Eastwood Park Reporter

Here in Eastwood Park, we are blessed with an abundance of shade. Ah shade, thou enemy of lawn grass; thou friend of all else on a summer's day. The most important element in any garden is the human element; the people who will live in and use that garden. This is especially true of a shade garden. For observe, while you and your friends may stroll through a sunny garden, it is the shade that invites you to linger. Here is a place to sit, to talk or to be alone. Here is a place to live outdoors. Plan accordingly. Leave plenty of room for people in a shade garden. Let plants live there too.

Take a walk about the lawn and notice those places where the grass does poorly from lack of sun. Now sit in the shade and imagine. Move the chair around to different locations. Look in different directions. The object here is to find a place or places where people are comfortable. Then design a visually interesting yard from those vantage points. Most of the yards in Eastwood Park have been lived in long enough that 'use areas' have been defined by habit. Look closely at that. Habits that develop from comfortable living are worth keeping. A bad habit may be the cause of uncomfortable living. Take your time here and do nothing permanent until you have lived with it for a while.

Well, now that we have walked around the yard, say in the shade and talked philosophy, perhaps its time to start a shade garden. Remember that place where the lawn does poorly. Use a garden hose to outline that area. When you are pleased with the shape of garden, use the hose as a guide to put down plastic edging. Now cover the entire area with several inches of leaves, shred them with a lawn mower, add more leaves and repeat several times. The goal is to create a three inch layer of well shredded leaves. Water this well and then apply some of that high nitrogen fertilizer that is no longer needed on the lawn. The mulch will smother the lawn grass and the nitrogen will aid the decay process. Most of the soils here in the park are good enough that no additional digging is necessary. Simply water the area occasionally over the summer and by fall, the area will be ready to plant. If the area is one that will also be a seating area, I suggest the purchase of eighteen inch square concrete stepping stones as a starting point. They are light enough to be easily rearranged and can later be used to create pathways. I also suggest that containers planted with various annual flowers be used both to decorate the area during this first year and to determine what plants will grow well in the area.

Begonias and impatients are the most shade tolerant of the annuals, petunias will tolerate some shade, but zinnias and marigolds require a great deal of sun. A lot can be learned by observing how well or poorly these annuals bloom in different locations.

The next articles will be devoted to perennials for the shade garden.