Moving a fern and what to put in this shady place
Stephanie newish gardener
Posts: 453
in Plants
Hello
I want to move a fern and wasn't sure if it's a good time to do that, but then I saw this thread https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1043339/moving-plants-at-wrong-time-of-year-advice#latest and decided it's ok to do it now. It is right up against a rose bush that's got loads of buds on but also has too much rampant new growth of thick long stems (another question there perhaps, though I just cut them off at the base), and there's some tough grass that seems to be growing out of the stem of the fern. Moving it will enable me to untangle the grass roots at least.
This is the fern under the rose:
It's going to go in the space to the left which I've just weeded and I'm also going to move the very sad dogwood as it's in totally the wrong place.
This is the wider view with the cleared space and the dogwood further back in the bed:
So I think I'd like either to put the fern at the front of the bed with a taller one behind it, or maybe put this one more or less where the dogwood is and a smaller fern in front of it. Any suggestions please?
Then I'm looking for suggestions for yellow and white plants for the space to the left of the Berberis. It's quite damp shade with some mid-late afternoon dappled sunshine. Because we (foolishly) decided to plant a kind of hedge in the middle of the bed I can't fill it full as I will still need to get to the hedge to prune/cut it, so I'm thinking of flowering shrubs with bark around them.
This is the bed as it is (note to self - get that flippin' daff foliage cut down!!!)
There's a hypericum of some sort already in there, transplanted earlier this year from a self-seeded one. To the right of the hypericum is a yellow aster, and then there's a hellebore, plus some Japanese anemones that don't tend to come to much.
Ideally I want to avoid just shades of green, so something perennial in yellow or white that flowers mid-late summer and needs little attention would be lovely. It might be nice to include a nice pale grey or bright yellowy grass that clumps but doesn't spread or seed everywhere. The primroses at the front of the bed are a deep red and they can stay or I can move them.
I've finally given myself permission to spend some money on plants but I don't know the best way or place to get them, mainly because of our location. I tend to be sceptical about whether plants by post will be happy this far north, but then I gasp at some nursery prices...and I want it to look nice 'instantly'!! 😂
I'd be grateful for suggestions from user experience. I've got a couple of books but they tend to be based in an ideal world, not one that's three weeks behind the rest of the country in growing terms. Pics of recommendations in situ are also really helpful (don't ask for much do I?) as the books usually just give you a close-up photo of the flowers with no perspective of the whole plant.
As ever, that's lots of words for a simple question so I hope someone will be able to help. Grateful for all thoughts, thanks
Stephanie
I want to move a fern and wasn't sure if it's a good time to do that, but then I saw this thread https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1043339/moving-plants-at-wrong-time-of-year-advice#latest and decided it's ok to do it now. It is right up against a rose bush that's got loads of buds on but also has too much rampant new growth of thick long stems (another question there perhaps, though I just cut them off at the base), and there's some tough grass that seems to be growing out of the stem of the fern. Moving it will enable me to untangle the grass roots at least.
This is the fern under the rose:
It's going to go in the space to the left which I've just weeded and I'm also going to move the very sad dogwood as it's in totally the wrong place.
This is the wider view with the cleared space and the dogwood further back in the bed:
So I think I'd like either to put the fern at the front of the bed with a taller one behind it, or maybe put this one more or less where the dogwood is and a smaller fern in front of it. Any suggestions please?
Then I'm looking for suggestions for yellow and white plants for the space to the left of the Berberis. It's quite damp shade with some mid-late afternoon dappled sunshine. Because we (foolishly) decided to plant a kind of hedge in the middle of the bed I can't fill it full as I will still need to get to the hedge to prune/cut it, so I'm thinking of flowering shrubs with bark around them.
This is the bed as it is (note to self - get that flippin' daff foliage cut down!!!)
There's a hypericum of some sort already in there, transplanted earlier this year from a self-seeded one. To the right of the hypericum is a yellow aster, and then there's a hellebore, plus some Japanese anemones that don't tend to come to much.
Ideally I want to avoid just shades of green, so something perennial in yellow or white that flowers mid-late summer and needs little attention would be lovely. It might be nice to include a nice pale grey or bright yellowy grass that clumps but doesn't spread or seed everywhere. The primroses at the front of the bed are a deep red and they can stay or I can move them.
I've finally given myself permission to spend some money on plants but I don't know the best way or place to get them, mainly because of our location. I tend to be sceptical about whether plants by post will be happy this far north, but then I gasp at some nursery prices...and I want it to look nice 'instantly'!! 😂
I'd be grateful for suggestions from user experience. I've got a couple of books but they tend to be based in an ideal world, not one that's three weeks behind the rest of the country in growing terms. Pics of recommendations in situ are also really helpful (don't ask for much do I?) as the books usually just give you a close-up photo of the flowers with no perspective of the whole plant.
As ever, that's lots of words for a simple question so I hope someone will be able to help. Grateful for all thoughts, thanks
Stephanie
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For other images, try www.plantlust.com to see a range of different scenarios for plants on your shortlist.
All the best!
But that's ok, because it leaves plenty of hostas for those who know how to appreciate them
I'm not sure there's that many flowering plants that like shade. Those that do tend to be a once a year flowering thing like rhodos/azalea or pulmonaria, primroses etc.
Maybe begonias or fuchsias?