I am so excited about this forum. I have been a cottage garden fanatic all my life, but never had the yard to do it. Now I have almost an acre and still cant have one. I bought the wrong house - north facing (shade), sloped, surrounded by mature oak trees, in a canyon. Oh well - I love to see all the gorgeous photos.
I noticed almost all of the postings are from the midwest and eastern area. Is there anyone out there out here on the west coast? Preferably Southern California - Orange County. I am interested to see what grows here.
The other big question - is it possible to have a floral cottage garden if you have mostly part-shade - full shade?
Sherri
Cottage Garden in Southern California?
are you kidding, there are quite a few of us from the greater Phoenix area.
oxallis will bloom in your part shade, hostas will bloom too. lily of the valley and violets too. As for taller more textured ones, others will have to chime in, but I'm sure you'll find there are at least a few with the same or similar growing conditions.
another thought just hit me, check out the shade gardens forum. there will be tons of plants listed there by those with shade who want to grow pretty flowers too.
In the event you're new, which I don't know but if you are, click on Garden Talk then on shade gardens to locate it.
Hi Sherri,
Welcome to the CG forum! Yes, there would be a lot of flowers you could have, but you might be off in terms of season. For instance, Mimulus is a perennial, but might bloom in the winter instead of us midwesterners who grow it as an annual. Same with something called Balsam Impatiens. Other things like delphinium that we grow as perennials, you might have to grow as an annual. It would be very interesting to hear what you do.
No matter what you can grow or not grow, you can have climbing vines and climbing roses on a fence, so there's the start of your cottage garden right there. You need to look at Zepherine Drouhan and Abraham Darby. Those are the only ones I know by name, but there is a great little thread with a little more information if you do a search for "shade".
http://www.westvalleyrose.org/roseinfo/fragrantroses.html -- be sure to search for shade, and be prepared to see a lot of hits like --"a lovely shade of pink". You know to do F, right?
I know there are blooming shrubs in California, LOL, even in the shade.
Hopefully other people will chime in, and you could also check into the So Calif forum (surely there is one) and ask them about Delphiniums, Phlox, Larkspur, Campanula, Hollyhocks and Foxglove and see what they say. All of them can take SOME shade, but how much, I'm not sure.
Suzy
Thank you so much you two. I consider myself a novice gardener even though I have been growing plants ever since I was a young girl. But it was all in pots. I have been researching plants for my yard ever since I moved in (two years) and slowly but surely I am making some progress. It is difficult because plants grow much slower when they are in the shade. I will check out the other forums you suggested.
Thank you again - and I have to admit that I am absolutely jelous that you all have cottage gardens - but keep the photos coming. I am using them for my computer wallpaper to keep reminding me of my dream garden.
Sherri
Sherri, we don't all have cottage gardens yet. many of us are in the same boat you're in but in different areas of the country. my yard was untouched for many years before I got here. the ground is caliche and I can't dig it by myself. so planting was nto an option until I got some help. I have one good size bed, not huge but nice, which I'm starting with, the rest is bermuda grass which I'm fighting to keep out of the bed or it will take over every inch. We all have challenges trying to garden, caliche for some, clay for others, sane without much soil for others stilk. It's an ongong project which is half the reason we're all here, to learn from each other and assist where possible.
Dont forget crocosmia.................................they love part shade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy Moly - I just looked up what crocosmia looks like. I love it. Thank you. Yes - this is the perfect place to learn :)
Sherri
Sherri, Annies Annuals carries lots of plants for the California garden, many very appropriate for cottage style gardening. I bet you could find zone specific guidance there. And if you check out the rose forum, there are several California gardeners with very cottagy rose gardens (check out Zuzu's pics- most of hers are in shade).
Fantastic - Thanks :)
Sherri
Remember that shade in CA can be almost equivalent to "full sun" elsewhere! I find the biggest adjustment to cottage style gardening on the West Coast is not only our rainy vs dry reversed seasons, but also the cool soil vs warm soil issue. Snapdragons, nasturtiums, and callas, for instance, are evergreen in CA, BUT they will go dormant if the soil heats up! Keep it cool with shade and they often will stay all year 'round for you.
Improve your soil. No matter where you are in CA, most of the soil isn't that great. The old adage "spend 90 cents of your dollar on soil, and 10 cents on plants" is very true. Our rains are starting, so don't mulch now, but early next spring, mulch well (don't pile it around the stems, though; keep it an inch or so away to prevent rot) on your established plants. Don't mulch seedlings until they're transplanted and have become established.
