Tree coming down--strategy for moving from shade to sun?

10 years ago

Hi all,

A large maple tree on our sidewalk has been marked for removal by the city. Our small front yard, currently all shade/part shade, is probably going to become mostly sunny. We have an established garden with hydrangeas, hostas, azaleas, mountain laurels, and other plants that thrive in the current conditions...ack! What should my strategy be? I suppose there's not much I can do but wait and see, but I'm nervous for my poor plants. Has anyone else dealt with this? Did you plant a new garden? How long did it take for you to transition to the new conditions?

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Comments (4)

War_Eagle
10 years ago
First thing I would do is find out why and see if it could be trimmed or the sidewalk repaired, etc.... Is it dead or dying? Have they given a reason? I might even get an attorney involved.
Lalala (zone 6b)
Original Author
10 years ago
We are actually OK with the tree coming down--as much as I hate to lose it, it is clearly dying (dead branches, some rot) and two other trees of the same sort have fallen down on our street in the last two years--one fell right on top of a house. So I think it is at the end of its life and needs to come down for safety reasons. Plus it's a Norway maple, which makes seedlings everywhere. They may eventually plant another tree but have generally been replacing the maples with something smaller--linden, I think--that won't shade the whole yard.
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I think you would be fine with hydrangeas there. If salvias are too floppy, try some veronicas or agastaches. You might even be able to grow baptista (false indigo). I have a similar exposure in my zone 5 Iowa yard. Trees along one side, and then it slopes too, so it is a bit of an odd long bed. It used to be grass and mostly invasive Asian honesuckle shrubs. I have only been gardening at this house for 1 1/2 years, so I am still experimenting; plus I am new to this zone and previously lived in zone 9. I first considered this area part shade and planted accordingly. Now I see there are pockets of more and less sun. In this area the plants doing best are: Hostas--This surprised me, but I see them in full sun around town now that I have started looking. Not sure if it is the same for zone 6. Foam flower--this looks GREAT right now with tidy foliage and is still blooming. I had some red tulips behind the foam flower and they looked lovely. Columbines--flowering nicely with airy foliage. Agastache--the one I have has short white flowers, but blues are common I think. Overwintered and re-sowed abundantly. My soil drains well so may be why they like it there. Garden phlox--were small plants last year from Bluestone spring sale. SO far they are growing nicely but will see if they flop. Today the whole area seemed to be in so much sun! Daylillies--will see how they do this year Foxglove--sowed last summer, getting ready to bloom, seems to be good for them in this spot. Monarda, bloomed last summer and no flopping. Soloman's seal--in a shadier pocket, but still gets some afternoon sun. Doing really well right now. helleborus--one little helleborus which has been doing great so far this spring, to my surprise. When I realized how sunny the spot was, I thought I'd move this little plant, but it is doign well. Toad lily--these are growing nicely and had attractive late flowers last year. Lobelia--there are some nice blue lobelias available. low growing veronicas--doing very well and blooming profusely. Happy planting. :)
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Thanks to all of you. You have all given me great ideas…….I possibly could do a sun sail. I could attach to either side of the screen porch and stretch over to a support beam on the deck that holds some lighting. Not sure the cost of such…… Perahaps the dawn light will not be as bad as I thought…….I will admit, because my garden guy Bert seriously injured his hand in June, I did not have the garden help I usually have. And due to my limitations (many of you know about my hip 3 surgeries) no mulching got done and it was truly needed. I like the idea of some containers to help will shading that bed. It would be the easiest solution. Also some taller plants may help. I also have thought about one of those decorative standing screens, but that might make it hard to move around the bed. Kenrah, I am 69 with physical limitations, so splitting and moving the hostas would be a tremendous amount of work and really there is plenty of room in that bed for growth of those hostas. I am glad that you were able to move yours with a little bit of work. My front yard is pretty full and competes with maple tree roots, adding more there would cause more issues. debra
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jfacendola
10 years ago
If you are really worried, you could come up with some sort of shade cloth canopy that you could slowly leave up for less and less time each day to help the plants that might be able to survive in full sun transition without burning and looking good. Keep everything properly watered, and hope for the best?
nandina
10 years ago
The mention of metro Boston forces me to take a walk down memory lane returning to the days when grand elm trees arched over the streets. These were lost to the Dutch Elm disease, wisely replaced with a mix of hardwoods and now it sounds as though the present tree generation is giving up the fight against growing in city conditions. Sometimes it is with reluctance one must accept change. Nothing we can do but work with it and tuck our memories away.

Grit your teeth. Tell yourself that you will allow your garden to remain as is until next June when the plants have a chance to leaf out, adapting to the new light conditions from early spring on.

Expect lots of wilting, especially at high noon. Expect the hydrangeas to wilt the most. Resist the temptation to overwater everything except for the hydrangeas which are water hogs. Every morning and early evening LIGHTLY mist the tops of all the plantings until it appears that the plants are adjusting to the situation. With patience and misting you should have very little plant loss next year.

Tree coming down--strategy for moving from shade to sun?

Comments (4)

War_Eagle

Lalala (zone 6b)
Original Author

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nandina

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Tree coming down--strategy for moving from shade to sun?

Comments (4)

War_Eagle

Lalala (zone 6b)Original Author

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jfacendola

nandina

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Lalala (zone 6b)
Original Author