Shrubs and Trees for Damp Shade

The north side of my house is shady and the ground stays soggy much of the time. There is really no reason for me to struggle growing grass there. I have been thinking about switching over to a ground cover and adding some bushes and plants. The ideal plants would tolerate full shade and damp soil and also help to suck up water. A tree along the side of the house might be nice and once grown might help with the water as well.

I have found a couple ground covers that might work and I should not have too much problem with finding some perennials. What about shrubs or trees? Seems like a lot of trees like sun. Would some types of Hydrangeas do well in this environment?

Here is a picture of the area. There are two (boxwood?) bushes there. One is doing okay and the other looks rather sad. They have not grown much in the last four years. I am picturing a path up to the gate, some bushes along the house, some perennials along the fence, and the rest covered with ground cover.

- Brent

What potential! Your yard is a lovely area. I can just imagine a row of hydrangeas in there.

yes, I agree. shade + damp = hydrangea (in zone 7, anyway).

For trees along the fence, how about crepe myrtle? They do fine in part shade, tho the more sun they get the more they bloom. I have a few in a very damp, shady area and they have done well for years.

Good luck with your project and have fun!

Cheri'

Hydrangea would definitely enjoy the damp Northside of your house. If you are looking for trees, you might want to consider a River Birch, which has beautiful exfoliating bark. It would love those conditions.

in addition to what's mentioned above, sweet gums like the moisture as do willows [the upright or corkscrew willows should be ok there - weeping willows may be too big]. daylilies would do well there too

I did an advanced query at the USDA plants database, native US shrubs found in Virginia that use a high amount of moisture and are tolerant of shade:

Aesculus flava
Aesculus pavia
Callicarpa americana
Celtis laevigata
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Chionanthus virginicus
Cornus canadensis
Fraxinus caroliniana
Ilex coriacea
Itea virginica
Lycopodium annotinum
Rhamnus alnifolia
Rhododendron atlanticum
Rhododendron viscosum
Salix discolor
Salix eriocephala
Smilax laurifolia
Smilax walteri
Spiraea betulifolia
Zenobia pulverulenta

I think I'd go for the Rhododendron viscosum. This inquiry did not consider availability at nurseries - think that can be selected.

Rhododendron viscosum will be an excellent choice, plus adding several different seasons of interest too! I love the species Rhododendron, if you have the space to accomodate its width and height.

Are you asking about a local nursery? Locally, Behnke's Nursery in Potomac & Beltsville, MD, may have this tree. Otherwise, I would suggest Woodlanders Nursery in S.C., however they won't ship during the very hot summer months. They offer hard-to-find and unqiue trees & shrubs. You might also want to try Roslyn Nursery on Long Island, NY.

Good luck!

shirley - do you live near behnke's in beltsville? i'm going there on july 8th.....

Thanks for the ideas! The USDA advanced search (http://plants.usda.gov) is pretty advanced. It seems like some of the plants that turn up as "Shade Tolerant" actually prefer a lot of sun and often a tree or a ground cover shows up as a shrub.

I was monitoring this area a little closer last weekend. It gets a little more sun that I thought (at least it does this time of year). The corner where the fence lines meet gets sun from around 7 am until 2 pm. The entire fence line gets sun at some point during the day. There is a brief period where the area against the house in front of the chimney gets sun, but the area behind the chimney never gets any direct sun.

A Crepe Myrtle in the front left corner would be nice. For the front right corner and/or along the house the following seem like good choices: Callicarpa americana, Itea virginica, Rhamnus alnifolia, or Rhododendron viscosum. I cannot say I know much about Rhamnus alnifolia (alderleaf buckthorn).

I think a Hydrangea macrophylla would also be a good fit. Funny, I have read that Hydrangeas require a lot of water, but the USDA site lists Moisture Use as Low

We will have to see when the budget and free time will let this happen. This fall or next spring I would really like to till in 2 to 3" of compost into the soil, layout some bed lines and plant some groundcover. I have another area of my backyard that is in more dire need of a couple trees and shrubs, so it might suck up my budget.

Thanks again,
Brent