Need help for difficult area please
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
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Need advice for these difficult shade areas
Comments (11)We have a lot of dry shade. I've also had to experiment a lot. A shrub I have found successful in the area that is deepest shade very close to a 50yr old Silver Maple, is Cornus racemosa. It does get a little sun early morning. I don't like to recommend it because it suckers a lot, but it has filled a corner that was very difficult very quickly. It also provides white berries for the birds in a lot of shade which is hard to find. Perennials in the same area that don't seem to have a problem, are bleeding heart, phlox divaricata, Epimedium and ferns. I have another dark corner that receives basically no sun, under a large Maple and I've tried a lot of shrubs there and had to yank them out. I needed a screen for neighbor's yard. I wanted a Rhododendron there and I have one planted right now, but it's not doing well at all. I added a Kerria last year and I am impressed with the amount of vigorous growth this spring. Whether it will bloom remains to be seen. I wanted something evergreen and tried Ilex glabra and that went downhill quickly. I tried a very small boxwood and took that out. Since it is about 3 ft from the trunk of a large Maple in deep shade, I can't dig a large hole to try a larger boxwood. I have Oakleaf Hydrangea along the drip line of that same tree and it is doing fine. But it faces east and gets enough sun all morning to bloom. Oh, and a Clethra 'Hummingbird' is right next to it under the drip line and surprisingly does well there. It's supposed to prefer moist conditions but it tolerates the dry area just fine, but again, gets more sun than you have. I also have a line of spruce 5ft away from my fence in a neighbor's yard, that are difficult to plant near, but that area faces South, so I have more sun then you. I had two Ninebarks in the yard, one on the foundation of the house and the other in this area near the line of Spruce trees and the difference in growth was amazing. I finally cut down the Ninebark near the Spruce trees this spring. I have a Kolkwitzia that is planted north of a large Maple right at the drip line and it does well. It was there when we moved in and amazes me that it blooms every June. So I added a second Kolkwitzia to the area with the spruce trees and it has been taking off. It is the variety 'Dream Catcher' with golden foliage and I really like it. But again, it faces South and gets about 5 hrs of sun. But it is planted very close to the spruce trees and between two of them. Since my original Kolkwitzia grows and blooms in shade, that might be something that would work for you. I've tried hollies in areas near Maples in deep shade and they are doing pretty well. They've been slow to grow but they have made decent growth to screen my neighbor's yard, along with a Taxus that is also growing and holding it's own. Whatever you plant, definitely will need more fertilizer and water than other areas. This post was edited by......See Moreideas for fenceline please ( difficult area )
Comments (2)I'd go for Sedum 'John Creech' a handsome low groundcover that's semi-evergreen in my zone. Although deer like sedums, they don't usually bother groundcover ones....See MoreNeed help regarding difficult area to grow and 'American Meadows'
Comments (12)If I was trying to grow wildflowers in this relatively small area I'd probably start with plants for most species, and seeds of only a couple species. Scatter seeds of a few very easilt grow plants to get the ground covered and discourage weeds and to provide some first-year color, then little by little add in other plants. You should decide how you want to treat the area before deciding of you want to amend the soil. If you want to treat the area like a wildflower "garden" where you'll pull weeds, perhaps mulch, and generally put a little time into maintenance, then you can amend the soil. However, if you prefer to make this area semi-wild and not put too much time into maintenance, then don't amend the soil. Digging up the soil and adding oragnic matter will make plants grow better, faster, larger, but it will also greatly encourage weeds. On the other hand, a lean, unamended soil is better if you want to put minimal time into maintenance. Yes, wildflowers will grow slower in poor soil than they would in amended soil, but weeds will also grow slower, and the effect will be more pronounced in weeds, so on balance you'll have more wildflowers and smaller, fewer weeds if you don't amend the soil. I'd scatter seeds of Clasping coneflower (Rudbeckia amplexicaulis), Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), a grass such as little bluestem, and only a couple others if there is something you particularly like. I'd probably place plants (instead of seeds) of other species, especially plants that spread vegetatively such as Wild Bergamot (Mondarda fistulosa) and Mountain Mints (Pycnanthemum species). I"d add Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) and Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), although butterflyweed also grows easily from seed. I'd add a wild sunflower to the back of the border (Helianthus divaricatus, H. microcephalus, etc.) because I like them. I'd expect asters and goldenrods to show up on their own, or collect them locally. This time of the year you should easily find wild sunflowers, and soon asters and goldenrods blooming all over the place. It shouldn't be too hard to find a clump you like, get permission from the bewildered land owner who won't understand why you want some of his weeds, and divide the clump, taking a small rooted portion and leaving the rest. This way you'll get a nice local plant without disturbing the wild population too much. My rule is that anything hardy enough to form a healthly clump on a roadside will easily recover from me taking a small piece. There are other ways to go about starting a wildflower planting, but thats what i'd do....See MorePlease Help With a Difficult Layout
Comments (8)My first thought was to swap the kitchen and dining room as well. So what if you access the library/den through the kitchen? Since it's just the two of you it's unlikely you'll have a crowd constantly traipsing through to access that room. Leave the slider as it is and then you will have one large entertainment area with access to the back patio, an ideal situation I would have thought. Leave the opening from the kitchen into the dining room as it is and depending on how you feel about access you could close off the opening from the living room into the dining room or not, or make it smaller and less inviting while adding a little wall space for storage/appliances/whatever....See MoreRelated Professionals
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