Size Matters When Choosing Plants for Your Yard

When you’re at the nursery choosing plants and trees for your yard, it’s only natural to choose larger (more mature) plants. After all, you want your yard to look great and larger plants are certainly going to get you there faster. But are you making the right decision?

Here at The Yard Fairy, our planting plans specify smaller plants and trees. There are two reasons we do this. Money and plant performance.

Smaller plants and trees are more cost-effective. When money isn’t a concern, we are happy to put in larger, more mature plants to help our owners receive that immediate effect in their yards.

But, when it comes to trees, research and our own experience show that it’s better for the health of the tree to plant smaller container trees. They establish to their environment better, grow faster and healthier and far surpass their larger counterparts.

An example from a colleague of ours is the client who wanted instant large trees and elected to go against the advice of his landscaper. They planted some 24″ box sycamores and some 1 gallon sycamores. The 1 gallon trees grew to 20 feet in one year, while the much larger and more mature trees in the 24″ boxes were 6 feet shorter.