Using Foliage Texture in the Shade Garden

My evolving shade garden in Janesville, Wisc., includes a wide range of woody plants, perennials and seasonal accents. The choices I’ve made over many years have been initially dictated by my understanding of the existing site conditions. Besides choosing plants that will thrive, I look at foliage to create compelling combinations.

Some of my shade-garden plants, like coral bells (Heuchera), offer colorful leaves, but even these don’t detract from what really amounts to a wide range of green tones in the shady landscape. Strongly contrasting greens make for a quiet, contemplative, relaxing space that is still dynamic and interesting to view and experience.

Texture is another key element in creating shade vignettes. Foliage texture is loosely grouped in to three categories: fine, medium and coarse (also called bold). Having too much of the same texture can give an unbalanced look to the garden, making it visually monotonous. Variable foliage textures placed in close proximity and repeated throughout a composition offer a sense of unity to the space.

Bold- or coarse-textured plants provide immediate weight and impact in the shade garden and demand attention. While I’m a big fan of larger hostas for a bold contribution, I also lean on Rodger’s flower (Rodgersia), choice ligularias (Ligularia), yellow waxy bells (Kirengeshoma) and bold foliage shrubs. Readily visible and loaning a lushness to the landscape, bold texture can be visually overwhelming and dominate a composition when not balanced with other textures. Strategically placed plants exhibiting coarse texture benefit from some fine- and medium-textured neighbors to offset and accentuate that boldness. The textural repetition of bold plants can really anchor a composition and emphasize the “lushness of space.”

Plants with fine texture add a casual element to the garden, and their contribution of “light and fluffy” can offer a successful balance. I’ve repeated fine-textured maidenhair ferns (Adiantum pedatum) throughout my shade garden and extensively used clumping sedges (Carex) and shredded umbrella plant (Syneilesis aconitifolia) as accents. The form and color of adjacent plants can be accentuated by a fine-foliage neighbor. A composition that includes up to a third of plantings demonstrating fine texture is typically a good mix for visual balance.

Medium texture is the most common in the plant world. It acts not only as a space filler but really links textures on both ends of the spectrum. While both bold and fine foliage textures are excellent foils for each other, the medium textures are what unite the composition and lead to artful combinations. Energy and excitement offered by any plant combination in the shade relies on these variable leaf characteristics with a strong and consistent showing from the large category of medium texture. I like to use lungworts (Pulmonaria), hellebores (Helleborus) and variegated Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) for their medium texture (and other ornamental contributions!).

Consider some of the best textural role-players for your shade setting, understand their cultural needs and combine them to the best visual effect with an eye for excitement, variability and visual engagement. Have fun!

Images courtesy of Walters Gardens