AMAZING SHADE GARDEN IDEAS
Shortly after moving into their Washington home 42 years ago, Joanne White and her husband, George, dug three ponds to give the artesian spring that flows there a place to pool. These ponds range in depth from 3 to 15 feet and besides being a beautiful part of the garden and a haven for wildlife, they supply water for the house. After that, young trees went in to help hold the soil. Now those trees have matured and provide lots of shade for seating areas with views of the pond and strolling paths.
Later, Joanne started out to do a bit of landscaping but loved it so much that gardening is now her passion. She doesn’t plan the garden out on paper. She’s always just placed plants where she thought they’d look best.
Maintenance is pretty routine, but if you’ve gardened in shade, you know what a problem slugs can be! Joanne has battled them too—they love the moisture here and hostas are a big target. She started out using Sluggo granules but eventually they stopped working. Then one day Joanne found out —it’s still safe around animals but a different formula that the ducks don’t seem to care about.
