Why texture is key to a shaded garden

A look inside a new project where texture and form create interest and beauty in a shaded site.

What do you do when you can’t promise an abundance of flowers?

That’s a problem I face here in Haliburton County. We have a lot of trees and when you have a lot of trees you have a lot of shade.

Shade-loving plants, for the most part, don’t provide summer blooms. Their flower action comes in the spring.

Instead, I focus on texture and structure. The good news is that our native plants offer a wide variety of both.

I’m working on a shaded project, so I thought I’d share my ideas with you. Part of the site is on a septic bed, which brings its own constraints. The other part is closer to the cottage where a more formal design will work well.

Bring on the sedges!

As always, I start with my groundcover layer. In the absence of many flowers, this matrix has to offer a lot of value. I’m using four sedges. These often overlooked plants are similar to grasses, but green up early in the year. The huge variety of species (some 500 in North America alone) means there’s a right plant for every right place.

I’m choosing Pennsylvania Sedge for the septic bed. This grass-like sedge grows about a foot high and, once established, will look like a tousled lush meadow. Imagine a magical clearing in the woods covered with long grass that moves in the wind, and amid the long grass sprout plants with their own different textures.

The area closer to the cottage will have three sedge species, each with a different texture, planted in nine single-species groundcover blocks. There’s Rosy Sedge, with its fine, delicate leaves, Graceful Sedge with its spiky crown and seed heads that poke up above the foliage, and Plantainleaf Sedge, with its unusually broad leaves – like mini hostas.

I’m using Canada Violet as a secondary groundcover. Its leaves create contrast to the grass-like blades of sedge and its long-lasting white and pink flowers will bloom into summer. It will weave among the sedges, easily filling gaps.

I love a grass called Bottlebrush Grass, which is doing very well at Lucas House in Haliburton. You can imagine how it looks. It has an upright form, so I’ll grow it amid the sedges, allowing them to fill in the gaps underneath. Bottlebrush Grass will provide a spiky contrast to lower, arching sedges.

Now it’s time to turn to the herbaceous perennials, and here we’re looking at spring bloomers for the most part. A favourite is Early Meadowrue. Its flowers are subtle, but its leaves are where the action is – a delicate cilantro growing in drifts.

When people think of shade, they think of ferns. I’m using two species in this project. I’m using Ostrich Fern sparingly – it can be aggressive – but its strong form makes for good architecture. Then I’m adding repeating clumps of Christmas Fern to integrate the site.

Adding architecture

You can consider ferns structural, but I’m also including some shrubs. Pagoda Dogwood (also called Alternate-leaved Dogwood) is named for its distinct tiered branches. This species will be a centrepiece, so I’m planting one that’s already grown quite large. Its size will put it out of the reach of deer, which is super-important at this site. Then I’m adding a couple of Spicebush specimens. They’re deer-resistant and create an attractive rounded form that will contrast with the more pointed ferns and sedges.

Add a few more spring and fall-flowering perennials and the design is done. Careful placement of textures will be key. I’ll need to make sure there’s enough interest without a clash that will overwhelm the senses.

This design will prove shade is no barrier to great landscaping. Who needs dazzling coneflowers when you’ve got all this?