Monthly Tips

October - Plants of the Month

Plants for Shade

The north side of your house is dank, dark and weedy - maybe there's a few tatty sword ferns - something has got to be done. So you head out to the nursery and look in the shade section - and are overwhelmed. You decide to begin with ferns - of which Swanson's currently has 22 kinds. Great. Why can't someone just put it all together for you for once?

Well, this month someone will, even though I'm undoubtedly doing myself out of some work. Below is a group of plants that work well together, look good all year and won't engulf your windows. Feel free to ignore me but if you're looking for the simple, quick solution to the north side of the house problem - here you go.

[shade plants]

Hosta, golden creeping jenny and dwarf london pride

If you have at least 6' between the house and the sidewalk, and moderately okay soil, the following plants should work for you. (Modifications for narrower areas below.)

  1. Sarcococca ruscifolia aka sweet box (or S. hookeriana var. hookeriana which is my personal favorite but harder to find) - They grow about 4' tall and 4-5' wide after quite a few years. Sweet box has glossy evergreen leaves and small white winter flowers with an amazing fragrance. People always ask about the scent when they are in bloom. Don't shear them.
  2. >Carex 'Ice Dance'(12-18"Hx24-36"W), C. 'Evergold' or C. 'Aureo-varigata' (12-18"Hx18-24"W) - All are green and gold striped grass-like plants. They are evergreen and may look tatty after a hard winter. Cut them back in late winter or dig up the 'Ice Dance' which spreads a bit and re-plant the good looking parts. If you're willing to give up year-round foliage, plant Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'(18"H. plant 18" apart). The most graceful well-behaved shade grass to be found.
  3. >Fuchsia magellanica - Hardy fuchsias come in many sizes, from 12-18" (many) to 5-8' tall (F. magellanica var. molinae). Flowers are often bi-color in shades of pink, purple and white. Some single color ones are also available. A few have gold foliage. Hardy fuchsias are deciduous and look like a bunch of sticks through the winter so don't put them somewhere really obvious like right by the path to the front door (did that). Often parts die off during the winter, just cut back in spring to a few inches once you see new growth starting. It will start blooming early-mid summer and keep going through autumn. Make sure you are getting a hardy fuchsia - there are some non-hardy ones out there that are unlikely to last through the winter.
  4. Hellebores - Helleborus foetidus (18-24"H x 2-3'W) has chartreuse flowers. The matte green, palmate leaves provide nice foliage contrast through the year. Helleborus x hybridus (1.5'H x 2'W) has drooping, open cupped, long-lasting flowers in shades of whites, mauve, dusky purple and pink - very elegant. Both are great plants and bloom in late winter. Both are evergreen.
  5. Hostas - Hostas are all about fabulous foliage. Many, many cultivars are available. Stick with the green and gold color scheme and pick ones where the leaves feel thick and heavy - they'll be more slug resistant. 'June' (12-16"Hx24-36"W) is a nice one. Bait for slugs in the spring. Sluggo is non-toxic. Hostas die back to the ground in the winter.
  6. Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' - Golden creeping jenny is a groundcover with little round gold leaves. It creeps and crawls but is easy to pull out where you don't want it. It is evergreen and essentially flat.
  7. Saxifraga 'Primuloides' - Dwarf london pride is another evergreen groundcover. It has tiny deep green leaves that grow in interesting rosettes and airy little white flowers in spring - rather like baby's breath. It is not as robust as the golden creeping jenny so if you plant both you'll have to pull the creeping jenny away from the Saxifraga periodically.
  8. Acer palmatum- If I had room for a tree I'd go with a straight Japanese maple. See the May 2009 tip for more on Japanese maples.
  9. Acer palmatumFerns - I like Polystichum setiferum because it's a nice size (1.5-2.5'Hx1.5-2.5'W) and not as thirsty as some other ferns. It also has lovely lacy foliage. The native sword ferns (Polystichum munitum, 3-5'Hx3-4'W) also work great and you may already have some in your yard. These are both evergreen ferns. If the foliage looks ratty toward the end of winter, cut all the fronds off near the base. Do this before the fiddleheads start to unfurl. You can even tie the fronds together with twine and have a nice neat package to carry to compost or yard waste.
  10. Pot for more seasonal color if desired.

If you only have 3', switch the Sarcococca to a dwarf variety - S. hookeriana var. humilis. Plant them pretty close together because they are slow growing. Go with smaller versions of the hosta and fuchsia. Most of these plants can be seen at the Great Plant Picks website.

Mix and match the plants above based on your available space. If you have a long area, just repeat selected plants. Make sure you water these plants well for the first few years and periodically afterwards. None are terribly thirsty but they will need some summer water. Mulch well.

So there you go, practically a planting plan for shade. Take it to the nursery and get digging.