Planting Guides

Soil on the hands. A plant waiting beside the hole. Planting guides are for that hour — how deep, how far apart, how much water on day one — and for a few later jobs people search the same way: dividing a crowded clump, cutting back after bloom, sowing seed, or winter care when that is the real task.

The small label under each name tells you which job you are opening, so a seed note does not pretend to be a shrub planting page. These are not cultivar choosers and they will not rescue a plant outside its hardiness zone. Confirm the plant on its profile if you need to; then come back here for the dig.

When you want the wider first-year picture — site choice, early yellowing, the habits that decide whether something settles — switch to a how-to-grow guide. The A–Z list below is ordered by plant name.