My dairy farmer neighbors sold their herd last June and have turned their attention to landscaping their farmyard. A year ago they hired a landscaping company who at great expense installed a small pond, put some plantings around it, planted a mis-labeled tree, and then went out of business.
I’ve been asked to revive and replant the area. Many of the landscaper-installed perennials have died and weeds have taken over the bed.
Here’s the problem: the area is almost entirely in the shade all day long and I am admittedly weak in knowledge of shade gardening. Hosta, violets and lily-of-the-valley are the plants that come immediately to mind and two of those have a tendency to get out of control. The third, hosta, is not a favorite of my farmer friends.
At the library I checked out every shade gardening book on the shelves. The internet is also a good resource, but I prefer books. I quickly paged through the books and chose the two best, based on good photos and growing information.
I went through the chosen books more slowly, keeping in mind that the homeowners like the colors pink, blue, lavender and white, and made a list of all the possibilities for their garden. I immediately eliminated anything that wasn’t hardy in our area.
Some of the things I had to keep in mind were: 1) the pond –it is the focal point and the plants around it should look natural, be low enough so the pond can be seen, and draw the eye to the pond 2) the tree – plants grown under the tree need shallow roots so they are not competing with the tree roots. Also, tall plants won’t look good in this bed with the tree nearby. 3) the location – the flowerbed is in the middle of the front yard and is viewed from all directions. Taller plants will need to be in the middle with progressively lower plants toward the edges. 4) the plants already in place – the homeowner likes these, so we’ll get more of the same. Some may need to be moved. 5) deer – always a problem. The whole list had to be cross-checked with lists of plants deer like and dislike.
If the flowerbed was in my own yard, I would have spent several days or weeks just looking at the area to be planted, turning various options over in my mind before making any decisions. Since this flowerbed is a couple miles away, I have to rely on photos I took last fall.
Though I have photos and measurements, there is nothing like looking at the real thing. As soon as snow melts, I’ll take my books and my lists to talk with the homeowner and make a tentative planting design plan. The final decisions on what to plant will of course be determined by which of the listed plants can be found locally or through mail order.
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