Pushing the limits of dry shade

A splash of morning sun helps this dry shade front bed

Dry shade can be a gardener's worst nightmare. It's definitely a challenge. I know. I've been a dry shade gardener (on sand…under Norway maples) for 25 years. Many of Toronto's city gardeners are in my dry, shady boat. But like any problem, dry shade can be if not overcome then managed with some research, some experimentation, and some compromise.

First, know that there's shade and then there's shade. Dappled shade under the light canopy of a locust tree isn't as shady as open shade beneath soaring oaks, which isn't as shady as deep shade on the north side of a building. Moving shade – where a spot is shady only at a certain times of day or year – might be less shady than you think. If the "certain time" is morning, it can be less challenging than if morning shade is followed by a blast of sun in the heat of the afternoon. Alternatively, you can design a shady garden to be at its peak in spring, before the leaves appear.

Spring bulbs such as striped squill (Puschkinia) can shine in dry shade

Dryness can be relative, too.

If the underlying soil is sand, like mine (oh boy, yes) water drains through quick as looking at it. Plants that demand good drainage, however, can be happy here.

On clay, the water may pool and refuse to drain, or the soil might set like cement when it's dry. But plants needing richness will get more of what they want from clay than from sand.

In each case, a generous annual lacing of organic matter such as compost or chopped leaves and a midsummer application of mulch can help slow water percolation down, hold moisture in or prevent further evaporation.

Dryness also comes from what's making the shade: usually trees. Their roots are the tree's drinking straws – when transpiration in the leaves sets up a chain reaction that slurps up moisture from the soil. Those roots occupy the same top few inches of soil where you are hoping to garden.

An understory tree in nature, Amelanchier can take some competition

It's competition for water and nutrients from all those roots – and not merely the quantity of light – that can be the biggest part of the dry shade challenge. Norway maples, Toronto's most-planted street tree, have a particularly fibrous, thirsty, thuglike network of roots. Other trees can be more companionable.

So the degree of your dry shade problem depends on your own formula of shade, soil structure and root competition – which might differ from spot to spot. Awareness is the first tool a gardener needs.

Research, research, research. Some plants are known for their dry shade tolerance. Geranium macrorrhyzum or big root geranium is one. Epimedium or barrenwort is another. I grow both these tough ground-covers. Hosta is often recommended for shade, but it does require some moisture. For dry shade, this Transatlantic Gardener article by Graham Rice suggests a couple that I've been growing for years (H. tokudama and H. lancifolia), and one that I've since sought out (Hosta 'Elegans').

A young Hosta 'Elegans' – slow growing and woody rooted

But a willingness to try a plant on the borderlines of suitability (always feeding your soil!) – and to compromise on benefits such as mature plant size (likely smaller) or flowering (sometimes none) can extend the plant palette in the dry shade garden.

Foliage is the main event in dry shade. The images below illustrate two strong foliage plants that I'm pushing the boundaries with in my garden this year. Check back here for the update.

Also check out this month's Garden Designers' Roundtable, where nine smart garden people from around the U.S. and UK offer a ton and a tonne of inspiration and information on the topic of shade. My post is simply a mirror of that meme.

Comfrey is an extremely tough customer in dry shade. I'm hoping for the same performance from its variegated dwarf cousin, being used as an edging plant, Symphytum ibericum 'Goldsmith'

This is a variegated broad-leaf sedge, Carex siderosticha 'Variegata'. Though it's usually recommended for moist locations, I've been swayed by a nursery description ("surprisingly drought tolerant") to try it. Jury out.

Ravine Diary: A garden and book by Olev Edur

Author/gardener Olev Edur and his book, Ravine Diary

Sunday lived up to its sunny name for the Beach Garden Tour. As a change from a photo essay, this profile of Olev Edur's ravine garden will be the first in a series on some of the gardens… and gardeners… on this year's Beach tour.

Olev Edur's garden tumbles sharply from Kingston Road down into the Glen Davis Ravine. The full title of his book tells his story: Ravine Diary: of how a rubble-strewn, weed-infested urban ravine became a spectacular wildlife mecca. The book is available through the Toronto Library, and might still be for sale through Book City and the Beaches outlet of Coles.

When Edur bought his home a dozen years ago, the long-neglected site had become overrun with aggressive alien trees such as Manitoba maple. Over the years, he has removed these, replacing them with trees such as serviceberry and redbud, and remaking a ravine garden with wildlife in mind.

Except for the treads on the winding steps, all the stonework used was recycled concrete or reclaimed stone.

