Thursday, March 29, 2012

Sustainable Shade Gardening

Yesterday I discovered that hostas could be easily grown in shade, so naturally, I got out my tools and began hacking at the root bulbs along the side of my house in order to plant them at the base of a tree located on the brown slope of my hill where very little grows.


I began by stacking up rocks in order to shape the area, as well as provide a place to add soil and create a level growing environment.  As a bonus, the stacked rocks provide drainage opportunities, since the end result of that is quite porous!



Once I had the shape I wanted, I went about removing the grass and wild flowers (weeds) as well as the other debris that had been in the area.  As you can see, there was quite a bit to do!  I actually removed the grass by the roots and replanted it in another area.  I don't like to kill plants unless I have no other option.  Fortunately, in this case I have options galore!

Once everything was cleaned up the way I wanted it to be, I went about the process of mixing some gardening soil into the area (My darned compost still isn't anywhere close to ready), both to feed the soil and to raise the area up.

Once it was level, I pretty much flooded the area with water.  From everything I've seen, tons of water around the bulb root of a newly planted hosta is key to success, so I made sure to follow in the footsteps of those who did this before me. 

Then I placed the bulb root in the soil.  Another thing that was consistent throughout the articles I had read was that people were very adamant in saying that it's a bad idea to plant the bulb piece lower than the original bulb was growing.  That was easy for me to abide by - I planted at the base of a tree, after all, so there was only so much room for me to dig without worrying about slicing into one of the main roots.

There were already some sprouts on the two pieces of hosta I had removed, so I elected to plant pretty close to the top of the soil line, allowing the budding leaves to poke through the soil.  I'm not sure if that's what I should have done, but it's what I did.  We'll see how that turns out!

Of course, I added water again once everything was complete.

This is what the final product looks like:



After I went through the second round of watering, I noticed areas where the water was pooling, thereby letting me know that the bed wasn't as level as I thought it was.  I added a bit more soil to those areas, which is why the edges seem rather dry, and why the dirt color is so different.

In an attempt to garden sustainably, I only changed what was immediately necessary.  I also left a few wildflowers that were growing beside the trunk to continue on their path to maturity. 
They might end up being nice accents in the future.  Only time will tell!

I'm thinking about adding another bed directly beneath this one, keeping to the same stacked rock design.  Since I want an edible garden, I'm considering strawberries and mint.  Both of these seem to do well in this environment, and while the strawberries may produce smaller fruit in the shade, that's hardly something to complain about!  Ginseng is another shade hardy plant that may be worthwhile to try.

I have a lot to work with.  Half of the backyard is begging me to bring it to life, and I'm excited about the challenge!

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