What to put on ground in shady townhouse garden?
jbrooklyn
8 years ago
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Yardvaark
8 years agojbrooklyn
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Starting a garden in a densely shady backyard
Comments (28)You've got a lot of good advice to start you off. I'll add my 2 cents worth :-) My backyard is almost entirely shade except a bit in the center, which is now the only space where there is lawn. (See the link below to a thread on the Woodlands Gardening forum for pictures, plan and description of my shade garden...) The biggest problem with the shade garden here is mosquitoes! I do the vast majority of my gardening work in the spring before they come out of hibernation and again in the fall when they've gone back into hibernation. In mid summer, I relax and enjoy the garden largely from the shelter of the back porch! When I do my regular tree seedling patrols, I wear a bug shirt :-) By 'long needle pines' do you mean white pines? I have two and there are others on the neighbouring properies that affect us too. They are my favorite evergreens! The annual needlecast provides lots of lovely mulch - it all gets raked into the garden beds where it is left to rot down naturally to the benifit of the plants there. Directly under the skirt of the pines, Sweet Woodruff is the main planting. Closer to the edge of the canopy, other shade plants tolerant of fairly dry conditions e.g. perenial geraniums, brunnera, some ferns will do well. Hostas and Solomon's Seal make a nice combination in there as well. The list of shade plants you'll want in the garden is almost endless :-) Shade gardening is very rewarding - lots of beautiful plants and interesting combinations. Work out at least a rough idea of what you want to do and then get started. Mowing those weeds so you have a better feel for the space and conditions is a good thing to do while you're in the early stages of thinking about it as a garden rather than a weedy wasteland! Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: shade garden...See MoreRe: Suggestions for a ground cover for a shady dry hill! Help!
Comments (4)I agree, you cannot go wrong with Geranium macrorhizum. It is 3 season, one of the earliest things to be green in the garden, because it IS semi-evergreen. Has a nice, subtle pine-like scent. It is SO easy to plant, just cut in a bit with a spade and put it in. No major digging. For the most part, normal rain will be enough water to get it started. If you want it to start even quicker, give it some extra water. Has pretty fall color. Blossoms colors include whitish pink. That's probably the most commonly found one, called Biokovo. Personally, I prefer my pink one, called Ingwersen's Variety. But, if you are in zone 5, there's another pink one that you could grow, which I cannot: Karmina. Look at bluestoneperennials dot com, they have it. Here is a link that might be useful: ingwersen's...See MoreWhat all have you put in the ground so far?
Comments (21)dsieber: Yes, we do tomatoes. We are lucky in that a good portion of our property faces south (ranging from SE to SW depending on which part) and that we are thoroughly in the 285 corridor valley (right near a massive cliff face that gives us extra reflected light and heat). That lets us be just a bit toastier than most of the area. I've had the best luck with the smaller tomato varieties. Tiny Tim cherry tomatoes and Extreme Bush tomatoes give me the best yields of what I've tried so far. I've also gotten some Rose and Moskvich tomatoes as well, although the season ended last year before they got truly productive. I'll probably give in this year and use some miracle-gro or other chemical fertilizer to boost the growth speed on my tomatoes, peppers, and cucurbits(squash, melons, and such). I haven't used chemical fertilizers on my tomatoes in the past. I'm hoping that if I do I'll be able to get a full harvest on them. I normally pre-sprout some inside as starts and plant them out the first time the weather forecast is showing a week with 40 as the lowest low. I also pre-sprout some seeds to direct sow as well since sometimes if I lose the starts, the ones started outside will still come through for me. I'm still trying different varieties to see if any other tomatoes will do better than the ones I listed previously. This year I've got three new varieties to try (Juliet, Eva Purple ball, and Debarao). Essentially if the seed site I use has any tomatoes on sale and they are relatively short span to maturity I'll pick them up to try. So it is still a work in progress. Thralen...See MoreSpacious, Shady Garden-Level Patio Space in Student Rental Apt
Comments (1)How large is the space? If concrete is under the carpet, then all you'd need is to cover it with a large outdoor rug, or stain the concrete if you want a different look. If it's soil, then consider laying some patio stones and filling the gaps with either small stones or sand. Lowes/HD carry 20 x 20" patio stones that would fill the area easily. Can you trim back that pine tree limb or do you need the shade it provides? Trimming it back just beyond the top fence ledge will help reduce the mess from pine needles. Below are some ideas.......... Here is a link that might be useful: [patios[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/patio-pavers-rock-out-stsetivw-vs~1547347)...See MoreYardvaark
8 years agojbrooklyn
8 years agoYardvaark
8 years agoemmarene9
8 years agoYardvaark
8 years agojbrooklyn
8 years agoYardvaark
8 years agojbrooklyn
8 years agojbrooklyn
8 years agoYardvaark
8 years agokitasei
7 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
7 years agokitasei
7 years agomad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
7 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
7 years agojbrooklyn
7 years agojbrooklyn
7 years agolittlebug zone 5 Missouri
7 years ago
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jbrooklynOriginal Author