A fountain bubbles at the base of the steps. 

Stumps from the removed alien trees have been repurposed as shoring for the steep slope.

Through the archway of a redbud tree near the bottom of the garden is a green terrace where friends can collect around a fireplace, seated on stump rounds and Muskoka chairs. I loved the natural undulations in this tree-stump table.

Some of the species Edur used are non-native – and some, such as periwinkle, should never be used anywhere near a native ravine setting. They're invasive, themselves. Considering this is a non-professional rehabilitation of an already significantly disrupted urban site, however, the effect of his work is green and soothing. Practises such as his recycling of wood and stone also minimize the overall environmental impact of the redesign.

Toronto has paved over so many of its rivers and constructed within so many of its ravines, it's to all our benefit to try to conserve or rehabilitate what little we have left. At the crest of the hilltop across the ravine from Edur's garden, for example, is a remnant of mature forest. I'll be writing about one of the gardens there soon. It's something that the residents of Glen Davis ravine are currently trying to preserve in their struggle with the OMB over a proposed Kingston Road condo development. For more information on this, check out The Friends of Glen Davis Ravine site.

If you're a Beacher (or even if you're not), you might also be interested in this Beaches Living article on the area's lost rivers and ravines – the Glen Davis ravine is but one of many!

2011 Beaches Garden Tour June 26th

A hundred years ago, it was cottage country. Today, it’s Toronto’s laid-back Beach neighbourhood, along the lake in the city’s east end.

This Sunday, June 26, 17 private gardens in this nature-loving area will be open on the Beach Garden Society’s annual garden tour. From small, intimate spaces to ravine-side surprises, you’ll see some of the best-kept green spaces in town.

Flowers, trees, lake breezes, music, free refreshments—all for just $10 per ticket. Plus, meet Toronto author Steven Biggs in one of the gardens, who will be signing his new book, No Guff Vegetable Gardening (which we reviewed back in April).

This private garden tour of Toronto's Beach community is always a must-see (here's a peek at the show two years ago in 2009; in 2010, Beach gardens were the feature of Through the Garden Gate).

Tickets are only ten dollars, available at local merchants: East End Garden Centre, 1395 Queen St. E.; Beachwood Flower Shop, 1916 Queen St. E.; Pippin's Tea Company, 2098 Queen St. E.; Pet Valu, 2210 Queen St. E.; and Cirone's Fine Foods, 2312 Queen St. E. Also at Bill's Garden Centre, 903 Pape; Centre 55, 97 Main St.; East of Eliza, 1960 Gerrard E., and Trinity Gallery, 926 Kingston.

 Details:

·      Tour date - Sunday, June 26, 2011

·      Time – 1 to 5 p.m.

·      Tickets – $10 covers entry to 17 gardens.

For more info, contact Sonia at 416 698 9449 or email:  shalloran2@gmail.com

A Laneway Surprise: A Secret Rose Garden

Roses extend all along the fence. All driveways should be this lucky.

 Some gardens simply stun you, particularly when they sneak up on you unawares. I stumbled upon this garden gem while walking my dog the other day. Bored with the same old route, I'd taken a back laneway to see where it would lead. I was admiring the numerous vegetable gardens tucked away along driveways, then turned a corner and this vision appeared: a tiny garden with roses spilling over each other in stunning profusion, and, as the George Jones song goes: It's been a good year for the roses. The pleasure of a garden is doubled when you find beauty where you least expect it, as though someone had spirited away a front garden and tucked it away in the back.

There's very little that's utilitarian about this back yard parking pad.

 Owners and gardeners, Jim and Joan were home when I passed by and welcomed me in. They've worked on this garden for sixteen years, and Jim has worked with plants since he was a kid, starting his first job at a Toronto garden centre. When they moved in, the garden was full of stacked railway ties, with nothing growing in them but weeds.

Hostas, hydrangeas, daisies in bud, nepeta and Duchess of Edinburgh clematis.

 Rather than remove the ugly (and dated) railway ties, they left them, but planted ivy, which has grown to completely camouflage the ties, leaving a terraced treasure trove of roses, clematis vines, shrubs and perennials.

The stacked terraces and staircase surround a humble parking pad.

"Parisienne" clematis grows up the north side of the stairs. Jim and Joan are Paris-o-philes, so of course chose this beauty.

It helps that their car matches the colour of their blue glazed pots and their umbrella.

