Need ideas for formal shade garden
I need some help planning the layout of my semi formal shade garden. This is an area of my garden which I have tried to plant into a semi formal shade garden with not much success. I currently have several plants which I want to use up in my design but don't know how to accomodate them. I currently have planted: two purple leaf plums, a tall boxwood topiary, 3 blue mophead hydrangeas, 2 fuchsia evergreen azaleas, some purple phormiums and some geraniums. The area receives part sun with about 2 hours of it in the early morning. I was thinking of not moving the plums but would like to have the boxwood topiary at by the wall but to the right of the hose with the three hydrangeas in front of it and the shorter azaleas in front of these hydrangeas and at the foreground cover it with liriope. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! I will post pics of the area below.
Comments (9)
PROYardvaark
10 years agoThe bed seems nice and cleanly shaped, so you should feel like that is a success!
While having all the different plants might make you happy, it's going to be difficult to make a cohesive, strong, artistic statement out of them. There is too much variety and quantity of plants. The topiary would work as the "center of attention," but it needs some plain space -- uniform, low planting -- around it at the "floor" level, too, in order for all its attention not to be lost in a jumble. (It seems like you grasp that concept because you're placing it in front of a BLANK wall.) Something similar could occur beneath it. Also, I'd place the topiary farther away from the wall -- at least 12" additional -- so there is some room for growth. If you placed the Hydrangea in front of the wall where you now have azaleas, theres only room for one or two of them. One phormium might make a good accent placed near the intersection of where the drive meets the house.
Take a look at photos of all these plants on Google images and you'll see that mature ones could not fit in the space you're offering. Unless you're planning to also keep the plum trimmed in a tight topiary shape, one of those alone would dominate and shade the whole area, allowing little opportunity for most other things to grow at all.
With the picture, I'm trying to illustrate the effect of simplification.
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Comments (16)Some Random Thoughts 1. I am no expert, but as I understand design, a symetrically balanced formal garden is among the most difficult to pull off. Upkeep and maintenance become more critical because flaws are excentuated by the effort to achieve a pattern. Here's a quote from a very brief on-line article that points out some potential problems  "A view demonstrates balance if the objects in it are sited so that their visual weight is evenly distributed. Formal designs often display symmetrical balance, with the left and right sides of the view being quite identical  "The Courts is one of Wiltshire's best-kept garden secrets, known to visitors for its water features with surrounding topiary and its imaginative use of color and texture. The formal water garden is a favorite area of The Courts  Symmetrical balance dominates this view: the water garden shape is rectangular, the Siberian irises on either side anchor the view, and the pair of simple containers on formal stone pedestals in the foreground complete the symmetry. The less-formal tree borders beyond the topiary and the less-formal arrangement of water lilies keep this garden from feeling stiff. The formal water garden actually helps the viewer make sense of the space, lending a feeling of calm and serenity. "There is one word of caution if you plan to use symmetrical balance to draw attention to part of a landscape. Maintenance is critical. A formally clipped hedge, for example, can become an eyesore if a section of it dies." 2. Some comments in your original post have me wondering about this issue of maintenance. You say, "We have had a lot of disappointments in the garden"  "so that even when the rest of the property is covered in weeds and is a mess"  3. I just did a search at this forum for "formal". That may bring up further clues and suggestions that will help achieve your goal. I hope that these early morning musings prove useful in somehow stirring your creative juices. Not sure they'll be of any help at all, but thanks for getting me thinking, too. Wellspring...See MoreNew Perennial Garden with "Creative" Sun/Shade Ideas
Comments (8)2-3 hours of sun, regardless of the time of day, is just not enough for full sun perennials. But there are lots of perennials that will tolerate part sun/part shade conditions.......and many that are very "cottagey" in appearance as well. Some that come to mind immediately are columbine, various hardy geraniums, silene, saxifrage, delphiniums, anemones, dame's rocket, campanulas, foxgloves. And I'd not worry about lack of color in the more shady areas. Bring in variegation on foliage (shrubs, hostas, grasses) or golds and chartreuses and lots of seasonal color - impatiens, begonias, fuchsias, caladiums, annual vinca. Lots of colorful perennials and flowering shrubs for shade as well - astilbe, ligularia, toad lilies, corydalis, bleeding heart, azaleas, hydrangeas. And buy yourself a gift with a copy of The Complete Shade Gardener by George Schenk - you will never feel like your garden is "too green" again :-))...See MoreFormal garden style?
