Bringing Sun and Shade Together

Show off what these extremes have to offer, then unite them with some common ground

The confines of an average city lot can befuddle ardent nurseryman , even more so those obsessional collectors who never tire of tote up Modern industrial plant to their garden . conceive me , I talk from experience . The challenge of finding just the right place where each new discovery can thrive and the desire for a garden that looks cohesive and artful make a slippery slope that drops off sharp into gardening madness .

Every garden has wide-ranging growing atmospheric condition , some that are challenging and others that supply unusual opportunities . In the high , ironical climate of Denver , Colorado , where I garden , intense sun and low humidness is the average ; on a sunny southerly exposure , it can produce conditions similar to those set up in utmost regions of New Mexico or Arizona . By contrast , a suspect northerly incline — dedicate a bit of compost and redundant wet — will support cool - clime plants , like Japanese maple ( Acer palmatum * cvs . , USDA Hardiness geographical zone 5–8 ) , ferns , and hostas ( Hostaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) .

I take full reward of the different humour make by the decided works palette suited to each exposure . Full sun lets me be bold . Shade appropriate me a gentle touch . Between the two orbit , I unite the extreme point with a key feature and by echoing element find in the other two space .

Make a statement in the sun

acute sunlight is the normal Department of State of affairs in much of my yard . Thankfully , there are far more plants that love full sunshine than I could ever fit into my garden , giving me a immense array to choose from . This part of the aim features heat - love , Sunday - revere plants with bold form and bighearted flowers .

The spike of Spanish bayonet ( Yucca faxoniana , Zones 6–11 ) and other yucca capture your eye , while confirm players , like California poppy ( Eschscholzia californicaand cvs . , annual ) and many native penstemons ( Penstemonspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–10 ) and sage ( Salviaspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–11 ) , dress up the modeled forms , add color throughout the summer .

Scoria mulch , a gravelly , pumicelike volcanic rock , keeps the crowns of desert plants dry and moderates temperature extremes . It also keeps the stain surface open and receptive to infrequent rain or tearing .

I make the most of my hot spots in full sun . A flagstone patio , for instance , though shaded by an umbrella during summer ’s heat , is a welcome opportunity to soak up some sun when the winter rays stream in at a low slant . place heavy boulders to absorb the day ’s warmth is another way to take advantage of full pic . The radiant ignite the bowlder give off at dark offers frost protection to plants tucked into cranny along their base , leave me to turn less - hardy plant life . While snow linger for weeks elsewhere , here it always melts away within hours or days . This part of the garden is also where I stage my compendium of tender succulent in pot .

Create a cool counterpoint in shade

Even a small moment of shade can change everything . Gone are the bristling spikes , as finespun foliage and peak provide a restful counterpoint to the full - sun garden . With the terra firma slop to the north , any sunlight that peeks through my neighbour ’s deciduous trees take up this part of my garden at an oblique angle , maintain the soil here consistently cool into belated spring . Early bloomers emerge recently , escaping the random spring freezes common to the region . This allows me , once again , to expand my industrial plant pallet and create a dissimilar temper in my landscape .

In the subtlety garden , I use organic mulch of compost , leaves , and decomposing bark to enrich the soil and aid retain moisture . bag leaf cater by generous neighbors are strew about in the twilight and decay by outpouring , put up extra organic material . This makes it potential to farm wraith - loving , woodland plants in our native clay grease .

The result is a chronological succession of shelter pouch filled with plant reminiscent of a Pacific Northwest garden . plan as a forest path , this area leads to a coolheaded , shady maculation , perfect for a seating country that invites you out of the high heat of summertime .

A middle ground features the best of both worlds

The dissimilar look and feel of cheery and funny area can make it difficult to link up them into a cohesive landscape painting . I unite these extremes with a midway ground of adaptable plants have echoing forms , grain , or colors to create persistence and a dominant feature to complete the design .

The Francis Scott Key to a successful transitional zona is its ability to support a pallette of plant that unites the garden by touch on to the areas that surround it . The bold scheme of kniphofias ( Kniphofiaspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) and variegate iris ( Iris pallida‘Variegata ’ , Zones 4–9 ) echo the spiky plants in the contiguous spicy zona . likewise , the deep unripe leaves of Rocky Mountain penstemon ( Penstemon strictus , Zones 3–8 ) harmonize with the more delicate selections in the nearby nicety , while their flower spike link back to the heat - loving penstemons raise acclivitous . Red flagstone route provide a unifying hardscape constituent shared by the sculptural desert on the left ; a lush , leafy path on the right hand ; and elements of both set along a stream in between .

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