The Washington Park Arboretum Japanese Garden has expansive views and colorful wildlife for the visiting gardener to admire. Yet it’s the finer details in the garden that can be implemented in even the smallest urban garden. Because a Japanese Garden does not rely upon colorful blooms to provide interest, those of us who garden in shade should take a closer look.
Lesson One: Use structure and form in the garden.
The Japanese Garden does this in some surprising ways. Here the dark, twisting trunk of a tree stands out against a sea of green.
Lesson Two: Employ contrasting textures.
In the photo below, not only do you see the structure of the tree trunk, but you can also appreciate the contrasting textures of the leaves on the tree and the moss on the ground.
Below, the garden has again employed these two lessons into one vignette that is easily translated into an urban setting. The structure is provided by the strong form of the ferns and the contrasting texture is provided by the moss.
Lesson Three: Install plants with contrasting shades of green.
Just because you can’t grow flowers in the shade, doesn’t mean that you cant provide the same contrast using a green palette. The Japanese Garden shows how it can be done in a particularly stunning way.
You can also see the first two lessons employed in this picture. The structure is provided by the large rocks and you can also see the contrasting texture of the mondo grass and the soft moss on the rock.
I plan on using some of these lessons in my own shade garden in the near future. I’ve spent too long trying to force my shade garden to be something that it isn’t. Hopefully, I can employ some of these tactics to greater effect. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.