Shrubs for Dry Shade

Hi there, we have a garden in front of our house and a good part of it is under the overhang, so it doesn't get any rain.....it also gets alot of shade cause of our front tree. Definitely a problem site. Does anyone know of good dry shade shrubs that would look and grow good here? We want it to look as good as possible cause its in the front. It doesn't matter if they flower or not. Were going to be digging over the soil adding peat and maybe some compost. Any advice or suggestion would be great!!!!! Zone 6, Southern Ontario, Canada.

Thanks :)
Steve

I also posted this in the Canadian Gardening forum.

Cotoneaster, some Euonymus, perhaps.
Hedera (there are beautiful behaved ones out there.)
Watch about digging around in the roots of your tree.
Good luck,
K. James

Kerria japonica, Abelia grandiflora, Calycanthus florida, boxwoods, Rhus aromatica, to some extent Meserve hollies, mahonia.

Scott

Mahonia is a great dry/shade evergreen plant. I've also seen Rhus aromatica used successfully.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I've already started looking these plants up. Is there a type of mahonia that works best? I looked it up in plant files and there were a lot of different ones.

Steve

Mahonia nervosa and M. aquifolium are probably the easiest to get in Canada and are equally tolerant of dry shade.

Skimmia japonica sarcaccoca

Tsuga cultivars - Dwarf Hemlock's
Enkianthus campanulatus - Enkianthus
Hydrangea - Hydrangea
Ilex - Holly
Kalmia latifolia - Mountain Laurel
Nandina domestica - Heavenly Bamboo
Pieris - Pieris
Rhododendron/Azalea - Evergreen Forms
Symphoricarpos - some - Snowberry
Acer circinatum - Vine Maple - Many dwarf cultivars
Acer palmatum - Japanese Maple - Many dwarf cultivars
HUGE HOSTAS
Taxus - Yew - many, many forms

Hydrangea, Kalmia, Pieris, Rhododendron, and Acer palmatum are the last plants I would recommend for dry shade.

Yeah I kind of realized that after I posted. Maybe they'll water...

Thanks.

I have seen drip irrigation lines work well in dry shade situations.
I only have the Kerria from those lists - it does fine with no care.

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll suggest getting a drip hose...But the garden is in the front and we don't get the hose out there very much...
And theres a window right above it so sprinklers can't really be used.
We'll of course be watering till they get established, but low care after would be best.

Thanks again,
Steve

well if you want ideas for perennials there is alot more out there....Epimedium...Christmas ferns...Geranium macrorrhizom..Rhodia..Hellebores...Begonia grandis...etc. etc.

Steve, Bury the drip hose in the mulch, out of sight, off the windows, no longer dry shade, many more options. Ken

Drip irrigation really is best for under an overhang, overhead irrigation would keep the foliage wet too long causing problems. As you mentioned - certainly amending the soil would help to keep the moisture in also.

I have dry shade under a Norway maple. For planting under that tree, my advice is to only dig where you're going to plant, not dig and amend the entire area as if it was a bed or border. That way you do as little damage to the root system as possible. I second the epimedium suggestion and would add lamium and hostas, many spring bulbs.

Eleutherococcus sieboldianus 'Variegata'

I got that var. Aralia about 5 or 6 years ago and it has done little..It almost looks the same today as it did the day I got it. It is supposed to get to be a rather large shrub....but it is very pretty...stickers however.

We've decided to get the drip hose!!! Is that what there called 'drip hose' or do they have some sort of name like "Patented Rubber Irrigation Hose"? I've never looked for them before, but it should work out really good! We're going to research the shrubs you all suggested and probably purchase them sometime this month. We already have some cotton easter we have to move so maybe we'll try that as a ground cover.

Steve

Best of luck - that really does open up your options. Drip irrigation is pretty low tech and more practical for your use.

Thanks for you help everyone on this one!!! We just got our front garden done this afternoon. We got the drip hose(which we probably couldn't do without), which we just turned on and we put in some hostas and other perennials. I want to take some pictures of the garden this week which I'll post so you all can see it!!!!!

Steve