know your little tree's full potential. After some tossing and turning, you come to the realization that there is only one solution:
Choppity-Chop-Chop!
To help in avoiding this problem we can use the plant labels. These labels help aid us in our search for the right plant for the right space.
A label usually tells us:
- max. growth of the plant
- amount of sun it needs
- soil conditions
- hardiness rating
These are general guidelines that may not always be exact but definitely helpful. If the label says it will grow 10’ wide and you need to fill a 3’ space- don’t plant it! If it needs full sun – don’t put it in deep shade….etc.
Lethbridge is rated a zone 3b, but if you have a sheltered location some zone 4 can be grown. These are, again, general guidelines as the zone rating takes into account various factors such as the number of frost free days, day length, precipitation etc. It's funny though, it does not take into account CHINOOKS!
Happy Gardening!
Kirsten