Question
Tom, Could you suggest 7 or 8 specific perennials for shady areas that you think are good low maintainence choices.  Perhaps I could build around groupings of these.  Thanks again, John
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Followup To

Question -
Hi,
  First, thanks very much for taking the time to consider my question.  Your advice is very much appreciated.  
  A friend has asked for help with a long bed that is on the border of what will soon be a rental property in rural Connecticut.  Currently, the bed is overgrown with weeds.  There are some phlox and hydrangea scattered about.  We will remove the current growth and start from scratch. The work will be done in September.  I have the ability to do the actual planting, but it is the design and overall concept that I need help with.  This bed is about 75?long and 6-7?deep.  It receives morning sun and filtered shade after that.  My friend wants a low maintenance informal perennial border, which will make the site attractive without much maintenance once established.
  My first question has to do with landscape fabric.  Is this an essential to such a bed?  With such a big area, will the fabric actually keep the planting from ever filling in?  If I use the fabric, do I need to cut a large planting hole so the plants have room to expand?  Do I need to add new topsoil to the entire area?  The soil looks to be reasonably well drained and I will fertilize before planting?
  Secondly, I am looking for suggestions for perennials for this situation.  The colors are not particularly important to my friend who basically wants an attractive border for this old farmhouse.  I would like to provide something that will provide an interesting view throughout the season厀ithout much maintenance.   Can you suggest some reliable varieties of plants that I could plan around for this site with morning sun?  I think I will be able to compose an informal design, taking into account height, color and season of bloom if I have the varieties to work with?
  Would it be okay to place some interestingly shaped rocks from the property within the border to break up the view and take up some space in this large boarder?  Are plants not noted for their blooms, like tall grasses, worthy of inclusion?  And lastly, I promise, can you estimate how much mulch I would need to order for a bed this size (approximately 75抶6??
  Thanks so much for any advice you can give.  I really do appreciate your expertise.          
         Sincerely, John Vozab
  
  


Answer -
Hi John,
Thanx for your questions.  You have quite a tall order to fill.  First, I am by no means and expert at landscape design.  That is an art and I'm not an artist.  I'm just a dude who likes to grow things and revels in God's beautiful creations.

Ok, horticultural fabric?  I wouldn't waste my money on it unless you insist on really, really, neat areas.  Your plants will have difficulting spreading and filling out the areas naturally and they need to be able to do this.  Of course, bear in mind, every three years, you'll need to dig up the clumps of plants and divide them, getting rid of dead pieces and woody centers.  Use a good cedar or redwood mulch to help keep your bed neat.  I don't know that you need any top soil for the whole area.  What you might want to do is take soil samples from 10 to 12 areas randomly around the bed and have them tested.  Most county extension agents will do a soil test for about $8=$12.  If the soil is well draining and doesn't appear to have a lot of clay or too much sand, get some cured cow/horse/sheep/goat manure and lightly roto-till it into the soil.  I would just top-dress (apply an inch thick) the flower bed with the cured manure (manure that has aged, dried and no longer smells offensive).  I'm going to guess this would be about 37.5 cubic yards of cow manure (that's a lot).  You did say the bed was 75 X 6 feet so that's quite a bit.  Before I give you some ideas for plants let me address some other things.  I think your idea of using rocks in your design is great.  Most landscapers do use natural features like rocks, boulders, pebbles, sand,etc.  It is also a great idea to use ornamental grasses, bamboos, shrubs, small trees.  Now, for your plants.  Before I give you some recommendations for this, I need to have a range of how many hours of sunlight the garden gets because this will make a big difference of what you can grow effectively in the bed.  If all you're getting is morning sun, you may want to go for plants that are more for a shady area as sun-lovers will be leggy and unattractive and may even die.  I hope this helps.
Tom

Answer
Hey John,
Thanx for following up.  Seven or eight types of perennials for shade should be easy.  Here we go.  I love hostas.  Hostas give one so many different choices in leaf color/design and flowering.  Some hostas have beautiful long sprays of white, pink, lavendar or purple flowers and they ADORE the shade but will also tolerate direct sun.  Columbines are fabulous for dappled sun areas.  I use columbines in my front yard and always get comments on them.  Ferns are a great choice and they too will tolerate limited sunlight.  I'm going to give you more than 7 or 8 plants just to give you something to mull over in your mind.  Here's what I have in the shade garden.  Iris cristata (crested iris), low growing, only blooms for a couple of weeks in April but very lovely and worth it and the foliage is cool.  Wood poppy.  Cool yellow flowers in the late spring but the foliage is also cool and lasts through the summer.  Lady's mantle, cool foliage but here in Kansas it gets too hot for it and it sometimes goes dormant until spring.  Lungwort and Liverwort both.  Good foliage.  Lily of the Valley.  Its blooming period is but a few weeks and the scent is intoxicating!  The foliage is kind of cool until it gets really hot and then the plant starts to go dormant.  Coral bells (heuchera) work pretty well in semi-shaded areas and there are tons of varieties from green leaves, to mottled green leaves to bronze to now gold.  Cool flower spikes too.  Digitalis or foxglove is another wonderful plant to grow in semi-shaded areas and if you live in a hot area like I do where it can get over 100 degrees F for a few days in the summer, Digitalis obscura is a good plant.  I think this one is native to the mountains of Spain and is truly a perennial foxglove (many are biennial) and has beautiful spikes of brown and white flowers.  I also have stinky iris, I've never smelled the blooms so I don't know why they are called stinky iris but the botanical name is Iris foetidissima (which means very fetid(rotten)).  This plant grows well in the shade and has an insignificant purple (typical wild iris) bloom but in the fall, the plant develops an interesting seed pod with red berries.  If these aren't enough for starters, please post a follow up and I'll give you more ideas.  I hope this helps.
Tom