Shade Gardening: What grows in the dark, practically?, 1 by doss

doss wrote:
One of my favorite ferns is Motherfern. You can see the Heuchera (dark purple) in flower. It's next to a Japanese painted fern. A lime green cultivar is on my list for the spring. There are a lot of nice grasses that grow in the shade (see foreground). A pair of birds build their nest in this tall grass in the foreground every year. It's only a problem if my dogs get too close. Their little though and can come within inches and not notice the birds. I think that they lost their sense of just about everything when they made their noses short. But they are still cute. I've just had to revamp my garden two years ago. There are more pictures of my garden at:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/482325/.

You'll see that I'm still struggling with a dark corner too. And I have one with a Walnut tree over it. I have been able to plant things like Hydrangeas on the outerlimits of the treeline though. And the Camellias will grow even there. They don't seem to mind the toxicity too much.

I can't remember how many of the really shady pictures are there. I'll go remind myself. :-)

The good thing is that you have a blank slate. Once you get that ground in order, it's going to be really easy to take care of it. One thing that always really works is a patio. You might want to look at Trunnels garden. She lives in Texas - zone 8b. I think that you can get a really good idea of what can be done with deep shade in her garden. And she has a great patio.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/452273/

A water feature is always fun. And I think you are going in the right direction to think hardscape first. If you've decided that you are going to use it as an entertainment area, then lay out a path and a patio with an old hose. Move that around some and see what you can come up with. Shrink your planting areas that way. Good "bones" are what gardens are made of. Think of this place as a garden "room". I don't think that anyone is more gifted at this than John Benoot. His place is huge, but you can get an idea of how he's divided and conquered space in what was originally 3 acres of farmland.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/481355/

Have a good weekend!