Do you reshape for the climate near local plants, etc.? Does it work for you? Save water? Require smaller amount fertilizer?...
Does it work for you? Save water? Require smaller amount fertilizer? Less work?
Always use your climate guidelines. Any of the seller can tell you what your climate numbers are. They will also know how to tell you which plants to naturalize next to. I don't use fertilizers, and the most work is keeping the weeds out. I singular water during a drought. Illinois number is 5, anything out of that have to be replaced each year or dug up. More work. Enjoy.
Glendale's power hungry Neighborhood Services wants the adjectives city to look like a golf course but it is insane to slight the drought & the fact we live contained by the desert so I have be learning & experimenting (& getting frazzled & fined.)
There are so many things to consider, sun, shade, boil, cold, wind, marine, drought, soil type, location, use, space, invasive, fires, slopes, house style, smog, traffic & so on. Then you need to plan it out so everything should work together. There are more resources for information than I thought but it is still difficult to draw from plants & knowledgable info from the discount, big box stores or even some nurseries. Your local government or river utility may actually help out. Native plant societies, MWD, gardens, DIY & HGTV & all others currently hooking up beside the "green movement" can provide good information if you pursue it.
When it starts coming together you use smaller amount water, fertilizer, maintenence, work and you win flutterbys, birds, bees & wonderful changes year round.
Answers: Research, then plan.
I bought a book on perennials and flecked all in my zone (native or not). Also, got on mail list for nursery catelogs such as Gurney's, etc... and also manifest those for my zone.
Now, read and understand respectively item.
sun/shade
soil quality (what my patio has & not what I have need of for plant)
'hardy'
how much water/drought resistant
flowering plant (colors, time of bloom, longevity of bloom)
height
aggressive plants (choke out even weeds)
I pick what requires most minuscule amount of work.
I prefer ground cover instead of rocks/mulch; this requires planning, too.
Avoid border trimming with aggressive plants essential buildings and 'planted' bricks or poured cement under barricade lines and flower/garden borders.