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morgysmom

Plant recommendations for shaded west faceing bed

MorgysMom
12 years ago

Hi all! I am a new homeowner as well as a new gardener. The front bed of our house was never developed and I'm working on it now. I've pulled two very weak bushes (cut them back and yanked them up by hand) and I'm working on the red clay soil to make a nice spot for some plants this spring.

The bed faces west but is shaded by two 30 year old Bradford Pears and one Silver Leaf Maple. It only gets dappled light for about 2 hours in the afternoon. I'm a little hesitant to buy shade loving plants because the age of the Bradfords. I was told by a tree service that they typically split and have to be cut down after 30 years. Which is really sad because I love them.

I figured if I go with plants/shrubs that will thrive in either sun or shade would be best but I don't know of any.

On either side of the bed are Helleri Hollys. I'd like to plant a tall something or a group of tall somethings to go in the middle of the bed between the two windows. That area is 3.5 ft deep, 5 ft wide and 9ft to the roof. I could bring the depth out about a foot more if necessary. I have a picture of the area but I'm not sure how to post it.

After some research I thought two Berberis 'Helmond Pillar' with a Berberis 'Sunjoy Gold Pillar' planted in front of them might be nice but I'm not sure they'd do well with such little sun.

I've also thought of planting a purple smokebush there but I think it may be too close to the house.

There are SO many plants I love it's hard to choose when starting from scratch with very little experience.

Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Comments (4)

  • MorgysMom
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Front view of garden bed:

    {{gwi:588169}}

    Side views:

    {{gwi:588170}}

    {{gwi:588171}}

    The little green plant is a poor pityful Elephant Ear that will be moved to a better location next year. We are also working on the bare spots of grass :)

  • User
    12 years ago

    Well, the elephant ear is telling me that area really does get alot of shade.
    But the holly's, even though they are scragley, look pretty nice, so they are getting enough sun.
    Go for evergreens, they will look nice in the winter.
    I do not know where you are, which would matter, so I will just give you a few suggestings that I know would probably work.
    Gardenias, in particular, Chuck Hayes, will do very nice in that spot. You can trim them if they get too full, but I don't think you have to worry about the height.
    Plant this in spring and COMPOST and pine mulch well.
    Also, I love elephant ears. They can get big though, and you have to bring the bulbs in for the winter. But next spring look for multicolored calidums to plant there. (they look just like elephant ears).
    Also, can't forget ferns.
    THere are some beautiful ferns that would do well there and give a nice feathery texture too!
    Look at the HD or Lowes this fall and spring for a bush
    called Sweet Box. It is real dark green, easy to trim, and blooms white sweet vanilla flowers in Jan Feb and March.
    So when you are coming and going you will get a wiff in the winter. They are evergreen. Nice bushes.
    Oh, for the grass, St Augustine will grow in shade. I don't know where you are.
    If you aren't into grass because of the lack of sun, why not try a ground cover instead? Something you won't have to mow and can occasionally walk on like Creeping Jenny.
    It turns bright red in winter, loves shde and water and multiplies.
    You will get other suggestions.
    Good Luck in your new home!

  • dottie_in_charlotte
    12 years ago

    You might consider limbing up your Bradfords and the maple or thinning them a bit but since this is the west side of the house you want that shade to keep the house cooler.

    You're not growing tomatoes or roses here so the dappled light shielding your flowers from the hottest part of the day should be more than sufficient for many shrubs.
    Besides, the white painted cementblock will reflect a great deal of light, more than you think.
    Your hollies could use a good trimming back to get them to grow more densely to visually anchor that front bed.
    Play with different colors of green in your shrub choices but go for varying heights/forms and larger leaves.
    Right now, the Helleri's are very wispy but with a nice shaping they should fill in. Dwarf gardenias have nice shiny leaves and will be happy with the dappled shade.

  • MorgysMom
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm looking into all those plants.
    Lol, the hollies are awfully scragley. My husband wanted to pull them up but I've talked him into letting me try a good trimming back so they can fill in. I'm so happy yall mentioned that, he doubts it'll work but I hate to get rid of any plant without first giving it a fighting chance to become awesome.
    I had the tree service out to trim up the trees but he recommended not to touch them, said they'd fall for sure if he took anything off.
    Thanks again for all the help :)