Shade garden design

Hi All, I'm new here and have inherited a large weed garden with the home I purchased. I am in the process of cleaning it up and hope you can offer some design ideas. The fence and swing set are now gone, and the sandbox will also go. This will leave a large shaded area I need to fill in. From the swing set to the far left it is very shady and I have lily of the valley and Soloman's Seal filling in a lot of the area. There is also a patch of wild ginger here. The rest is all weeds! I am putting a white picket fence in the right corner to hopefully deter kids from the pond in the winter. What would you recommend for filling in the whole center area? I'm hoping to add a seating area somewhere but am open to all ideas!

If I could suggest anything, it would be Iowa natives! I am in the central portion of Iowa. Here is a link to the Jewels of the Prairie posters and the Oak Savannah plants can give you some ideas.
http://www.iowadot.gov/lrtf/prairieposters.html

Here are some plants I've had success in shade/part shade. Monarda fistulosa (Bee Balm) grows in a variety of conditions and the seeds do not need to be cold stratified. Let your WIld Ginger continue to go wild. From talking with others, it takes a little time to establish. If you are ok with plants that the leaves die shortly after flowering, May Apple and Bloodroot are interesting. My Lion's Foot is just now emerging. The flowers are somewhat small, but unique.

Am I to assume your soil is more on the clay side? Take advantage of the sand that may remain in the sandbox and try some plants that need sandy soil. Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) can tolerate some shade and likes sand. We had to add some to a patch, and it is doing very well this year.

Sweet Joe Pye and Yellow Giant Hyssop are doing well. Maximilian Sunflower grows best in full sun, but I have a couple patches in part shade. These make great Goldfinch feeders once the flowers start to open. They eat the green parts near the base of the flower and then later the seeds.

Designing? Anything that looks designed here is completely accidental. I have one patch that is "perfect". I really like it because it flowers every growing season and the tall stuff takes over the fading spring flowers and the next year, the cycle continues.

The two places I order most of my natives are very helpful. They readily will talk to you over the phone and suggest plants for your growing conditions.
http://ionxchange.com/ They often have plugs fairly late in the season.
http://www.prairiemoon.com/ They are out of their dormant roots, but have plenty of seed available.

I've come to really enjoy native plants and the life they bring, but maybe you are thinking in a different direction? I hope whatever you decide on makes your yard a beautiful place.

This message was edited May 13, 2016 1:41 PM

What great ideas! My brother-in-law actually graduated from UI's environmental science program and his entire college career focused on restoring native planting to the area, so he would love to see me working these in! The soil is actually not bad at all. Pretty fertile in the shadier areas. The sunnier side to the right of the pond is sandier because it is against a main road and has plenty of sand thrown over it during snow storms. A bit of a pain, but I guess it's better than salt! This week I'll be covering the whole area with cardboard and mulch to destroy the many, many weeds. I'll check into ionxchange right away to see what they have to offer. Thanks so much for your ideas!

You're welcome. I've been digging up creeping charlie in a shady spot and that soil looks good there. A friend dug up some of her yellow jewelweed to try in that place. I had never wanted to try germinating this since it takes two cold seasons with a warm in between, but yet it is considered an annual. I really hope they produce seed and then I may have a nice patch in a couple of years.

Rarely does our road get salt because we're along gravel, but if there is ice like this last Thanksgiving, they will.

I hope you have great success.