Shady Gardens 
Shady Gardens I T is a common, but nevertheless a mistaken, notion that a perfect and a beautiful garden can only be obtained where the genial rays of bright and glorious sunshine are able to flood every nook and corner with brilliant light and genial warmth.
I fancy I hear many hundreds of readers of these popular garden books say, “We have tried over and over again to make our sunless gardens bright and interesting, but have failed to succeed, and so we feel sure it must be true that it is impossible to have a really pretty and interesting garden where there is little, if any, sunshine to make the flowers grow.” But, gentle reader, because you have failed to succeed in solving the problem, how to secure a charming floral paradise in the absence of sunshine, yet it by no means follows that it cannot be done by those who go the right way about the task. There are beautiful gardens of shade as well as beautiful gardens of light, and happy indeed is the enthusiastic amateur gardener who has his garden half in light and half in shade. The two combined form a delightfully pleasing contrast to each other when properly cultivated.
What to Avoid 
Why so many fail to attain success in the creation and management of a pretty shady garden is because they attempt to do impossible things. For instance, they aim at making a shady nook or corner as bright and effective in colouring as is possible in sunny ones. They ignore the well-known practical fact that flowering plants, as a rule, require an abundance of that indispensable element sunshine to enable them to develop their blossoms to the highest perfection, and straightway plant them in sunless positions where they rarely do more than produce foliage. The result of this experiment is, of course, disappointment, and the conception of a false idea that it is useless planting anything attractive in shady spots. Now, there are flowers, and a still larger number of other plants, that delight in shade, and which would, if properly selected and judiciously planted, succeed with the greatest success, and be in every way as interesting and as beautiful as those planted under the genial influence of sunshine. The great secret of the whole thing is to know what kinds will thrive in shade and otherwise. We have only to turn to Nature to discover the truth of the foregoing facts. In the woodland, the gorge, the dell, or the ravine we find some of the most charming and beautiful floral scenes that it is possible to behold.
Shady Borders
There is a shady border in every garden. The south end of a garden faces the north, and consequently gets no sun, and it frequently happens that borders facing north-east or north-west get very little sunshine also. Then, again, there are sometimes borders facing the south, east, and west that are so overshadowed by trees or walls, or lofty buildings as to be more or less sunless. No matter what the aspect may be, if the border or borders fail to get sunshine, they come within the definition of shady borders, and should be planted accordingly. In small gardens there is little scope for tree and shrub planting, hence flowering and foliage plants must therefore be relied upon to furnish the borders. But in gardens of ample extent trees and shrubs form a most desirable background to smaller plants, and therefore ought always to be planted largely. These being of larger growth can obtain a fair amount of sunshine, but not so the more lowly, hardy plants. I shall not, therefore, deal with trees or shrubs in detail; only with flowering and foliage plants. The plants should not be disposed in such a way that all the tall ones are planted at the back, the next size in front, and so on; but so placed that their heights are broken up to form a series of hills and dales, so to speak. For example, one group of tall plants may be at the back, another half-way across, and yet another well out to the front. There should be no regular or systematic arrangement either in the size or position of the groups of plants.
The Plants for such a Border
May consist of the Giant Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum or sachalinense); the Martagon Lily (Lilium Martagon); Hanson’s Lily (Lilium Hansonii); Japanese Lily (Lilium speciosum), white and red; Goat’s Beard Spiræa (Spiræa aruncus); Monk’s Hood (Aconitum japonicum or Napellus); Perennial Larkspurs (Delphiniums); Foxgloves; Day Lily (Hemerooallis fulva); Golden Rod (Solidago canadense); Yellow Loose Strife (Lysimachia thyrsiflora) ; and the Purple Loose Strife (Lythrum purpureum). The foregoing vary in height from three to five feet. Those averaging one to three feet are Columbines (Aquilegias); German Irises in variety; Japanese Anemones (Anemone japonica); Leopard’s Bane (Doronicum Plantagineum and Clusii); Spiderwort (Tradescantia Virginica); Campanula persicifolia and macrantha; Iris graminea; Gardener’s Garter Grass (Phalangium varie gatum); and Hardy Ferns, such as the Male, Hardy, Ostrich, and Royal kinds. Of smaller plants the London Pride, Creeping Jenny, Variegated Plantain Lily (Funkia, Sieboldi variegata), Coloured Primroses, Christmas Roses, Lilies-of-the-valley, White Rock Cress (Arabis albida), Saxifraga cæspitosa and hypnoides, and Campanula carpatica. Between these the following bulbs will also do well:– Scilla campanulata, white, rose, and blue; Snow-drops; Crocuses; American Cowslip (Dodecatheon Meadia); Snowflakes (Leucojum Æestivum); and Daffodils. In summer, vacant spaces may be filled with Fuchsias, Calceolarias, and Mimulus; or seeds of Love-lies-bleeding, and Nasturtiums.
Lilies in pots in a town garden, c. 1910
To get the very best effect, I recommend the foregoing plants to be planted in bold groups of three, six, or a dozen. By so doing, a good display is obtained the first season. Another advantage to be gained by this system of grouping several plants together is, it affords a good opportunity of bringing bold groups to the front, and so forming bays in which the dwarfer plants may be placed. Where the borders are five or six feet wide, I advise a bush or two of the Japanese Rose (Rosa rugosa), the Variegated Euonymus (Euonymus japonicus variegatus), the Silver-leaved Maple (Acenegundo), or the Purpler leaved Plum (Prunus Pissardii), to be planted.