The names of many of the roses have been forgotten, but they identified one at the end as the antique hybrid perpetual Reine des Violettes and another as the Explorer rose, John Cabot. The only downside is dodging the wicked thorns on John Cabot as you go up a set of concrete stairs. Zepherine Drouhin, another old garden rose, makes up for John Cabot as it's thornless. Both Zepherine and Reine des Violettes are wonderfully scented.

Antique rose, highly scented Reine Des Violettes. It really is an unusual violet-pink.

 It didn't hurt that I saw the garden at its absolute peak of perfection, in mid June. I didn't have my camera that day, but Helen and I returned the next day to photograph.

Although a heavy rainfall had somewhat dampened the display, raindrops nestling on the rose petals never hurt. We like whiskers on kittens too.

You might say this garden's gone viral: inspired neighbours have caught the garden bug and are planting their own garden spaces with roses galore. None have caught up with Jim and Joan's as yet, but wait sixteen years, you never know.

A neighbour's gardens grew this intense orange-red climbing rose which we loved. The Battersby sisters often regret that labels are not usually in evidence in private gardens.

Stop and smell the roses

What a glorious day. It's a gift to every father in Toronto – wrapped up in roses, which are blooming their heads off all over the city. Happy Father's Day, gentlemen! Nature is telling you (and each of us) to stop and smell the roses. Take pleasure in these small moments: the gift of the here and now.

June Blooms Day in Toronto: Matchmaking

Hosted on every 15th of the month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is a chance to share what's going on in your garden, month by month, all year through. It's also a chance to look back at your own garden from year to year, to review the changes, positive or not.

After 2011's rainy, rainy spring, everything in the Microgarden is lush to overflowing. Once again, the starry heads of Allium christophii are centre stage, this year taller than ever. The frosty variegations of Hosta 'June' make a lovely foil for the purples and blues, with a shot of purple-tinged orange from the new Heucherella 'Sweet Tea.'

Everything is doing so well, in fact, that the Microgarden is running out of room. Again. Division is called for. And, with division, the opportunity to move things around and make new pairings. Matchmaking, in other words. Here are a few matches, some of which still have a good relationship. Others… well, see for yourself. What's working (or not) in your garden?

Hosta 'Golden Tiara' and Geranium sanguineum stand up to my dry, sandy shade and "play nice" together.

Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety' with Potentilla 'Abbotswood', blooming happily after our wet spring

Cornus kousa 'Summer Fun' being bullied a bit by an over-exhuberant Hydrangea 'Annabelle'. Need to edit!

Pyracantha 'Mohave' sharing a trellis with fragrant Lonicera japonica 'Halliana'. A good trick for a small garden.

Finally, a match I'd like to discourage: Nepeta racemosa 'Walker's Low' (a catnip) and the neighbourhood cats who like to sit on – or more accurately, in – it, flattening it right in the middle. Now calling this plant catnest.

Oshawa Peony Festival: For peonies envy

With 300 varieties and cultivars, the Oshawa Botanical Garden is the home of the Peony Festival

If you, like Sarah and I, have a bad case of peonies envy, you'll want to know that June 11 & 12 is the kickoff for the Oshawa Peony Festival. Peonies, like poppies, tend to come and go in an instant. (Okay. I'm regretting that first line now.) But judging by the number of fat buds we saw on a preview this week, you might have more than two days to catch them at their peak. Some visual highlights below; what I can't share is that wonderful peony perfume.

The Oshawa Botanical Garden has collected 300 different herbaceous peonies, all generously labelled, and it looks like their collection of tree peonies is growing, too (the latter are pretty much finished now, however). The earliest peonies were in their glory on our visit, many show-stoppers among them. It's a must-see for anyone who loves peonies. And, hey, what gardener doesn't?

While you're in Oshawa, please do visit Parkwood Estate, historic home of R.S. McLaughlin, founder of Canada's General Motors. The bone structure of the grounds hints at its former grandeur (though I wish they had more flowers), but what's really impressive are the interiors... which include painted gardens that make me want to apply trompe l'oeil to all my walls. Photography isn't allowed inside, so you'll just have to see for yourself. Costumed docents and vintage cars add to the experience. Tours are available.

A close-up of our opening number, Peony (Paeonia) 'Lotus Bloom'

Doing the red-and-white Canada thing, Peony 'Requiem' (white) and 'Red Grace' (er, red)

Cuckoo for coral! This one is Peony 'Coral Sunset'.  White shading towards the centre really glows.