Water regularly, deeply, and you won't have to water wastefully. I only have a large city lot, certainly not anywhere near your property size, but I can water all my garden beds totaling over 2000 sq. ft. on less than $20/mo in the summer -- admittedly, I am in the SF Bay Area where our temps are moderate compared to others. I find in cottage gardens that soaker hoses work better than drip irrigation. I use easy-release connectors and timers, and it works quite well.
Group plants of similar water needs together. The further from the faucet, the more xeric plantings should be. Plan your paths through your garden beds to allow for easy weeding. You cannot let weeding get away from you in a cottage garden in CA. The weeds will love your soil, feeding and watering, and do their very best to sneak in amongst your plantings. Let them go too far and your prized specimens will have a hard time surviving!
My lot runs east-west, so I have a sunny front and 1 side of the house that is sunny. Due to two large trees in the back, however, fully half the lot is partially or fully shaded throughout most of the day. I'll post a bunch of photos, but the first photo is of the front yard, just so you can get an idea of what these beds look like. They get sun from about 10a to 4p, so this qualifies as full sun exposure. However, in Southern CA, if you even got 1/2 of that, it would probably still qualify as full sun!
This message was edited Dec 8, 2006 4:21 PM
This message was edited Dec 8, 2006 6:32 PM
Photo #2: Our backyard is divided into two halves, and as you can see our property is also sloped (good drainage, LOL!). Here's a photo from our upper patio, looking down into the lower patio that was just put in last year. This photo was taken in May 2006 and looks directly East. You can see how large the Artemisia "Powis Castle" has grown from a modest 1 gallon container in less than a year. Because the maple (foreground) and walnut (background) are deciduous, in winter these beds get whatever sun is shining. In summer, however, this Artemisia gets exactly 1/2 hr of direct sun, and bright shade the remainder.
Photo #3: Going down the path from the upper patio to the lower, this path follows the right edge of the property. Previously it was nothing but weeds, as tall as 6' high. The area on the RH side, looking lusher than it really is, is about 5' deep to the neighbor's fence. We built the two garden beds on the LH side, paralleling the width of the property, so they are long but narrow beds. In between is a dry-concrete patio to keep the weeds down and put our lounge chairs!
Some of the plants are: Japanese maple, bearded iris, helichrysums, echiums, nasturtiums, hellebore, cestrum, citrus, rugosa rose, cytisus (broom), calla lilies, canna lilies, New Zealand flax (phormiums), mimosa, oleander, lamium, limonium, star jasmine, aucuba.
Photo #4: Standing on the lower patio and looking back, upwards, towards the house, you get a better idea of how we enclosed the maple within a new bed. Again, these photos were taken in May 2006 so things have grown in nicely since the area was finished late last year.
Photo #5: Here's a closer look at the bed that surrounds the walnut. It is steeply sloped and there is yet another planting area and pathway about 8' wide, between this bed and the fence that marks our property boundary.
The canna is 'Tropicanna' aka 'Phaison'. It prefers partial shade anyway, as do the callas. The slender standard against the fence is a 'Sister Mary Agnes' oleander standard that will eventually help hide the schoolyard behind our property. As you can see, the cytisus is in full bloom (the bushy yellow-flowered shrub located to the right of the white-flowering callas on the LH border of the photo) despite being in almost continuous shade from 10a onwards.
Photo #6: Here we are at the bottom of our property, looking towards the neighbor's house (a problem you don't have, you lucky person!). The tree is the walnut, and you are looking at what in summer is a full shade bed. Despite that, there is helichrysum, cannas, callas, cytisus, bearded iris, along with some sun lovers along the LH corner you can't see, such as the echium, erysimum, and limonium.
jkom51,
those pics are delightful and I love how you used the block to raise beds.
Photo #7: The remaining 2 photos are of the north side of the house. They are bright shade only. However, our neighbor's house is painted white, and it does reflect light nicely along this side. On the other hand, the neighbor's overgrown Toyon does its part in trying to shade the middle and lower areas!
This photo is taking looking eastward. These are my shade & water lovers -- callas, rhodies, hydrangeas, lamium, plectranthus, Japanese maple. The others like water but don't insist on it: bearded iris, hellebores, ferns (yes, some ferns actually can do quite well in xeric plantings!).
Thanks, hey_jude! We were always so worried the horrible adobe clay soil (which we had dug out and replaced with compost) would eventually slide all the way down the hill, we felt we had to stabilize it in some way! The terracing with blocks was our solution and it seems to have worked out well. Like most folks, we couldn't afford those lovely stone walls that are taken for granted in other regions, and had to use blocks as the most cost-effective alternative. Softening the edges of concrete blocks with plantings is a great way to integrate them with the landscape.