Comments (50)I agree that you need some big items (like big shrubs or trees) to define the space and dramatic edging if you plan to keep grass in the interior of the design. If you do keep grass, I think you'd want to keep it golf course-short so that it didn't compete with the plants. With what you have drawn, I'd at minimum put big items on the corners, or symmetrically placed in the ceneters of each long bed. Choose something you like that can be repeated, that will give you multiple season interest, and that won't swamp your beds or shade them too much. I googles deer-resistant shrubs and trees and found several items - you could see what works in your climate. My mom has crabapples and an apple orchard in an arrea that gets >100 deer in the immediate vicinity, but I don't know how they would do if they were the most appealing foodstuff in the area. If they work, might be a possibility. Me, I would lose the grass in the interior entirely, and also look for some perennials and shrubs that grow more than 3 feet tall to intersperse with the rest....See MoreSeeking ideas for difficult formal garden
Comments (8)I wish you all could have joined me yesterday as I stopped to see the plantation where Dixie Rose is head gardener. It is not too far from here and I was interested in seeing the Umberto Innocenti landscape. Last year I spent hours studying his design for Millikin in Spartanburg, NC. which is truly fantastic and not open to the public. It was a beautiful morning; light breeze blowing in from the old rice fields. We found Dixie Rose in the tack barn waiting our arrival. As we started walking the sandy road past many outbuildings toward the main plantation home I was struck with two thoughts. First, I don't know how this gal maintains such an expansive piece of property so well! It is in beautiful condition. She has already done some marvelous restoration work on the plantation. Secondly, how can one describe the very old Live Oaks that dominate the plantation. They are unique, each with its own personality. I could visualize Innocenti when he first saw them realizing that his design would play second fiddle to the oaks as long as they survived. So, he selected five oaks with character and designed a formal garden of brick walkways and walls which highlight the oaks. Many of the old handmade bricks used are 'seconds' which means that they were burned or discolored in the firing process and this adds a nice patina to the walks. The soil is what we call Low Country gumbo and this is why Dixie Rose is having a problem growing azaleas in dense shade. Her 'Plan B" idea is excellent and the plants should suit the soil condition. She is worried about the owner not approving her ideas. Dixie, why don't you put together the cost for your plan along with the reasons for your plant suggestions and just present it to him. Add some azaleas to the mix in the side gardens to keep him happy. But, the formal lines of the main garden must be planted in the general manner as we discussed and Innocenti visioned. Dixie Rose has figured out how to grow hybrid tea roses in this hot, humid climate. Her rose gardens are healthy and loaded with blooms. She has a special green thumb! Especially when the summer has been spent fighting off armadillos which have been very destructive to lawns and gardens. Yes, you all would have enjoyed this plantation stroll, standing beneath oaks that witnessed Sherman's troops burning the original house to the ground. Some of the old buildings remain such as the laundry house and sections of an old greenhouse. It is a beautiful plantation which can be purchased for a bit under five million dollars. Don't choke! I was at a new development last week where three acre lots were selling for a million dollars apiece. They don't begin to measure up to this old plantation with its history, beauty and restoration challenges....See More- PRO
Yardvaark
10 years ago ricardomartin95
10 years agoI just did a quick sketch of what I have in mind. I considered what you said about the view from the outside and think I found a way that looks good from wherever. This is actually in my back garden.
- PRO
Yardvaark
10 years agoRicardo, you are incorporating plants based on their install size instead of their reasonably grown size. If you can open this picture in a drawing program like MS Paint, you can copy the newly enlarged plants as many times as you like. Try fitting them into the garden at the new size and see what you have room for. If you don't have a paint program, you can at least see what sizes you should be working with. Plants grow and you must allow room for it. The purple leaf plum is a tree that would take up, and shade, the entire garden space unless you are pruning it into some kind of topiary, too.
- PRO
Yardvaark
10 years ago 
emmarene9
10 years ago
ricardomartin95Original Author