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Creating a Shade Garden: Step-by-Step
 by Sue Sweeney
Trees improve property values, reduce energy costs, provide wildlife habitat, and, perhaps best of all, shade the garden. Many think a shady yard is a "problem". Wrong. Who wants to garden in the sun when it's 90F with 70% humidity?
Getting Started Make a border. A distinct border between garden and lawn makes a difference. So, the first step is to establish the garden's edge. Use a hose or rope as a temporary border, to be replaced with bricks, trenching or the like. Since some garden groundcovers can spread into the lawn, consider a shallow root barrier (no more than 2" to 3" deep -- more could interfere the tree's roots) or a mulch or stone border 6" to 12" wide. Paint the fence. If your garden abuts a fence or wall, white or a light color will reflect light on the plants, and help the plants show up visually. Changes in adjoining walls and fences are best made now. Add objects and paths. For a natural look, start with some medium to large rocks for visual focus and winter interest. The garden also needs stepping stones or pathways for access to any part of the garden more than 2 ½ feet from the border; otherwise, you'll end up regularly stepping on the garden and compacting the soil. Cut the weeds and spread the mulch. We used to start a garden by digging down a foot or two, adding peat, etc. Agricultural science has found that less labor is actually better. The soil contains countless seeds and countless beneficial soil critters. Disturbing the soil opens the seed bank, encouraging the weeds, and interferes with the helpful micro-critters. Today, the best practice is to spread mulch, such as wood chips or compost, on top and let the earthworms and other 'tiny gardeners" do the work. If you're replacing pachysandra, invasive English ivy, euonymus or vinca with something more interesting, and, hopefully, eco-friendly, you will have to pull the old plants up, trying to get as much of the root as possible (while disturbing tree roots as little as possible). Many existing weeds can be simply cut to the ground once or twice. Grass will compost itself, if mulched over. Guard the tree roots. The tree's roots go all the way out to the tree's "drip line" (edge of the leaf canopy). If possible, let the new garden cover this entire area so the tree roots get the benefit of the garden mulch and protection from foot and machine traffic. Under a tree, the mulch layer should be no more than 2" to 3" -- a thicker layer can smoother the roots. Save the good stuff. Don't over-clear the ground. Some hardy, useful native and naturalized plants may have already established themselves in your garden-to-be. For example, you may already have wild violets, mosses, ferns, wood asters, and cinquefoil.
Let The Planting Begin Use small plants. Under a tree, use starter plants from flats or 3" to 5" pots, remove excess soil, and dig the smallest possible hole, using a slim bulb towel. Gradually add plants, a few this fall, a few in early and mid-spring, some next fall, etc. As the plants spread, their roots will gently mingle with the tree's roots. You can safely dig a few larger holes for accent plants but be careful that you're not disturbing more than a small percent of the tree's roots each year. Choose perennials. Correctly-selected perennials require less weeding, water, and feeding than lawn and many annuals. Further, most perennials can be divided frequently, so you can inexpensively convert some lawn to garden each year. When to plant. Most perennials, except bulbs, can be planted spring or fall. Fall planting gives the plants the best start next spring, unless we have a harsh winter. Spring planting avoids the risk of winter-kill, but the later you plant, the more vulnerable the plants are to summer heat and drought. Consider planting some things in the fall and some in the spring. The riskiest planting time is July and August. New garden care: New perennials need to be watered during dry spells their first and second year. Also, you'll also have more weeds to contend with the first year since the soil has been disturbed. Choosing The Plants Design considerations
Read the plant labels. Most plants come with informative labels, so shop with your reading glasses handy.
The Plants: Low Ground Covers The right mix of low groundcovers looks good early spring to late fall and, in Zone 6 at least, often hold their leaves most of the winter in a sheltered spot. Once established, these spreading perennials are hardy, care-free, and choke out most of the weeds. While the contrasting foliage is more than enough to satisfy the eye, each plant will bloom in its season. For early spring color, under-plant with miniature spring bulbs. There are dozens of low growing plants usable as groundcover, many of them "steppables". They are a fun to collect over the years from fellow gardeners and the late-summer sale tables at the nurseries. The plants listed here are essentials for getting started. The strawberry clan: Strawberries and their cinquefoil cousins, with their semi-evergreen leaves, deserve special mention. In Stamford, the flowering plant mostly likely to start first in spring and end last in late fall is the pink ornamental strawberry (Fragaria 'Pink Panda' or F. 'Lipstick'), a non-native, non-invasive alpine hybrid. The plant spreads quickly and the dark green foliage is a good contrast for variegated or light-colored plants. Next, in late spring, buy a flat of cultivated strawberries , (e.g., Fragaria × ananassa), and scatter the plants around your new garden. You won't get a lot of eating strawberries but the white flowers and glossy foliage are lovely, and your wild critters will appreciate the berries. If you scour the neighborhood, you should also be able find several of our native and naturalized yellow-flowering strawberry relatives, mostly cinquefoils, and the lovely naturalized yellow-flowering, non-edible strawberry (Indian Strawberry)(Duchesnea indica), considered a lawn weed, but wonderful in its place.
