Woodland Bed Too Due to the shade, the box are taking their sweet ole time connecting
Back of the property, xeric, interesting. Helen’s Haven has two Woodland Gardens. Both are small gardens. Woodland Garden One is xeric and sunny. Woodland Garden Too is xeric and shady. One is on the North side of the Crinum Bed and Too is on the South side of the Crinum Bed. .
Ok, enough for the location. Now I will bore you with the history, well, at least Too has history.
Because of the shade, when I first developed this garden, I thought it would be a great location for Hostas. That worked for a while until I stressed over watering them. They were in the “water sucked up by the pines zone” so I was forever hauling water to them. Of course this was before our infamous drought of 2007. You would think the worse drought in 100 years would wise me up, but no. It was voles.
The voles moved in to munch these tasty treats. I evaluated the site and accepted the fact that I had shade, voles, and dry soil. It was also at the farthest reach from the garden hose. Hello xeric. I will accept you for who you are. Out of respect, I redesigned the bed to work around all the conditions – a design that would not require any attention from me.
What’s important about these beds is that I have to do NOTHING to them. The plantings in each don’t require water or if they do, I treat them with benign neglect. The one exception is the Illicium. I have it planted near a water source.
Voles were the best thing in the world to happen. Without the voles, I wouldn’t have evulated the watering needs as well and wouldn’t have decided to plant Hellebores. I love, love, love Hellebores. Always green, flowers in the winter, poisonous to voles.
I also like the look of woodland plants. Or maybe it is the look they become in a woodland setting.
I’ve written about aspects of Too in the past,. Actually, I’ve kinda ignored Too for a very long time with a hunkin’ Ligusrum in it. You might find this post interesting. Removing a Giant Ligustrum from Woodland Garden Too
Here is what I have in Woodland Garden One:
Woodland Garden One
Aesculus flava, Buckeye
Agastache, purple/pink
Amophophallus, Voodoo lily
Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’
Amsonia ‘Blue star’
Callitropsis × leylandii, Leyland Cypress
Camellia, Standard Grand Slam
Unknown variety Redbud
Cercis, Red bud
Colocasia, Black Magic – 2009 had enough water from above to make happy.
Cornus florida, Dogwood
Cornus sericea, Yellow twig dogwood
Diantius, Pink ‘Fire Witch’
Gaura lindheimeri, Colso
Hellebore, Hellebore hybridus
Hydrangea quercifolia, Oakleaf hydrangea
Iberis sempervirens, Candy Tuft ‘Purity’
Lineria, Spice Bush
Magnolia Gandiflora, Southern Magnolia – Six Plants I can’t Live Without
Mahonia, Mahonia
Nandinia domestica, Nandania
Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’
Rosa ‘White Lady Banks’
Here is what I have in Woodland garden Too:
Abelia ‘Rose Creek’
Alocacia ‘Portadora’
Aspidistra elatior ‘Asahi’
Callitropsis × leylandii, Leyland cypress
Castanea mollissima, Chinese Chestnut
Chrysogorum virginionum ‘Allen Bush’, Green and Gold
Dryopteris x australis, Dixie wood fern
Helleborus ‘Double Queen Strain’, Lenten Rose
Helleborus foetidus
Helleborus x hybridus, Pine Knot Select
Ilex ‘Southern Gentlemen’
Ilex ‘Winter Red’
Oastanea dentana, Chinese Chestmut
Rhodea japonica, Sacred Lily, Evergreen Hosta
Rhodea japonica, Asian Valley
Sanguinaria canadensis Bloodroot
Trachelospermum jasminoides, Confederate Jasamine
Trillium foetidissimum, Trillium
Rita’s fern
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Invincibelle Spirit’
Illicium Floridanum ‘Halley’s Comet’
Too looks puny in the image, but it’s not in real life. Although I will admit, it is still filling out…but looking good in my book.
Helen Yoest is a garden writer and coach through her business Gardening With Confidence™
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Helen also serves on the board of advisors for the JC Raulston Arboretum
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