HOME TOUR

For the last three years I’ve been looking out our kitchen window into the forgotten corner of our yard that was filled with weeds and a couple seasons worth of dead leaves. On an outing to Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland (my favorite!) I walked past a cart of “native” woodland perennials and it sparked an idea. I figured it was high time to take back my forgotten side yard and design a shade garden.

A NEGLECTED CORNER

It’s sat neglected because I’ve honestly had no idea what to do with it. It’s just not very pretty. The chain link fence is not my favorite but we chose it for budget reasons and to maintain the ability to see our neighbors and chat occasionally. Here’s to some kind of climbing vine covering the whole darn thing! I would have loved another white picket but it wasn’t in the financial cards at the time. To make matters worse, there’s horrendous chicken wire Matt zip-tied to the bottom 1/3 of the fence and dug down into the soil to keep the rabbits out. Which frankly just makes the whole area feel messy. It’s sandwiched between the white berry cage, the corner of the house and the chainlink fence but I look at it all day long while washing dishes so it’s worth the effort and excuse to get creative and make it lovely.

I’m far from a master gardener but I know shade gardens exist and are lovely. Seeing some of these beautiful, native, shade-loving perennials at the nursery was inspiring. This section of our yard is tucked under some maples and although it gets slices of sun throughout the day, it’s mostly shady and stays damp.  Right now there are seed pods everywhere and we haven’t mulched so it will look better when it’s cleaned up.

CREATING A PATH

Matt used our slate stepping stones that use to be at the side door next to the garage to make the path from the gate to the pass through path next to the berry cage. I envision moss creeping between the stones so we planted Irish Moss. The little boys helped plant all of the plants I brought home, there’s a full list below.

 

DESIGNING THE SHADE GARDEN

I read each plant label, paying attention to spacing, plant height and sunshine needs and then laid them all out prior to digging. Don’t enlist the help of the toddler if you want plants to stay in the right spot, haha! I have a hard time sometimes seeing the bigger picture and how plants fill in over time which is why I need to just trust the label and know they’ll grow. I think what I really want is a two year old shade garden!

But alas, for this brand new shade garden I staggered the heights of the plants, keeping the ones closest to the path the shorter growers and creepers and the ones that will get bigger closer to the fences and perimeter. I’d love to find a vintage bird bath, perhaps at Brimfield. Eventually my hope is to take out the shaggy tree (it’s actually a mulberry and yew that have intertwined) and plant a tulip magnolia for spring color. I guess that’s the long and short of it. I will say I went out this afternoon to analyze the plants and something (enter curse word here) has munched just the Rue Anemone and Phlox Stolonifera. I’ve been seeing chipmunks. Do they really eat flowers? I have a hard time believing a rabbit has gotten in but who knows.

 

PLANTS AT A GLANCE

Jacob’s Ladder “Stairway to Heaven”

Lady Fern

Fern Ghost

Maiden Hair Fern

Snowdrop Windflower

Lamium “White Nancy”

Anemonella Thalictroides Rue Anemone

Phlox Stolonifera “Bruce’s White”

Trailing Arbutus “Mayflower”

Hillside Black Beauty Bugbane

Siberian Bugloss “Jack Frost”

Hellebores

Japanese Anemone “Whirlwinds”

Sweet Woodruff

White Clematis