Violets and violas (pansies): According to the Connecticut Botanical Society, we have over a dozen local violets. The common blue violet (Viola sororia), often seen in lawns, has blue-purple, white or bi-colored flowers in late spring. The extremely attractive heart-shaped leaves will feed your bunnies, so they don't eat the rest of the garden. Over time, the common blue violet will self-seed a bit too much, so once or twice a year, you'll need to edit your violet-wealth. Johnny-jump-ups (Viola cornuta; v. Viola tricolor, etc. ) are the familiar, self-seeding, small-faced European that has naturalized here. Plant a few in the spring and let them roam where they wish. The pansy, developed from the johnny-jump-up, is a bi-annual in Zone 6 with sufficient protection from summer sun and winter cold -- prefect to make the early- and late-season garden sparkle. Woodland groundcovers: If you want to do as Mother Nature does, what she most commonly puts under the trees in Stamford woods is a mix of moss, wild grasses, ferns, Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), and partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), with a bit of wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). The mayflower has white foamy flowers in mid-spring; the partridgeberry and wintergreen are evergreens with red berries. Mother Nature might add some woodbine (Virginia Creeper) (Parthenocissus quinquefolia); in the shade this vine does not get out hand. Mother Nature will also throw in some delightful, short-lived, toadstools and other fungi; these will appear naturally in your garden from time-to-time. Woodland wildflowers: Many of our rare wildflowers, such as blood root (Sanguinaria Canadensis), rue anemone (Anemonella thalictroides), hepatica (Hepatica americana) , wild ginger (Asarum canadense), and squirrel corn (Dutchman's breeches) (Dicentra canadensis) can be purchased from reputable growers who do NOT collect from the wild. These rare plants can be pricey so consider adding only a few a year. The not-so-rare but equal lovely spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) and trout lilies (dog-tooth violets) (Erythronium americanum) can be planted in fall along with other spring-blooming bulbs. Also, fairly common in garden centers is our lovely native red-flowering, self-seeding columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and several of our native violets. Mosses: We are blessed with many native mosses. The best way to get mosses fully adapted to your moisture, light and PH is the let them come on their own. Make small patches of mixed sand and peat, and keep the patches moist and clear of other plants for a year or so. You can help Mother Nature along by adding shredded pieces of dried local moss. The Plants: Taller Accent Plants Ferns: What's a woodland garden without ferns? The best native Stamford ferns for the small shade garden are the New York (Thelypteris noveboracensis), sensitive (Onoclea sensibilis), lady (Athyrium filix-femina), and Christmas (Polystichum acrostichoides). If you have space, say at the back where you want to hide dying daffodil foliage, the taller local ferns include the royal (Osmunda regalis), cinnamon, (Osmunda cinnamomea), interrupted (Osmunda claytoniana), bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), and hay-scented (Dennstaedtia punctilobula). Grasses: Clumps of wispy grass adds contrasting color, texture, and graceful movement. Look for grasses label for shade such as those in the acorus (sweet flag) and carex (sedge) families. If the grass tends to be a spreader, confine it with a root barrier.
Native flowering plants: Consider bleeding heart (e.g native Dicentra eximia), variegated Solomon's seals (Polygonatum commutatum), and the trilliums (e.g. Trillium grandiflorum) for spring. For summer, the native cranesbill (Geranium maculatum) and its cousin, the Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) are great; look for the long-blooming cranesbill hybrids. For late summer and fall, there are too many native asters and goldenrods to list. Look for the dwarf hybrids for shade. Most asters and goldenrod benefit from being sheared to 6" - 8" in June. Native Shrubs: Bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) is threatened in the wild but, fortunately, it is readily available in our garden centers; the blue-green heather-like foliage and small pink flowers make it an ideal mixer for the woodland garden. Evergreen mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is Connecticut's state flower -- look for the dwarf hybrids. Our native azaleas (e.g. Rhododendron periclymenoides) can get a bit large, so place them in the back or choose dwarf hybrids. Low bush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) has wonderful fall color as well as lovely tiny white flowers, and, of course, the berries, which your birds will love. Lastly, don't forget our most common woodland shrub, the maple-leaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium). Non-natives: There are many non-native, non-invasive plants also worthy of mention. When it comes to the hostas, coral bells, and astilbe, get the dwarf or miniature varieties. In all categories, look for the hybrids with striking foliage color. “”
No room for a full-sized shade Garden? Make a natural nook: You only need a tiny patch that doesn't get mid-day sun next to the fence or behind a bush. Combine a couple of mid-sized rocks, a tallish fern or filmy grass, a low-bush blueberry, spring bulbs, and a fall woodland aster. Let the moss glow in winter under the aster's seed heads and the dried ferns or grass. Copyright 2006 TheMondayGarden.com - Used by permission
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