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Gardening In Shade - IntroductionRead the article this discussion is about
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» LouiseP_3 - Louise Pino, I also live in Maryland. I've been adding to my sha Louise Pino, I also live in Maryland. I've been adding to my shade garden for the past two years and it's almost complete. A landscaper planted two hemlocks as a screen in this garden --one died the other lives, but is mostly bare in the back with some new growth coming in on the tips. I need to fill in the space between the living hemlock and the very mature and beautiful burning bush on the opposite side of the garden. I was thinking there must be an alternative to adding another hemlock that would fill this fairly large space, any suggestions? -- posted by LouiseP_3 » Marge_Talt - Hi Louise and welcome to Gardening in Shade. Good to hear from Hi Louise and welcome to Gardening in Shade. Good to hear from another Marylander!I'm sure there are other plants besides hemlocks that would work for you. Tell me what size space you have for planting, how much shade it's in (and from what), what orientation it is (north, south, etc.) and what your soil is like and I'll see what I can come up with. Is your remaining hemlock in very deep shade on the side that's losing needles? I've found that mine will shade out in really deep shade, plus they tend to do it to themselves, too. I've got a double staggered row hedge of them and the inside is practically bare of branches now. I can stand up and walk inside the hedge - spent several hot, sweaty hours one summer cutting out the immense amount of deadwood in there. So, let me know a bit more about what you are working with and what you want to achieve and I'll put on my thinking cap for you. Marge -- posted by Marge_Talt » JeanP - I have been working on a woodland garden for several years and I have been working on a woodland garden for several years and it is coming along quite well. I wanted to add a colorful vine to the garden. I have heard that Actinidia Kolomikta (artic beauty kiwi) can take some shade, but all of the sources I've checked are just leaving me confused. Some catalogs say it can take deep shade and still produce it's lovely variegated leaves, while others call for full sun. Can you clear this up for me? Thanks,
-- posted by JeanP » Gay_Klok - Hello Jean, I grow Actinidia and so far the leaves have not t Hello Jean,I grow Actinidia and so far the leaves have not turned pink. The nurseryman [a friend of mine]says that they have to be mature before they get the coloured leaves. I planted it two years ago to cover a wall, so I guess its roots are in the shade but it has certainly reached the sun now. Here's hoping for next summer! It is a deciduous climber, can reach 20ft, best on south or west wall. Flowers [which my climber has produced] are greenish-white with perfume. But it is grown for the pink markings so if they don't colour next summer, I will put it down to the roots being too shaded. I have always understood that it likes full sun Tasmanian Garden Journal Come for a stroll in my garden, great photos -- posted by Gay_Klok » LouiseP_3 - Louise Pino Thanks Marge. Here's the info you requested. The Louise PinoThanks Marge. Here's the info you requested. The spot is 9 feet wide and 5.5 feet deep between a huge burning bush and the hemlock. It faces south. And it's shaded by a gum tree and a dying white oak on my property and a about four other tall trees on my neighbor's property. The garden get's direct sunlight at some point and dappled sunlight a couple of hours out of the day. The hemlock is no longer in deep shade because we've pruned the oak and my neighbor pruned some of his trees. I think that may be why there's new growth on the tips of some branches in the back that were completely bare last year. So maybe there's hope it will fill in over time. As for my shade garden, it's mostly green now. But for mom's day, I treated myself to some colorful perennials: 2 pink bleeding hearts - one's a dwarf plant, some corral bells, 3 Virginia bluebells, 1 lilly of the valley, 3 miniature white iris and about 8 Oriental lillies. Established are 3 pink astilbe, two miniature pink hydrangeas (which haven't blossomed in 2 years), 5 pink azaleas, 3 blue hostas, 3 morning glories, and 1 miniature tiger lilly. The only thing that's missing is the tree, bush, shrub, whatever that will fill the unoccupied space I mentioned. Thanks again for helping me tackle this dilemna. Have a great day!
-- posted by LouiseP_3 » Marge_Talt - Hi Jean, welcome to Gardening in Shade. I'm so glad Gay chime Hi Jean, welcome to Gardening in Shade.I'm so glad Gay chimed in here as Actinidia is one I haven't grown yet. Dirr says that they will grow in any type of soil in full sun or partial shade. I would imagine that, like many plants, they will take more shade in hot climates and want more sun in more northerly ones. This is probably where the conflict in catalog descriptions comes from...some are growing them in hotter, sunnier places than others and basing their descriptions on their own experience. Dirr also says that excessive fertilization and shade will reduce leaf coloration and that mature plants tend to show pronounced leaf coloration - so sounds like Gay's experience and what her nurseryman says are right. And you probably need to give it at least dappled shade to get good color. Sounds a neat vine...gotta try it myself! Marge -- posted by Marge_Talt » Marge_Talt - Thanks, Louise - let me ponder on this a bit. Will see what I c Thanks, Louise - let me ponder on this a bit. Will see what I can come up with for you.Marge -- posted by Marge_Talt » Marge_Talt - Louise, here's a couple of thoughts for you on filling in your g Louise, here's a couple of thoughts for you on filling in your gap.That space looks huge now, but unless you plan to shear your hemlock, it will grow to be a sizable tree in a few years, and will take up part of your space. You can keep it pruned, but you need to do it regularly as they don't sprout too well from old wood in my experience. If you intend to keep the hemlock pruned, then you may need to put a grouping of plants in that space - I'd say 3 of most than I'm listing (not the Magnolia). Anyway, if you want something evergreen, you might consider: Aucuba (either plain green or with the gold spots), Ilex 'Nellie Stevens' - I just put in three in similar conditions and they seem to be growing for me, Magnolia 'Edith Bogue' - I plan to get one of these soon. Looked at them last year, but couldn't find one the size I wanted, so got the hollies. This is supposed to do well in shade - gets pretty large, but not as wide as some of them, Pieris japonica - one of the loveliest of all shade tolerant woodies IMO - not a fast grower, but in time will get about 9' tall and half as wide - really doesn't like sunny spots, Nandina, not the dwarf ones, but the species. This will get about 5' tall or so and tolerates a lot of shade. It stays evergreen for me unless the winter is beastly. Nice flowers and berries and new leaf coloring. Almost any of the evergreen Azaleas sold locally - many get pretty large in time, One of the deciduous Exbury Azaleas which also get 8 or 10 feet tall in time. The flower color range on those goes from the pinks through yellows, golds and reds. These are rather open in form and can be underplanted with perennials. - Some that you've listed would be nice. Do any of these sound interesting? Let me know and if not, I'll ponder again :-) Marge
-- posted by Marge_Talt » Marge_Talt - Hi Peggy, Welcome to Gardening in Shade. There are a lot o Hi Peggy,Welcome to Gardening in Shade. There are a lot of flowering perennials that grow in various types of shade. I've been writing about them, here on the Suite, for nearly two years. If you click on the "More Articles" link in the left hand column, under 'Go To', you'll find a list of my articles. Practically every one of them talks about some plant or other that will grow in shade. Most of them have flowers, too. If, after you've taken a gander at some of the ones I've written about, you don't find anything you're interested in, post here and tell me a bit more about your garden and what kind of plants you're looking for. Flower colors, season of bloom, your soil, your climate and all that and I'll see what I can find to recommend for you. Cheers! Marge -- posted by Marge_Talt
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