Luminous in the afternoon sun, Peony 'Buckeye Belle'

Truly delicious, Peony 'Chocolate Soldier'

At the preview, the Italian fountain garden in R.S. McLaughlin's Parkwood Estate, a few blocks from the Peony Festival

As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry for peonies again! says Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara'

Garden trends from C to C

The ribboned hats and dappled light here remind me of this Renoir

Before our preview of this weekend's  Through the Garden Gate (BTW, there are tickets if you hurry), Plant World co-owner Paul Reeves (seen at left) outlined some garden trends, which I thought were interesting. Plant World has been one of Toronto's independent garden centres for six generations, so has seen trends come and go. By lucky chance, or cunning plan on my part, these all start with the letter C. [Commentary in brackets, mine]:

Choices: Today's gardener has more choices than ever: annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, herbs, vegetables, mosses, water plants… and the many ways you can mix and match. It's an exciting time to be a gardener. [It can also be a bit bewildering. With so many new plants, how do you choose? In my experience, with some of the newest (and often sexiest) choices, let them test before you invest. Newer is not always better. Unless you have an infinite budget, there's a lot to be said for waiting till the tried proves to be true.]

Containers: Container gardening is gigantic. As a writer at the event pointed out, 40% of Toronto's population now lives in highrise condos or apartments. Add that to the megatrend of growing your own veggies and what you get is a whole lotta containers. This has led to many more and nicer container options, too. Plant World has one of the largest container selections I've seen at a nursery.

Hosta 'Designer Genes' is one of the new-generation hostas with red petioles. Are red-leafed hostas far behind?

Colour and contrast: Foliage colour, particularly. We saw this with the proliferation of coral bells (Heuchera spp.) a few years ago. [In fact, some think this explosion (along with their cousins foam flower or Tiarella and offspring Heucherella), has grown a little out of hand.] Japanese maples are huge at Plant World; they stock over 100 varieties, with a wide diversity of size and form, leaf colour, variegation and shape. The choice of Hostas is widely different from when I began gardening. A sexy plant I succumbed to – not to my regret, I hope – is a red-stemmed chartreuse Hosta 'Designer Genes.'

Collections: All these possibilities has led to the trend of collecting different varieties and cultivars of plants. [This makes practical sense. If a plant does well in your garden, its cousins might, too. Without setting out to be "a collector," I somehow collected 20 types of hostas in my small garden. Not all have equal vigor, though (we'll see about H. 'Designer Genes').] Some like to collect just for the joy of it. [So now you are free to say: pardonnez-moi, I am not a plantaholic; I am a collector.]

Physocarpus 'Coppertina' offers interesting foliage, flowers (on last year's wood), seed heads and peeling bark

Care (as in easy-care): While there's no such thing as a no-maintenance garden, many new choices do make life easier for gardeners. Flowering shrubs, for example, have a larger footprint, so they fill space quickly, and many offer long-term foliage interest as well as flowers. Hydrangeas, for instance, come in many new forms and colours. Increasingly, availability of dwarf varieties means that the shrub is less likely to outgrow its space, or do the floppy thing that is the main (perhaps the only) disadvantage of an old reliable like Hydrangea 'Annabelle.' Ninebark (Physocarpus spp.) is another shrub with more and more colours to choose from, such as P. 'Diablo' (almost black) or 'Coppertina' (coppery).

And now I have to go and garden!

Through the Garden Gate 2011: A preview

A gaggle of writers under the tall trees

Sure, you know High Park, Old Mill or The Kingsway. But did you know the Village of Swansea is just around the corner? Swansea? Yes, Swansea – one of Toronto's best-kept secrets. Long-time residents like to keep it that way, says garden writer Sonia Day, who lived there till her move to the country.

But you can get in the know, now, by getting your tickets for Through the Garden Gate, Toronto's biggest garden tour, starring 24 Swansea gardens, June 11 and 12, 2011.

Yesterday's preview showed us a number of grand Kingsway-style homes. But we've been assured that there are also more modest cottages, offering you the full range of inspirations and plenty of reasons to gawk. Our jaws dropped at some of the views over High Park and Grenadier Pond presented by the sometimes precipitously hilly landscape. The gardeners have also grappled with solutions for challenging slopes. And I mean slopes.

But you don't have to put on your mountain climbing gear. Complimentary shuttle busses take you from cluster to cluster. The two-day pass is always a good deal... only a few dollars more than the one-day pass, it gives you freedom to return to your favourites next day, or spread the tour over the weekend. The event is an important fundraiser for the Toronto Botanical Garden, so is a win-win for people who love gardens. Master Gardeners in every garden are on hand to answer questions. Do ask! They like it!

This year, TTGG is a week earlier, so does not conflict with Father's Day. Have a preview: