Design Planting refers primarily to the arrangement of plants to serve xeveral purposes. When minimizing maintenance requirements and pesticide use are included in the objectives of landscape design, emphasis should be placed on 1.) matching plants to their site conditions, 2.) choosing plants that have few cultural and physical maintenance requirements both generally and in the specific context of the design, 3.) choosing plants that are tolerant of local pests, and 4.) situating plants to facilitate maintenance treatments.

How well a plant will do under particular site conditions is largely determined by its cultural requirements. Because microclimatic conditions often vary within a site regardless of its size (e. g., differences in exposure to sunlight between the north and south sides of even a small building), it is always important when selecting and placing plants to consider factors such as soil type, moisture conditions, and exposure to sun and wind. Plants unsuited to their site conditions will not be healthy and vigorous and therefore require added maintenance treatments to help them grow and/or prevent their loss.