Plants

• 1). Separate plants by full sun, partial shade and full shade. This lets you determine how much sun each area gets in your landscape and where you can plant different shrubs or flowers.
  
  
• 2). Measure the amount of space needed for plants to grow. Compare plants based on their mature size. While you can prune plants, they will achieve a certain size once fully grown.
  
  
• 3). Calculate the soil, water and fertilizer needs for different types of plants. Placing plants with widely different needs close together can result in helping one plant while harming another.
  
  
• 4). Determine the amount of time needed to care for landscape plants. For example, roses may require lots of care while small perennial flowers do not. This will affect which plants you choose for the landscape.
  
  

Trees

• 1). Review how quickly trees grow and the spread of their roots. Many shade trees found in landscapes have roots that spread along the top 2 feet of soil. This can disturb other plants in the area.
  
  
• 2). Check the pruning requirements for trees. Like plants, trees often need a lot of work and upkeep to trim and maintain growth.
  
  
• 3). Look for companion plants that go with trees. When adding trees to your landscape, certain plants may grow better with other specific plants. Selecting complementary plants and trees can prevent problems with pollination or bugs in your landscape.
  
  
• 4). Plant dwarf trees to cut down on space requirements. Trees can also increase the amount of shade in your landscape, changing the types of plants or shrubs you can include in your yard.