Anyway, here's the last photo. This bed I'm actually proudest of, because it's my xeric experiment. It gets no direct irrigation, only runoff from when I irrigate the bed above. The lowest edge of the bed (LH side of photo) does get direct morning sun for exactly 1/2 hr when the sun first comes up over the hills. Then the trees get in the way, so it's bright shade from there on.
There is bearded iris (this is an old unnamed variety, BTW, that reblooms 2-3x per year), aucuba, liriope, star jasmine, hellebore, and a Microlepia fern (hidden behind the star jasmine). I used to have some lime helichrysum in it, but yanked it out because there was just too much in such a small bed. I may replace it though, because I'm thinking of having the star jasmine (on a pillar, that's why it's so tall) taken out. The aucuba will get to 6' anyway, so that will give sufficient "upper layer" to the bed as it matures.
So YMMV, depending on the plants you put in. But I don't think you'll have any problems creating cottage style garden beds in CA shade!
This message was edited Dec 8, 2006 4:26 PM
zkom51
Your photos are bringing tears to my eyes - they are so beautiful. You have been so wonderful with your help. I am printing everything out and will keep it, study it, study it some more. I just ordered some amendments for my soil. I havent been focusing on that enough. I wish I could hire you on a temporay basis to look at my yard and provide me a sketch and list of what you see could work. You most definetly are talented.
Again, thanks for sharing.
Sherri
jkom, perfect examples of how beautiful a California cottage garden can be! Masterfully done!
Great example of a CA cottage style garden! Looks like you have put every inch to good use. Can you grow lilies in CA? They do well in part shade here for me.
susan
jkmom
Did you start your plants from seed, or did you purchase them already rooted and partially grown? I have looked up some of the plant you listed and they dont come up in the plantfile section. So I was wondering if you had to plant them from seed - or where were you able to purchase them from?
Thanks
Sherri
For the most part I buy container plants. For the more common varieties I go to HDepot or Lowe's garden centers or chain stores like OSH or Long's that have good garden depts. For more unusual plants I go to one of the excellent nurseries we have in our area. The competition in the SF Bay Area is so high, even the big box garden centers have reasonably good garden centers.
If you are not in an area where there are a lot of good nurseries, often you will find good buys at the local colleges and state universities that have horticultural departments, city or county arboretums, local gardening societies, and even amateur swap meets like the ones DG and Gardenweb participants hold regularly.
Wonderful. Thank you. I am in the midst of planning my amendment project. I have a huge yard, so its going to take some time. I am figuring out where to start. It will probably take me a few years to get it where I want it. But thanks to you, I have a better chance of achieving my goal now that I know that soil has been the problem all along.
I am sending a couple photos of my challenging yard.
Here's another
This might be easier
http://exquisiteassistant.com/YARD%2012-05.htm
Wow Jazmine, it does look like you have a challenge with all those steep slopes, but building up your soil should help. It looks like it will be a cool cozy place once you get it all planted.
susan
Thanks Susan. Some of my slopes are pretty steep. It took me awhile to find someone to put in chain link fencing to close in my property (the dogs were doing too much exploring of the canyon). I am guessing that the slopes are at least 45 degrees. It is challenging even to plant plants without falling on my you know what. There has to be some inexpensive way to create platforms of some sort to level out portions. If anyone has any suggestions I would love it. If you do - if you can provide a link for a "how to", photos of an example. Right now I have no visual to go by.
Thanks
Sherri
I don't think our property slopes quite as much as yours, but you can get a slightly better idea of how we terraced it by looking at the photos on our Comcast web page:
https://home.comcast.net/~j.komatsu/
It helps to have broadband, it's very photo-heavy. Check the "Installing the Garden" pages for start-to-finish photos. These are years 2002 through 2004, I haven't updated the 'Barbaricum' planting photos, which are photos 2-6 that were posted above on Dec 8th.
Remember that with a good overall plan, you can do the installation in phases. It is much easier, cheaper, and less daunting to tackle small portions. But an overall plan is useful because you want your garden rooms to "flow" neatly into one another.
We used concrete blocks for a couple of reasons:
1) They're easily available and delivered to your door by the big box stores or concrete centers.
2) They take less footing and drainage prep than any other terracing method available to us.
3) Once the footing is properly prepped and leveled, they go in very fast
4) They are permanent - they don't rot or mildew, yet they allow drainage. We have clay soil, this was VERY important to us.
