Planting a Shade Garden

With the opportunity to do some landscaping when we moved into our house, I chose plants for functionality (skip laurels for privacy) and sentimentality (a dogwood and a japanese maple, familiar from my childhood). Being a novice gardener, I was next drawn to showy flowering plants, most requiring full to partial sun. Left neglected? A large portion of the yard in almost full shade where not even the grass would grow.

So what's a girl to do? Why consult with our favorite local outdoor living expert, Susan Cohan, of course! I had thought that the shady corner was destined to be a mass of bland ferns but she helped me understand the potential that this space holds. Now, thanks to her, I've got a list of plants hand-picked to grace my shady corner which should (fingers crossed!) withstand the abundant shade, local deer population and the weather extremities of our zone 6-6B climate.

The Calycanthus, or sweetshrub, is an top choice for a blooming shrub in my shade garden.
Images by Will Cook.

THE PERENNIALS

LEFT: Heuchera which, as Susan put it, "sometimes Bambi eats." Image from Urban Farmer. CENTER: Actaea simplex (recently known as Cimicifuga simplex) or snakeroot. Image from Fine Gardening. RIGHT: Helleborus. Image from Wikipedia.

LEFT: Galium odoratum, or sweet woodruff. Image from White Flower Farm. CENTER: Polygonatum, or Solomon's seal. Image from Cortesia Solomon's Seal. RIGHT: Brunnera macrophylla, or Siberian bugloss. Image from Fine Gardening.

LEFT: Dicentra spectabilis, or bleeding heart. Image from FlowerInfo.org. RIGHT: Astilbe. Image from White Flower Farms.

ORNAMENTAL GRASSES AND FERNS
(also perennial)

As Susan points out, almost all ornamental grasses are deer-resistant. She favors the 'All Gold' (left) and 'Aureola'(center) varieties of the low-growing Hakonechloa makcra, or Japanese forest grass. Ferns are another shade favorite such as this Osmunda cinnamomea, or cinnamon fern. Images from Monrovia and Greenwood Nursery.

EVERGREEN SHRUBS

LEFT: Mahonia bealei, or leatherleaf mahonia. Image from Floridata. CENTER: Cephalotaxus harringtonia, or Japanese Plum Yew. Image from Monrovia. RIGHT: Sarocca hookeiana var humilis, or sweetbox. Image from NC State University.

Well, that's sure a lot to process. Thanks so much, Susan, for the consult! I'm off now to shape the beds for my new shade garden. I can't wait to be rid of all that not-quite-grass!

Comments

[Linda @ a design snack]

also great for shade is European Ginger. The leaves are somewhat heart shaped, glossy, deer resistant, the roots have a delightful ginger fragrance. It grows in a nice round clump. The slugs which so often like shade plants, do not touch it. Japanese Painted Fern is easy to grow and colorful. It divides well and Bambi shows no interest at all.

[Susan Cohan aka Miss R]

Thanks for processing all of that info in such a beautiful way. Any time you want some help, holler!

[Mae]

@linda: thanks for the suggestion. i'm going to look that up right now!
@susan: many thanks again!