Michigan Gardener

SIGN UP to stay in touch!
We will send you occasional e-mails with gardening tips and information!


Digital Editions

Click on the cover to read now!

  • Home
  • Departments
    • Ask MG
    • Books
    • Clippings
    • Garden Snapshots
    • MG in the News
    • Janet’s Journal
    • Plant Focus
    • Profile
    • Raising Roses
    • Thyme for Herbs
    • Tools and Techniques
    • Tree Tips
  • Garden Event Calendar
  • Resources
    • Alternatives to Impatiens
    • Garden Help
    • Soil and Mulch Calculator
    • Public Gardens
  • Web Extras
  • About
    • About Us
    • Editorial Content
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us

PLEASE NOTE: In the autumn of 1995, we hatched the idea for a free, local gardening publication. The following spring, we published the first issue of Michigan Gardener magazine. Advertisers, readers, and distribution sites embraced our vision. Thus began an exciting journey of helping our local gardening community grow and prosper.
After 27 years, nearly 200 issues published, and millions of copies printed, we have decided it is time to end the publication of our Print Magazine and E-Newsletter.

Archive for the shade tag

What are good deer-resistant plants for shade?

May 2, 2023   •   Leave a Comment

by Bev Moss

Are there any deer-resistant plants that will grow under large pine trees? Four feet of the bottom limbs have been trimmed off. There is a little bit of light, but the upper limbs block most of the rain. I tried hostas, but the deer ate them. G.R., Clinton Twp

Dry shade and deer resistant are two of the most common requests in planting under trees. Forget the hosta buffet and look to early-flowering hellebores and the many varieties of epimediums. Even the exotic-looking hardy cyclamen likes dry shade. All are ignored by deer and have a nice range of flower color for spring into early summer and excellent leaf texture into the season. Look at the shorter varieties of astilbe as well as brunnera and lungwort, which have great mid-spring flowers and colorful leaves all season. Leaf texture and variegation take the place of flowers when blooming is done. There are a few ferns that will survive in dry shade. Christmas fern, maidenhair fern, and marginal wood fern will establish in those conditions and be disinteresting to deer.

Forget the hosta buffet and look to deer-resistant plants like early-flowering hellebores (above) and the many varieties of epimediums.
Forget the hosta buffet and look to deer-resistant plants like early-flowering hellebores (above) and the many varieties of epimediums.

Note well: to get established, all of these plants need regular watering in the first year. Create a 2- to 2-1/2-foot planting area around the dripline of the tree so they can benefit from rainfall and auxiliary watering. Consider a soaker hose woven through the plantings that you can hook up regularly to facilitate watering. Do not expect a plant to thrive up against the trunk of the tree where the canopy is darkest and water is negligible.

Beverly Moss is the owner of Garden Rhythms.

Related: What are some suggestions for deer-resistant plants?

Elsewhere: Smart gardening with deer: Deer-resistant bulbs to plant in fall

Filed Under: Ask the Experts Tagged With: deer-resistant, deer-resistant plants for shade, plants, shade

Growing grass under trees

June 18, 2019   •   Leave a Comment

Our yard is shaded by oaks. We overseed every year with shady grass mix. But by the next spring most of the grass has died. What can we do to grow grass in this situation?

You have a couple of choices. You can continue the frustrating cycle of growing grass, or take an alternative approach to living with your oaks. Turf grass needs sun to germinate and establish a root system, even if it is the “shady grass mix.” If your oak canopy is heavy and dense, you could have the canopy judiciously thinned by a trained arborist. They will prune when the trees are dormant in winter and there is little chance for them to be infected with the oak wilt disease. This might open up the canopy enough to let the turf lawn get established.

However, you should know that oak trees can take up to 50 gallons or more of water a day. So while you are watering that lawn you’ve overseeded, the oak trees with their extensive root systems are enjoying the feast. The turf grass never gets its root system established because the oaks are not only shading it out, but also absorbing most of the water.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Oak trees are preferable bastions of shade. The alternative is to try a different groundcover that isn’t lawn. Oak trees create dry shade. It sounds like your lawn is fairly thin underneath them, which is why you keep overseeding every year. Why not plant dry shade-loving perennials? There are a number of low maintenance plants that would not only lend interest to the landscape under the oak trees, but are low profile, will come up every year, will succeed where turf grass fails, and will provide “green coverage” that you don’t even have to mow.

