need help for a shade garden?

I just bought my house a few months ago and I have this shady area....still rustic. It is also very wet there...except the last couple days because we've had 90 degree weather. I am concerned about drainage and due to my hectic work schedule I need something here that doesn't require a whole lot of attention. I would need to do it on a shoe string budget. I'm in southcentral PA.
Any ideas? I would like some kind of walkway that leads to the back of the property (it's beyond the gate).
Sorry...couldn't rotate the images.

Hello from south central PA as well :) I work in York so that's not very far from you. There are a lot of things you can do there in that area but if you're looking to stick to a budget, I'd probably stick with the safe stuff like hostas, pachysandra, ivy, ferns or something along those lines. Good luck!

Wonderful. Is there also something low maintenance I can use that will give a pop of color?

Well the hostas bloom lavender colored flowers around now, the pach blooms white flowers in the spring, if you go with vinca as a ground cover over the ivy, then you're looking at blue flowers in the spring. If you really want to mix it up, you could throw in some Astilbe for early summer color and Plumbago for late summer blue flowers.

You can get all of these plants at Stauffer's Nursery. I think they have a store in Mechanicsburg. They sell some good quality stuff and if you go this week, they have coupons in their flyer :)

Hi from northeastern, PA. I agree with Sequoiadendron4 that hostas would be great, BUT not if you have a large deer population. Hostas And Impatiens are candy to them! Little late for them now, but bleeding hearts, astilbe, and foxglove would do well and deer don't usually bother them. For a pop of color, Coleus grow well in the shade. I'm not really sure if the deer like them, though.

The simplest walkway is stepping stones.
Just rake or scrape the area level and set them in place. If they are not quite stable use some of the raked soil under them.
If you can handle large, thick flagstone, pieces over 50 lbs each then they will be more stable than smaller pieces.

If you have areas of standing water, or almost that moist you might have to build mounds to get the drainage that most plants need. I would add lots of compost to the existing soil and see how well that brings up the grade. Make sure not to raise the soil at or near the house, though. You do not want the water running off and ending up under the house!

Lucy, I have a Mostly-Shady area in the back of my yard that floods every Spring.
The plants I have that have continued to thrive in those conditions are Cardinal Flower (Lobelia 'Cardinalis'), assorted Hostas, Astilbes and, surprisingly, one Columbine (Aquilegia 'Clementine Red') plus a few other assorted that may or may not tolerate constant moisture.

Of course there are others, but the one I particularly wanted to tell you about is Cardinal Flower since you asked about adding color. This is a native plant that grows naturally along streams and rivers so it readily accepts wet soil and, in fact, does not like to be completely dry. It will grow in light from Part Sun to Full Shade. The flower stalks grow to about 3-5 feet tall and produce vibrant Red blooms that Hummingbirds absolutely adore.

It generally won't bloom the first year (unless you get cuttings or part of a divided plant from someone). They aren't a long-lived plant, but they do readily self-sow if you leave them standing. You can also colllect seeds or divide the roots.

Here's a link from PlantFiles. The info they have is more general so don't read it as gospel. What is really useful, though, are the member comments (lots of them) and member pictures (also lots).

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/379

Thank you all for all the great ideas. I've been away on vacation and I am anxious to get started when I get back. I will surely take photos of the changes I make. That is...if I can convince my husband to work on the shaded area vs other areas around the house that also need our attention. He is a great help...whenever I go out to do any gardening he steps in to help...my health is not all that great and I get tired quickly but that doesn't stop me. Since we bought the house I've become very interested in gardening and learning as much as I can.

If it was my garden I would not plant any ivy. too invasive. Alocasia colocasia would grow well in wet soil.
They can be very expensive if you want named ones but if you go to an oriental grocery store they have taro/ elephant ears that are edible so buy several varieties.

My backyard is also shady but not wet.
Good luck.

My garden is on biginners landscaping and the thread is BELLES HAVEN GARDEN 2013.
Here is part nof my alocasia /colocasia collection

Belle















This message was edited Jul 8, 2013 5:05 PM

Lucy, here are links to the Lobelia Cardinalis I told you about in PlantFiles. There are quite a few photos as well. You can see how popular it is by how many people want it and how many places sell it and you can also get a little insight from the assorted member comments.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/379/

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/346772/

I love the red Lobelia Cardinalis. It's gorgeous and definitely will consider adding it to our perennial wildflower garden next spring.

Mine are just starting to get buds...I can hardly wait! I think they're the Hummer's favorite blooms in my yard, which is especially nice because most of my yard is shady and these plants are happy in shade.