Shade Gardening: Shady problem area help/advice?, 1 by shimer

shimer wrote:
I have a comparable problem (including clay) and am so glad you posted the question: maybe I'll get a few ideas I haven't thought of from replies to your posting. The suggestions for climbing hydrangeas and autumn clematis where what I first wanted to suggest. Maybe I can elaborate a little for you: there are about a dozen kinds of climbing hydrangeas with which I'm familiar, and there is a lovely slightly variegated one (lighter green margins) called Hyd. anomala subsp. petiolaris 'Mirranda'. They do take several years before you get much coverage: the adage is the "first yr. they sleep, the next year they creep and the third they leap". They only bloom once they stop growing, so if your fence isn't huge, you can limit the expansion of the plant to promote flowering. Not all of them will grow on fences--if it's a sturdy, solid fence then they'll take, but if it's basically chain link, my understanding is that only Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris will grow on that. Before buying, ask the vendor if the variety you're interested in needs a solid surface to cling to (such as a tree, wall, solid fence), I've planted about 6 kinds of climbing hydrangeas, and find the foliage from Schizophragma hydrangeoides 'Moonlight' absolutely gorgeous. Here's a picture of it (year 2, still creeping). Schizophragma integrifolium var. molle (Chinese Climbing Hyd) seems to get off to a faster start. Though they don't produce berries, they are attractive to birds as a place to hide/jump around, etc. Something else I'm trying (facing west) is Rubus Odoratum (these are brambles, I believe they'll bear raspberries and I planted them specifically to attract birds). They'll form thickets over time, and birds also love thickets to nest and forage in. This particular variety has attractive foliage and is growing well for me near my hostas and ferns. I've also put in some shrubs (quite a few viburnum) which bear berries that attract birds. I don't know if you have space for shrubs, but if you do, birds love the berries. Some viburnums are really big, others compact, so there's quite a selection. Viburnum acerifoium is pretty small. You need to plant 2 distinct varieties of a species so that fertilization can occur: otherwise you get attractive shrubs with no berries. I've purchased a lot of vines and woody ornamentals from Wilkerson Mill (hydrangea.com): they have a big selection of healthy plants, are very knowledgeable and will answer questions. Checking their website just now, I see they have Late Dutch Honeysuckle, which from their description is not invasive. The "Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher, Bird Feeders and Bird Gardens" lists also Youpon Holly as a source of berries that attract birds. Stokes "Bird Gardening Book" lists the following: Honeysuckles, Bittersweet, Grapes, Poison Ivy (yikes!), Greenbriers, Va. Creeper, Carolina snailseed and Supplejack--don't know how many of these grow in shade, but it would probably be a good starting place for research.