Consider a mass planting of variegated hostas that would “light up” the shady area under the canopy. Another perennial often used where grass is unsuccessful is lily turf (Liriope spicata). It even looks like grass, but has the bonus of a purple-blue flower in summer, which turns to a red-brown berry in fall. At the outer edge or drip line of the canopy, you could mass plant Stella d’Oro daylilies. They tolerate a wide range of soil types and light conditions. Their yellow blooms are continuously cheerful and when finally done blooming, their foliage lasts until frost. A simple ground-hugging vine is vinca, sometimes called myrtle. It produces a lovely blue flower in spring that shows well in heavy shade. There is also the nice spotted dead nettle (Lamium maculatum) with its silver and green mottled leaves. The cultivar ‘White Nancy’ produces a lovely white flower while other varieties produce pink blossoms mid-spring.

So there are several alternatives and choices to groundcovers that aren’t turf grasses. You need to decide where to put your money: into perennials that will succeed in the shade of your mighty oaks, or continue trying to grow turf grass that will always struggle.

Filed Under: Ask MG Tagged With: grass, growing grass, oaks, shade, trees

Plant Focus: Columbine

May 16, 2017   •   1 Comment

columbine-pink-0517
Columbines flower from late spring to early summer for about 3 to 4 weeks. Photo: Eric Hofley / Michigan Gardener

By George Papadelis

A garden without columbine is simply incomplete. Columbine (Aquilegia) comes in a wide range of colors. It produces masses of brilliant 1-to 2-inch flowers that are exquisite when appreciated up close as well as from a distance. They grow in light to moderate shade and flower from late spring to early summer for about 3 to 4 weeks. During this period, few plants can produce a show of color that rivals this one. As an effective source of color, no shade garden should be without this plant.

Most columbine varieties are readily available since this plant grows from seed that is easy to find. Young plants that have not been subjected to a sufficient cold period usually do not flower during the first season. By the second season, columbine will reach its peak and flower profusely. By the third year, plants usually decline in performance and will rarely overwinter for the fourth season. This is one of columbine’s shortcomings and should be realized before a gardener’s expectations are not met. However, many columbines drop seeds after flowering that may germinate and produce offspring in a similar color range.

A popular variety is a mixture called ‘McKana’s Giants.’ These have huge flowers on 36-inch plants in a wonderful mixture that includes reds, yellows, blues, pinks, and whites. Another popular type is the Songbird series. These individual varieties have names like ‘Blue Jay,’ ‘Dove’ and ‘Robin’ that sport colors like blue, white, and pink respectively. Another new one is the Barlow series. These have interesting double flowers and come in colors like ‘Black Barlow,’ ‘Blue Barlow,’ and ‘Rose Barlow.’

Dwarf varieties, called fan columbine, also exist. These only grow about 6 inches tall and come in blue or white.

The native varieties like Aquilegia canadensis and Aquilegia crysantha have bicolored red and yellow blossoms and all yellow blossoms, respectively. These flowers are a little smaller but these two are best for reseeding to naturalize a shady area.

For the enthusiast, collector or obsessed gardener, several unusual varieties can be found. Look for ‘Ruby Port’ which has interesting fully double maroon-red flowers—spectacular when viewed up close! Also look for the sweetly scented, chocolate-brown flowers of Aquilegia viridiflora—very rare! Some varieties like ‘Lime Frost’ even have variegated foliage. Hybridizers have produced hundreds of variations in interesting colors and forms to keep any gardener in awe.

Columbine has come a long way since its humble beginnings and deserves a place in the shade garden or even the rock garden. Try some short ones or try some tall ones, try some white ones or try some black ones. What ever your taste may be, columbine surely has a plant that’s right for you.

‘Blue Barlow’
‘Blue Barlow’

At a glance: Columbine

Botanical name
Aquilegia (ah-kwi-LEE-gee-a)

Plant type
Perennial

Plant size
6-36 inches tall

Flower colors
Wide variety – yellow, red, blue, purple, pink, white, pastels

Flower size
1-2 inches wide

Bloom period
Late spring to early summer

Leaves
Blue-gray-green color; attractive foliage from mid-spring to mid-summer

Light
Light shade to shade

Soil
Well-drained, moist

Hardiness
Zone 3

Uses
Shade garden, rock garden, naturalized areas

Remarks
Plant is short-lived: 1st year: young plants may not flower; 2nd year: peak blooms; 3rd year: weaker blooms; 4th year: not likely to overwinter. However, many plants will drop seeds that germinate for the following season. Ideally, grow columbine where other plants will camouflage the plant’s fading foliage in midsummer.

George Papadelis is the owner of Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy, Shelby Township, and Pontiac, MI.

Filed Under: Plant Focus Tagged With: Aquilegia, columbine, light shade, perennial, shade

Copyright 1996-2025 Michigan Gardener. All rights reserved.