Shady Corners
There are few gardeners that do not possess sunless corners which are more or less unsatisfactory, so far as floral attractiveness is concerned. The ordinary kinds of flowers have been tried, and these having failed to succeed, it is assumed that it is useless planting anything except laurels or some other shrub; indeed, more often than not the corner is utilised as a rubbish heap, and if within the general view of the garden, forms a most unsightly object. Now there is really no legitimate excuse for the existence of these ugly spots. They may be made just as attractive and just as pretty and interesting as the sunny positions. By the exercise of a little taste and skill, a rockery may be formed of burrs or large stones, or even of large tree trunks and branches, and good mould, and then planted with an assortment of ferns and other plants which I shall presently name. The burrs or stones must not be arranged too formally; that is to say, the surface must not be made to assume an even appearance, but made so as to appear as rugged and diversified in outline as possible. On no account use white plates, fish shells, fused glass, or clinkers. These materials are too cocknified, and too utterly out of character with the beautiful foliage of the plants to form a pretty and attractive rockery. The larger and more rugged the burrs or stones, the more pleasing will the rockery be. Arrange them so as to form a series of beds, varying from two or three feet to a foot in width. Before starting to place the burrs or stones, see that a good foundation is laid. The lower strata may consist of broken bricks, small stones, and rubbish generally. On this, place a layer of decayed vegetable matter and rough mould, then finish off with a foot or so of the best mould you can get. Now fix the burrs or stones, half burying some, and partially so others, while a few may simply rest on the surface. You will now have a series of beds in which it will be necessary to place a few inches of good compost – equal parts of loam, leaf-mould, and sand. If choice ferns are to be grown, a little peat will also be needful.
Plants for a Shady Rockery
Where expense is a primary consideration, the rockery may be planted with Solomon’s Seal, Male Fern (Lastrea filix-mas), Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-fœmina), Buckler Fern (Lastrea rigida), Prickly-Toothed Fern (Lastrea spinulosa), Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis), Shield Fern (Polystichum angulare), Hart’s Tongue Fern (Scolopendrium vulgare), Hard Fern (Blechnum spicant), London Pride (Saxifraga umbrosa), Golden and Common Creeping Jenny, Dwarf Spindle Bush (Euonymus radicans variegata), Rock Foils (Saxifraga cœspitosa and hypnoides), and Sedums in variety. These plants will make a most pleasing effect from spring till late in autumn, and often eclipse in quiet beauty and grace the more favoured parts of the garden. Where expense is no object, such a rockery may be planted solely with choice ferns, to wit, American Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum), Black Spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum nigrum); Green Spleenwort (Asplenium viride), Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis), Ostrich Fern (Struthiopteris Germanica), Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea). Polypody Ferns (Polypodium Cambricum, dryopteris and vulgare), Bladder Ferns (Cystopteris fragilis and montana). These, with the commoner kinds previously given, will form the basis of a really attractive fern rockery. Others may be added from time to time if desired. Here and there bulbs of Scilla campanulata, Snowdrops and Crocuses, and corms and tubers of Cyclamen œderhfolium and europœum, and Winter Aconites, may be planted to give a cheery appearance to the rockery in early spring.
The Snowdrop, or Galanthus nivalis
Grottoes
In some gardens there are corners partly hidden from view by groups of shrubs, and overshadowed by trees, that might be turned to pleasing account by forming grottoes of artificial rockwork, and planting them with ferns and other shade-loving plants. This artificial rockwork may be constructed with rough burrs, fixed by means of cement, and afterwards coated with a mixture of cement and red sand. The burrs may have to be secured in the desired position by means of stout wire or iron rods. The whole should be arranged in as natural and picturesque a manner as possible. If there be a fairly good water supply, a series of cascades may be formed down the face of the grotto, with a shallow pond at the base. The water may be supplied through a pipe furnished with a stop-cock, so that it can be turned off or on at will. In the pond or basin, fish may be allowed to disport themselves. The rockwork may be clothed with Ivies, Creeping Jenny, Mother-o’-Thousands, Royal and Marsh Ferns, Maidenhair, Spleenworts, etc., and so made exceedingly interesting and pretty.
IS it entirely national egotism which makes an Englishman feel as he walks through the gardens of sunnier lands that there is something more tenderly beautiful in those at home? No. There is one chief feature of pleasure gardens which more nearly approaches perfection in these islands of ours than else where, and which gives to all other garden features an added charm. It is the exquisite beauty of our grass lawns. The delight with which they inspire us is not felt by Englishmen alone. Every foreign visitor feels it also, and frankly confesses that, in this respect, British supremacy is beyond question. Wonderful stories are told of costly efforts made by American millionaires and Continental noblemen to reproduce near their own homes similar lawns of rich emerald green, soft, smooth, and velvet-like as ours. In vain are their ingenious devices of artificial sprayings. We can afford to rest secure in the certainty that the superiority of our lawns will ever remain unchallenged and unchallengeable until some syndicate can be formed rich and powerful enough to buy up and divert the Gulf Stream, which surrounds our islands with genially warm seas, and endows them with the sweet, soft, moist air we enjoy.
Fine-leaved Sheep’s Fescue, or Festuca ovina tenuifolia
