The magic of a shady garden

HAVE you heard the Cuckoo? Many people start gardening at this time of year; the rainy soggy cold days are over (hopefully) and the lengthening days and sunshine make us all want to make our gardens more beautiful.
I think one of the best places to start with your garden is to create a view from your favourite spot in the house. In my old cottage garden, our big north-facing window did not have much of a view from the sitting room for a long time, except when the Amelanchier blossomed. Over the years I planted Japanese acers, rhododendrons, white foxgloves, ferns, Himalayan and martagon lilies. It went from being a bit dull to a destination; a place to visit. It was some spectacular drama to see those lilies in flower. I regret that I didn’t tackle that shady part of the garden sooner.
So, let’s dream about what you would like to see from your favourite spot in the house. Something breath-taking or calming, that highlights the changing drama of the seasons. Once you have some mental images of what your view and garden should look like, it’s important to think about the aspects of the garden next.
Is it sunny or shady? Windy or sheltered? When does the sun hit that spot and for how long? This information is very important if you want to avoid any disappointment (especially after buying some expensive plants!).
This month, I would like to focus on the shady part of the garden.

What type of shade you have
DEEP shade (only a few hours in sun or no sun); Dappled shade (the sunlight is filtered through overhead foliage); Light shade (forest edge aspect); Dry or moist.
There are many shade-loving and shade-tolerant plants; look to nature, you will get some inspiration. To create drama, different heights and shapes of plants are desirable. Different shades of greens including variegated plants (ie Hostas) or white flowering plants add brightness to a shady corner.

Hydrangeas
MOST shady corners of a garden will have some shelter, but if not, hydrangeas will make a good shelter. Rainy Ireland is a great place to grow hydrangeas and most hydrangeas are wind tolerant.
Limelight has attractive green flowers (popular amongst flower arrangers) and grow to 3m easily. That said, Ayesha, a fragrant and unusual lilac hydrangea, likes a little more sunshine.
Hydrangeas are a very easy plant to grow, but make sure you don’t cut the finished flower heads until spring to protect against frost.

Acer Palmatum (Japanese maples)
MOST acers originate in Asia; compact and slow growing Japanese maples are very popular for small gardens. One of my favourites has a vibrant autumnal colour (burning red) of Ōsakazuki (large sake cup), the colour will last for several weeks.
Orange dream is a graceful tree which has very unusual foliage. In spring, orange-pink tinged pale green leaves appear and gradually turn to fresh green during the summer. In autumn the leaves turn yellow and orange.
Sango-kaku (Coral Palace) which is a large growing tree noted for its beautiful showy coral bark in spring, is hard to resist. Most of these acers do well in large pots, but if you would like to enjoy beautiful colours in the autumn, place well in a sheltered spot and water well to prevent the leaves from being damaged by dehydration.

Ferns
OSMUNDA regalis (Royal fern) is a very tall, native
fern which bears cinnamoncoloured pinnae at the tips.
In my old garden it grew taller than me! It's autumn golden colour is fantastic.
Hearttongue fern, Malefern, Lady-fern they are all native and though they prefer damp soil, they can tolerate a little dryness too.
There are so many beautiful ferns that have become available in recent years, including Irish native ferns.

Ground covers
SWEET woodruff is a native perennial which has scented flowers and will carpet a shady patch in no time.
The fern-leaved dicentra Formosa is a valuable plant to supress weeds in the shade. It also flowers for a long time.
I am running out of space for the shade loving plants already!
There are so many special nurseries for the shade loving plants in Ireland now.
Please find some links below and enjoy the cool and calm space of a shady garden, and do not forget that Clew Bay Garden Trail is starting from next month.
Plants nurseries for the shade: shadyplants.ie, futureforest.ie, kilmurrynursery.com
Windfalls Garden Centre: Knockaphunta, Castlebar, F23C967.