I have used alot of red twig dogwood. Good is you have lots of space to fill. They grow a little wild if not trimmed. Cutting them back each year gives you a beautiful sight on a snowy day in winter.

Welcome to the forum.

Are you in a pine barrens area, or just a south Jersey sandy soil area? Is your yard dry, or dampish (most ferns like it moist, but some tolerate dryish soil, like hay-scented or Christmas). You should really plant according to your soil conditions.

Look into the native plants for your area, and visit local gardens and nurseries. If you go to the NJ exchange page, you will see that Steve in Burlington Co. is having a swap meet on May 6 and he has a gorgeous wooded garden.

I like Rare Find nursery in Jackson Twp, there is also Fairweather Gardens in S. Jersey with a fancy reputation. Definitely visit the natural areas in the Pines, near Batsto.

If your yard is super-shady, you might consider limbing up the trees some.

for light or dappled shade: sweet bay magnolia, dogwood, redbud, shadblow rhododendrons/azaleas, columbine, spigelia, blueberry, Virginia bluebells, cardinal flower, native honeysuckle (lonicera sempervirens)

heavy shade: oakleaf hydrangea, hosta, sarcococca humilis (sweet box), solomon's seal

If you go to the Natives forum, there was a discussion on ground covers for shade, and a lot of the plants mentionned would do well in south Jersey.

My plants so far are.

Hosta,(all kinds),bluebells, astibles, rodogrendum, azelias, hygrangea,(easy to start new ones) bleedinghearts, natural ferns,(came with mother nature),columbine,day lillies, lilies, some sort of ground cover that is very easy to transplant,periwinkle ground cover. That is all that I can think of now.

You have lots of plants! Seems like you have the makings of a real pretty shade garden. You can divide a lot of your plants and make more - then you'll have repetition, rhythm, and a unified look.

I started a new shade bed, about 500 square feet, with divisions this spring. Easy on the budget.

Things that like shade, to kill without mercy: garlic mustard, Japanese stilt grass, Norway maple, poison ivy.

I know about thinning, I have thinned my hostas so many times, given some away, and started new beds with them. I have also bought more unusual ones like the blue, and giant hosta which gets around 3 feet wide. I am always on the lookout for more of the differnet kinds. They grow so well and look great everywhere. This is my first year with bleeding hearts returning. I planted them last year with hopes but was unsure how they would do. I am pleased though, they came up looking great.Columbines are great also, I have given so many away from seeds and regrowth, with also transplanting them everywhere. My hydrangia,s I can start new ones easy and give them away once established, or plant in new area.
I will say I have lost money on some plants. Them not making it in the shade or the dampness that accurs in the back yard. It has been a lot of trial and error and of course money.
I will post some pics as soon as I can.

Where do you live? I live in Wenonah, Gloucester County and I have a lot of shade.

pontesmanny

Marie - I highly recommend attending Steve's swap this weekend. (See the exchange pages) He has an unbelievably wonderful shaded yard filled with all sorts of interesting plants. You will get some great ideas as well as some great plants.

pontesmany:

I live in williamstown.

Tinylady, it sounds like you have a nice shade garden. I have a lot of the same plants, so perhaps we have similar growing conditions. For late summer/fall color in the shady garden I've been very happy with turtle head (chelone) "Hot Lips" and snakeroot (cimicifuga racemosa) "Hillside Black Beauty". Tradescantia "Sweet Kate" performs well all through the summer.

I just bought some foam flower (tiarella) "Red Rocket", so haven't any experience with it yet; the pink-tinted white flowers that are in bloom now really light up the shade.

(I was so disappointed I couldn't make it to Steve's for the swap and to see his gardens, about which I've heard so much.)

Diane

Here are some pics of my back yard. I bought the place 5 yrs ago in July. She had started only a little at the far right of the yard. I followed through and brought it all around the yard and added a pond where they use to have their picnic table. All that use to flood. We brought in many truck loads of soil to make the yard higher and level.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v718/tinylady/gardens/benchgarden.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v718/tinylady/gardens/shadeswing.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v718/tinylady/gardens/ourlittlepond.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v718/tinylady/gardens/bridgetoshed.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v718/tinylady/gardens/begining.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v718/tinylady/gardens/2yrsmaking.jpg[/IMG]

lets try this again.

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