Northern Shade Gardening

The earliest spring bulbs bring some of the greatest excitement in the northern garden, entirely out of proportion to their dainty size. Their exquisite blooms are eagerly awaited, not only for their beauty, but as a sign that the garden is starting its next cycle.

Despite the fresh spring snow, the Puschkinia libanotica ‘Alba’ (white striped squills) are standing firm. They have temporarily halted opening their buds, since it’s been snowing for over 24 hours. These bulbs are planted in a garden bed on the northern side of my house with many other spring bulbs. I’ve grown the blue striped squills before, but this white variety was newly planted last fall. They are the first of the small bulbs to bloom this spring. I’m not sure if they naturally bloom earlier than the blue variety, or if they have an advantage, being 2 feet closer to the warm house foundation. These bulbs are planted next to the front porch, where it’s easy to see and appreciate them. In a larger garden, or farther from the house, it is too easy for them to disappear from view unless they are planted in large patches. This is a hardy little bulb for a cold climate.

You can see a better picture of how Puschkinia libanotica ‘alba’ looks when its blooms actually open in this later post.

There are many perennial books that give good information, but not necessarily for your growing zone. When it comes to planning for northern gardening, it is frustrating to skim through detailed lists of perennials that won’t grow in our colder zones. Here are three books about hardy perennials that are useful for anyone gardening in a cold climate. The plants and tips are all applicable for a short gardening season and sub zero temperatures.

The first book is called Lois Hole’s Perennial Favorites, by Lois Hole. The book has good general information about growing perennials, including useful lists of plants for different situations such as shade gardens, rock gardens, wet areas or dry spots. Practical tips for perennial care such as dead heading plants and dividing them are clearly explained with pictures. However the bulk of the book is given to detailed information about specific perennials for northern gardens. Each plant gets 2 to 4 pages of description with many coloured photos. The facts are well organized and easy to access for quick reference. There are tips on plant culture and recommended varieties. One extremely useful section is a 2 page chart showing the relative blooming times of 100 perennials through the seasons, with individual bars showing the length of blooming time. This chart is very helpful for gardeners aiming to have different perennials in bloom at different times. In the short growing season of a cold climate, you want to make your garden last as long as possible, with early spring flwoers and late season colour. You can also use it to coordinate the blooming times in a particular bed.  If you are looking for information about reliable, hardy perennials, this is an excellent reference.

The next recommendation for northern gardens is called Perennials for Alberta, by Donna Dawson and Laura Peters. Although it’s given a regional name, it is an excellent reference for anyone dealing with a northern garden. The structure of the book is very similar to the previous book. The first section contains general perennial care information. There is a good discussion of the different ways perennials can be propagated, with lists of perennials that are best for each method. The bulk of the book is devoted to 2 page descriptions of each perennial, accompanied by a number of photos of each plant. there are general growing tips and recommendations for varieties help you choose the best plants and keep them thriving. The way the book is organized makes it easy to scan through, making lists of appropriate plants before a trip to the garden centre, or looking up the best way to care for an impulse purchase after you get home. This gardening book might be named for a particular province in Canada, but the information would be useful for any gardener with cold winters.

Best Garden Plants, by Donna Dawson and Laura Peters includes not only perennials, but also trees and shrubs, roses, bulbs, vines and grasses. It covers a fewer number of species of each type, so it only discusses the more common plants. They concentrate on the most hardy and reliable examples in each category. This would be particularly useful for anyone who is new to gardening, or new to gardening in a cold climate. Each plant has a one page description and coloured photos. This is a smaller, general reference, an introductory guide for gardening in a cold climate.

All three of these gardening books will help you choose plants that have a better chance of survival in a northern garden.

You can see the plants that grow well in my zone 3 shady garden on the My Garden Plants page.

One of the best parts of gardening is watching your garden change over time as you move plants around, add new ones and watch them grow. I enjoy examining photos of other people’s gardens taken over the years or seasons and noting the design changes.

When I first moved into this house there were mature trees and shrubs, but the few perennials were in narrow beds lining the fence and patio. Perhaps the previous owner had planted many annuals, since the foot wide strips were sparsely planted with perennials. There tended to be larger collections of the faster spreading perennials. In the area to the west of the house, there was a small strip of dirt against the rickety fence fronted by a slightly wider patch of grass, a sidewalk and then a 20 cm (less than a foot) section of white stone against the house. There were only a few Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley) in the exposed soil. I didn’t plant much here at first since it was out of sight. As I began planting this area, I felt restricted by the narrow space and the grass constantly encroaching on it.

Although it seems obvious now, it took a while to realize I could reshape the garden beds in the yard into whatever shape and size I wanted. The wider they were made, the better they looked. One reason the beds initially looked unsatisfactory was that the narrow width of about 30 to 45 cm (1 to 1½ feet) meant that all of the perennials were lined up in one row along the fence. Once the planting area was widened, there was room for layers with taller plants behind. The wider garden beds around the yard are more in proportion to the size of the lawn. In the side garden, removing the grass made the area look more like a garden and less like a line of convicted perennials forced up against the fence.

Here are some pictures showing how the garden on the west side of my house has changed over the last 6 years.

The first picture shows how this area looked in 2002, the spring after I moved into the house. You can see how the narrow grass strip does nothing for the bed, except create extra work having to remove it as it constantly invaded the area. The boards were propping up the fence, keeping it out of the bed too.

The next photo shows how this garden bed looked in the summer of 2006. The Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley) are filling in and the Aruncus dioicus (goat’s beard) planted in the corner the previous year is quickly growing taller. The new fence is self-supporting, but the narrow grass strip is weedy, and what’s with the white gravel next to the house?

The next photo shows how this bed looked in May of 2007. The grass has been removed and more perennials added. The Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern), Astilbe simplicifolia, Campanula posharskyana (Serbian bellflower), Osmunda regalis (royal fern) and Philadelphus lewisii (mockorange) add their lush foliage to the other fresh green leaves.

Here the plants are growing and blooming in June 2007. The A. dioicus (goat’s beard) plumes are showy in the corner shade, the P. lewisii (mockorange) is blooming and the M. struthiopteris (ostrich ferns) are taller. I like the various shades of green in this shady area.

In July, the astilbe are blooming and the rest of the foliage still looks good. One thing I don’t like is how the large wooden retaining post, sidewalk and gravel look busy here in front of the bed. It would look better if the patio blocks continued to make the sidewalk, so there are still more design changes to make.

In August 2007, I removed the white gravel from next to the house and planted a short Campanula portenschlagiana (Dalmatian bellflower) by the house. It looks much better, but is in shadow in this shot. You can see a closeup on the my garden plants page. This garden bed is still changing, as I add, remove and rearrange the perennials, shrubs and bulbs. One of the more fun parts of gardening is noticing the improvements as the garden grows over time.

Here is another post showing a garden area planted with shade plants that I changed.