Learning about microclimates in the landscape has helped me a great deal in my gardening practices.

Microclimate by definition means: “the essentially uniform local climate of a usually small site or habitat.” If you look around your landscape, you will find many microclimate areas where the temperature, soil moisture, sun or shade are very different from the whole and play a huge role in how your individual plants perform.

Today we'll talk a bit about your naturally occurring microclimates. I say “naturally occurring” because your house, trees, shrubs, fences and other structures create a particular climate, and knowing this will help you choose plants.

We have all planted perennials, shrubs and trees in places where they struggled to grow and didn't perform as we had expected. After planting it where we thought it looked best, it outgrew the spot, didn't thrive or died before it had a chance to grow.

Since our homes and buildings are fixed in the landscape, we often have to sacrifice our plant wishes to fit in with the climates created by these structures. Here are thoughts on how this concept can work for you in the home garden:

♦Hostas, for example, love shade or part shade and forest-floor-like soil, which is thick with decomposed leaves and vegetation. Plants grown in this microclimate will be huge and lush and stay green all season. If you choose a climate that has too much sun where the soil is not naturally as moist and cool, the hosta's leaf tips will look burned as the season progresses into summer and hot weather. Planting them under large shrubs or in a shade garden area will utilize an existing microclimate that will help them thrive. Amending the soil with compost will recreate the forest-like atmosphere even further.

♦If you plant lilacs in a microclimate that has too much shade, next to another large plant, or on the shady side of the house or garage, you won't have bloom — or very little bloom, and the plant will grow tall, leggy and spindly trying to reach the sun's rays. Hydrangeas will thrive and bloom in a shade/part-shade north-facing area next to a fence or the foundation wall of the house, or near other larger plants.

♦Think of clematis — a plant that loves its roots in the shade and its head in the sun. Locate a microclimate that will encourage the plant to perform well. Planting it in a too-shady climate is a sure way to stunt its growth. At the same time, hot sun on its root zone will also cause discouragement.

♦This fall, take note of each plant and how some have gone dormant earlier than others. We have to consider that each plant has its season, but microclimates will determine when the plant goes dormant.

If planted near a building or a privacy fence, that small bit of shelter will continue the growth period another few days or weeks. In the spring, the soil will warm more quickly near those structures, and the perennial or bulb plant will begin to grow earlier than plants in exposed areas.