The downside:
1) Cost is higher than wood or poured concrete. But the labor and time is much less, proportionately, so I feel it evens out.
2) For serious slopes, you will need the heavier blocks, and that is a 2-person job. Such blocks weigh 75 lbs apiece and are not manageable by a single worker. Our largest blocks weigh only 37 lbs each and the smaller ones are 8 lbs, so my husband was able to do the work himself.
Note that the 37 lb blocks are strong enough to do an 8' wall if the footing is properly prepared, though, so if you can find them (the ones we used are no longer made) it would be possible for you to terrace at least part of your property yourself. The smaller blocks are only useful for a 4' wall -- remember that the height of a retaining wall includes the footings, so you are losing 4-6" when you allow for sinking the first level of blocks halfway into the ground.
Here's a photo of the larger (37 lb) blocks used in the highest retaining wall:
jkmom
Are you a professional landscaper? Your wealth of knowledge and the way you are able to articulate is remarkable. You should be a teacher !!! I cant thank you enough.
Sherri
Wow! Sherri, Looks like you are getting all kinds of help! I am useless. Indiana is F-L-A-T -- let's just say your "slope" would be a huge hill here! And the plants you grow in your garden are houseplants here!
Is that English Ivy in the photo above? The one with the treehouse?
Suzy
Suzy
I have received a lot of help. It is FANTASTIC.
I believe its english ivy. It came with the house and grows wild. It is also extremely invasive. All the areas where you see just dirt (middle and lower slope) - used to be covered with the ivy and vinca minor (extremely invasive and I do not like it). It has taken me the two years since I moved in to prevent them from growing back. I think I finally conquered it. It creeps up now and again though.
Sherri
Thanks for the compliments, Sherri, I am blushing! No, I'm not a professional, just one of those people who gets into a subject by reading voraciously and doing a lot of research. Although pros all seem to hate concrete block (and I do agree that most folks who DIY don't seem to try to 'integrate' its enforced conformity into their garden properly), I figured I was going to cover it up as much as possible with plants anyway, so who cares what we used as long as it stays up and holds the soil, LOL!
My husband is not normally very handy, but he talked to several contractors and researched on the Net, then handled most of the hardscape install by himself. We are particularly proud of the semi-circular 2-step stairs he created in the back, because he thought up the construction method himself, in addition to his doing the entire design of the backyard garden beds. He likes curves, and I think he did a beautiful job designing the shape of the beds. The ones nearest the house can be looked down on from the kitchen windows above -- the curving beds and path are very attractive from above.
I do all the planting, pruning, cleanup, etc. I can't imagine having as much land as you have! Just our modest urban lot is about all I can manage as it is. Good luck with your own garden planning!
One last thought -- remember that in our evergreen, mild winter CA climate, you need good foliage to carry the cottage garden. Other regions are justifiably jealous of the incredible foliage plants that we can use to brighten up shaded beds.
For example, in the photo of my front yard garden above, there is a large, bright yellow mini-shrub located just about in the center of the photo. This is a beautiful lavatera (mallow) variety called "Aureum". It's relatively rare, even here, but it should never have been in this front yard bed. It burns during the summer, and would be much better located in a partially sunny or bright shade bed. This taught me you just can't believe the plant tags -- 'full sun' must refer to foggy San Francisco instead of the Oakland hills -- the leaves get a bit crispy with late-summer Western-facing exposure!
The leaves come out bright yellow and fade to chartreuse. Similar to pelargoniums, they have thick soft stems and are easy to prune to shape. The real show is in mid-summer when it shoots out spectacular long spikes of individual, large showy flowers. But all year round, this mini-shrub is gorgeous as it sits next to a purple-leafed Chinese Fringe Flower shrub (Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum).
Another foliage plant I like to use are erysimums. Although rated for 'full sun', they actually do quite well in bright shade and will even flower reasonably well. I have a green-leafed variety that blooms orange, and this variegated variety which blooms purple. I use them like small groundcover plants because they sprawl towards the light. Erysimums are short-lived, but can usually be found at a good big box garden center. I like variegated plants because they really brighten up a shade bed.
Fantastic. Thank you again. You are bringing up excellent points about not believing everything that the plant tag says. I have created an excel spreadsheet with all the plants you have brought up. I am going to try and arrange them by height, sun exposure, then by watering needs, and I want to draw up a sketch of my yard and start mapping out where I want to put everything. I have NO IDEA how long its going to take me. But thanks to you, I at least know what plants - and that I need to condition my soil.
If you ever think of anything else - dont hesitate to share. I am an eager student !!
Sherri