I’d appreciate your advice for types of plants we should consider for our small church garden located at 101 Manor Street in Toronto ( Yonge Eglinton area)
This garden was established six or seven (?) years ago by a priest that worked in the gardening field (prior to going into ministry). he would have likely created a good soil bed initially. However, since then I am not sure much has been done other than natural cedar mulch every year.
this garden receives some shade, later in the day. I estimate this garden receives about six hours of sunlight during high summer, mostly before 3:00-4:00 p.m. The plants currently thriving in it are a mix of sun and part shade perennials – Daphne shrub, sumach shrub, phlox, heuchera, echinacea, astilbe. We also have some hosta planted there a few years ago, and she is struggling. There is also a red-tipped grass.
Whatever you recommend , it needs to be more on the dwarf side, so it doesn’t overpower the rest of the garden bed.
The garden is on a slope – my estimate (which may be wrong!) is that the slope is maybe 20%. The most problematic area of slope is on the north side. This is where we lose plants due to run off and dogs. If it’s helpful, I can ask people at the church if they have any pictures of this garden in bloom.
Thank you in advance for your valuable advice.
Alina
Hope this is enough information for the Master Gardeners to provide a recommendation.
Thank you for contacting Toronto Master Gardeners about new plants for your church garden. The information you provided is helpful to decide what plants would be suitable around the existing perennials. The north side of the garden seems to need particular attention for plants that hold onto the soil during rain run-off and are trampled by dogs.
One suggestion for that area would be Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia ‘Hummingbird’) which is a dwarf, compact and native shrub and butterflies flock to it. It features bottlebrush spikes of fragrant white flowers in mid to late summer. The height is between 2 to 4 feet and spread to between 3 to 5 feet. This plant endures shade, wet soil and prevents erosion. As a woody shrub, it will tolerate perhaps discourage animal traffic. As a native, this shrub is naturally hardy and it does spread slowly through suckers, which can be removed. Flowers bloom on new wood and pruning should be done in early spring.
Another suggestion could be Lady Ferns (Athyrium felix-femina) for the north side of garden. As a native it is hardy and will spread slowly by rhizomes. The height ranges from 1 to 3 feet and over a long period, plants can spread from 3 to 7 feet in diameter. Partial shade and moist soil are tolerated well and by growing in clumps with upright leaves, they could bounce back from animal traffic.
The existing garden sounds delightful with Astilbe, Echinacea and Phlox. These are always reliable, hardy plants and interspersing them among the new plants would continue with the garden design. Solidago sphacelata ‘Golden Fleece’ is a native, dwarf goldenrod which will grow in most conditions and very attractive to pollinators. Grape crush New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae) is another native plant with a height 26 to 30 inches and rich, dark purple flowers which attract pollinators. Some other possibilities would be Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Reblooming Bearded Iris (Iris Germanica), Nepeta and of course, the ever reliable Stella D’Oro dwarf daylily. All of these plants range between 14 to 18 inches and are hardy, sturdy with lots of blooms.
Below is a Toronto Master Gardeners Gardening Guide with ample information on native plants and their growing conditions. Best of luck with your improvements to very pleasant and beautiful garden.
Shady native perennials for moist soil