New Shade Garden - Any Ideas?

I have just been cleaning out under three mature spruce trees and a sugar maple tree. I cleared all the dead branches away and made them into mulch for later now I am wanting to plant things in this area. I have a similiar area that I cleared out last year and put hostas into it. Now I have put six or seven hostas in but want some variation in this garden. Something more 'showy' as this is the street front area. I will try for pictures tomorrow and maybe y'all could help out with some ideas.......here is part of what is already planted to start ya thinking.....

THANKS!!!

Here is another shot.....

I think I want a place to sit and I rescued two chairs that my neighbours dog chewed up and put them under there for now. I am going to attempt to 'make' something of them. I am thinking it needs to have a sort of 'hidden' garden theme. Like a lost treasure or a place you want to go take a closer look with a friend and sit awhile. Light, bright plants would be nice?
As you may be able to see, it is fairly deep shade but it has dappled areas thatget light, esp after cleaning it out a bit more today.

What are your thoughts? I need some inspiration.

What about Japanese painted fern or ghost fern? Light colors will add interest - also Brunnera variegata and Brunnera 'Looking Glass'. All will lighten up shade and are deer resistant. Good luck!

I sure think that astilbes would be nice there. They don't bloom as well in the dark as they do in more light but the foliage is lovely.

What USDA agricultural zone are you in? That would sure help.

doss - I live in zone 5. I tried to grow astible here 2 years ago and it just became sparce and wilted. I wondered if it was too hot here for it to be very prolific? It was in a shadier area in acidic soil.


fernwood - I do not have deer but the bunnies are popular! I think one is unhappy about my clearing out this space. It may have lived in there! I do love the idea of Brunerra, I have one in my hosta garden that often gets comments, I think it is Jack Frost. It may make a nice border planting! Good idea!


Is bishops weed too invasive for a woodland bed? I like how light it is. What is something that gets a bit taller for deep shade?

If you've got acid soil, how about some hardy ferns, azaleas, mayapple, or ligularia, or hellbore?
If you go to Fancy Fronds and us the frond database, then enter zone 5, you will see a long list of possible ferns.
http://www.fancyfronds.com/
Ligularia
http://www.bigdipperfarm.com/cgi-bin/searchstuff.pl?Botanical=Ligularia
Mayapple
http://www.bigdipperfarm.com/cgi-bin/searchall.pl
There are other places to get these things, I just like Big Dipper's website.

How about Jacob's Ladder, Columbine, Pulmonaria, violets, and if you don't mind planting some annuals, coleus, begonia, impatiens.

Lovely spot!
As you move ahead, keep in mind that maples (and I believe spruce as well) have shallow roots that are very hard on plantings....they don't share water well and the fine roots make it hard for the perennial roots to expand.

A couple years ago I began to plant under a maple, just to fill in the space w/ a nice planting. After 2 years I have taken out the hosta I REALLY like, the ferns, bleeding heart, and goat's beard. They were the SAME SIZE...no growth and the fine roots were all over them. Since relocating them this spring--ALL have grown NOTICEABLY.

What I have left there are larger hostas that I have plenty of, galium odoratum (sweet woodruff--adding more too--its a nice groundcover w/ teensy white flowers), digitalis lutea (straw foxglove) and epimedium rubrum. The hosta aren't growing much but they were larger to begin with, the digitalis is holding its own and the other 2 are slowly expanding.

I would be reluctant to add plants that enjoy moisture. From time to time threads on dry shade crop up and there are always good ideas and plants that are mentioned.

As non-plant items you might enjoy some simple chimes tucked in those lush branches or even some glass icicles--they catch bits of light and offer an intriguing glimmer.

Good luck!


This message was edited Jul 26, 2006 9:23 PM

hmmm, here is my recent efforts under 2 Maple trees, I am now worried that all this labour has been in vain!

dove,

Lovely area. Like the idea of your secret garden. A nice bench to sit and veg or read a book. sounds wonderful. Monkshood is also a nice shade plant. Jack in the Pulpit, Bugbane,Heuchera, Heucherella

GardenGeek_WI - those are good choices, I am now stopped because we are waiting for our chipper shredder to be repaired. Once that is fixed we can shredd up all the branches we cleared out for that spot and make it into mulch. Then the plan is to look for stuff on clearance this fall. I guess I am on hold also waiting to see what I want to do about my hosta garden (see toiling in vain thread @ hostas). I may move a bunch of that into this shade garden as it is 2 spruce trees and a sweet gum (not a maple) and the sweet gum is at the front where I would not plant most likely.

...susan

dove,

Ah, clearance,,,,Love that word. Don't forget the online nurseries. They great sales now too.

I have to find some mulch. I think I'll ask up at City hall what the do with all the shredded stuff from the trees.

They have a place here that people take all their clippings and 'green' stuff too and then you can pick up free mulch from them. The problem is that I got some of it and there was plastic bread tabs, glass, bottle caps etc. It was sad to think that some people ruin it for the rest of us by putting trash in the compost piles. It just ticked me off......****#@#$%^^....well don't even get me started....lol

.....susan

I love my Ligularia, "The Rocket." It gives a nice bright impact. Perhaps some of the water problems under the maples could be treated by sinking the plants in pots with some of those water crystals in them.
How about ajuga for up front? They like dry shade and bloom nicely in the spring.

dove,

Our town has the same thing. When we go to ge compost off the piles, Bill uses one of those like potato plastic bins. It has holes big enough for the dirt to go through, but will catch all the other junk that people put in there. Some people are just ignorant.

wood,
Also love my Ligularia. It's getting huge and I love it! Like my Ajuga too,,,have to keep that one in check,,LOL I'm not a pot person except for my mini hostas. Some of them are in Terra Cotta pots and like that better than being in the ground.

dovey, you can always try some lily of the valley, too.

ooooooooooooooo no,,,,not those weeds. Ick! That's all I can say. Love em, but hate em. They grow EVERYWHERE you don't want them to. I have been pulling mine up for a few years. Every year, I think I've gotten them all, there come some more. If you have an area that you don't care if they take over, they are great for that, otherwise they won't stay in place.

I do like lily-of-the-valley, but I agree they take over. I don't think that is the best area for them. But thanks! I think I do have a tree they would work under.