and need help with that I have a corner in my long front yard which I want to transform this year. This area gets very little sunlight and is usually soggy. There are some gladioli there which hardly blooms and it is covered with weeds and strawberry trailers. I am planning to take a triagular corner, remove the weeds, put a boundary (probaby rocks or stones), plant some shade loving perennials (would love flowering ones, how about a hydrangea???) and a couple of hostas. Then cover with mulch or small stones. Please help with plant suggestions, and any other design suggestions. The right most corner of this garden I want to do this : Here is the right most corner pic :
There is nothing so exciting as a bare spot where you can create a garden! I love your rock wall--can you extend that to include the new area? Ferns! There are so many lovely ferns, and some are certainly adapted to your area. You could have fun searching local nurseries and discussing ferns. If the area is soggy, you can move the glad bulbs and not plant other bulbs there (they hate sitting in wet). Let us know what you decide, and if possible, post pictures of the results.
These are the plants that came up in an advanced search on GardenStew Plants for your zone, shade, moist soil.... Shade/Moist Plant suggestions When you find some you like then you can take a list to a local garden center to see what their experiences have been with them and if they will be carrying them this spring. It would be even better if some of these were native to your region, then you could more more certain of success with them.
Ferns are a great idea and there are many different ones to choose from. You could plant them along with some hostas which come in a variety of shades and variagated colours. There are many that are really attractive and they produce flowers too. They'd be happy in your shaded area. Here's a website that may be of some help: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h ... hAfy47yhCw
I have some really happy Astilbe that love shade and moist soil. Do consider them, and they are pretty with Ferns.
The rock wall is wonderful! I hope you can plan it so that it will be a visible backdrop to all the pretty things you'll plant. I have a partially shady spot by my garage. It stays a bit more damp because it's also under the drip line of the garage roof. I have a hydrangea planted there. For early Spring, I like Bleeding Heart (dicentra) for shade gardens too.
A little progress made last Saturday (1/23). Cleaned just a little corner, removed the weeds and dug up the Gladioli bubls. The bulbs went to the front side where they will get more sun.
Update 1/31 : More weeding done and added a border. I might change the border if I come up with something more appealing - both asthetically and in terms of price. But for now, this gives me a space I should concentrate on.
I just bought a new book by Larry Hodgson 'Making the most of shade' from Amazon. Filled with lots of ideas and enough plants so that your shade garden will never run out of ideas. Last fall I cleaned out a bed I have not used in years. An area about 10x 50. I will incorporate many of the books ideas and flowering plant suggestions. I highly recommend the book for shade gardens. It may even be in your local library Jerry
The link to the blog I am writing to track the progress : http://prarthana-diggingit.blogspot.com ... oject.html Now that the hostas are in place, I quickly need to decide if I will put Hydrangea or Astibles.What do you think will look or do better in the corner? I have 4 Astible (red, pink, white) bulbs which could go here. Or shall I put a hydrangea - which was my original idea? Please do let me know. Thanks in advance.
I love hydrangea.... But, I saw this photo of astilbe in an email from a garden catalog and I thought it was beautiful. When I read your post, I thought of it.... Since you have the astilbe, I think I'd go with that! Here is the link for some inspiration and a hint of how it could look: http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/82433-pr ... 2011+04+07 Sorry, the ad part may also appear in the link.....
