Future hosta/shade garden

For some reason, I've become hooked on hostas. We have "woods" on two sides of our property and they are "messy". There are downed trees, broken branches...you name it. This will be our 2nd summer here and we're trying to work on a portion of our yard at a time. Last year we put in raised beds for veggies and redid some of the front flower beds, trimmed/cut down tree, etc.

I started cleaning out the woods today. Talk about slow going! DH cut down some broken branches and cut up some trees that fell over the winter. This is where I'd like to put in a hosta/shade garden. I picture it being somewhat irregularly shaped and quite large. I'd like to put a bench and possibly a birdbath in there also. I still have so much work to do that I most likely won't even be able to plant anything in there this year!

Another view.

This is the same area as the first picture.

Another view of the progress. It's hard to tell from this picture but those sticks are mostly 1 to 2 inches in diameter and about 3 feet long. That pile is about 20 feet across and 2 feet deep. Raking sucks.

Almost! I figure another couple of days worth of raking and hauling out the deadwood and I might be able to plant this year after all!! I have TONS of composted leaves/pumpkins/pine needles that I'm going to work into the soil first. The area looks pretty sunny in these pics, but keep in mind it's the first of April in Michigan. There are barely even buds on the trees!

What I was thinking of doing is making path of either wood chips or rock something natural looking...perhaps irregular shaped stepping stones. It would start at the south end of the woods and curve a little. It would end in a wider circle and I would put a garden bench there, perhaps with a wooden/twig arbor over it. I have (*&#$)#$&^ Virginia Creeper all over and it would cover the arbor quite nicely. If I have to live with it, I might as well take advantage of it.

My mom bought me some landscaping software, so maybe I can doodle something up on that and post.

Looks like a very rewarding project.

What fun! Can't wait to see some ongoing pics as you develop your beds. Just a caution in case you have rabbits or deer coming through your land. They love hosta and can ravage them in one night, so you may want to protect them immediately! Dax

Thanks Dax, for the advice. We're near the city limits and rarely (not never) have a deer amble through. But those *#4&*@# rabbits are another story. My cats and dogs run freely through the woods and backyard and that helps...but they did a number on my rhubarb last year.

Spent about an hour out there today, but we ended up getting rained out. 48F, wind and rain was enough for me!

Michelle

That looks like it's going to be a great spot for the hosta garden. Please post pictures of your progress.

You are making great progress and it is so fun to see the pictures!
We also have a very shady yard and went through a simliar cleanup and hosta planting last year. Also planted nearly 500 tulips and daffodils.
Because we are are under large oak trees and the leaves fall from October through March, we choose to use woodchips mulch on the whole thing. Eventually, we will put some paths through it all, but I want to see how things look when the plants mature a bit before I do that.

Can't wait to see things come up, but as I write, it is snowing!!! Dang.

I wanted to work on my little area today, but I work 12 hour shifts...have to wait til I have a day off! Which is tomorrow, but unfortunately we are supposed to have high winds and snow. Great. It was in the 50s today and rained like crazy.

I do have another area about 100 feet to the north that is just loaded with lily of the valley (my favorite). I may move some of that. I think the spring bulbs are a great idea for that area. There is NO color in the spring over there.

It's probably a good thing that I had to work the last two days so I could recover from hauling all that wood, lol!

Michelle

Michelle; Great project! Good luck with it. I have to urge caution with moving lily of the valley. It can take over..

Daiseycat...I'm a little hesitant to move it because of that fact...but I LOVE it. I wouldn't care if it choked out the entire lawn :). Hubby *might* disagree, though.