[catmunn]

I have a strata member who wants a formal French-style garden for her very shady front yard. She doesn't like groundcover or any plant that spreads! She doesn't want ferns, hellebores, hostas, rhodos, azaleas, nandina domestica or japanese laurel. She wants everything to be dog proof, She wants neat, evergreen shrubs that provide privacy (6'-10'), are easy maintenance and have flowers and fragrance. I want to give interest using foliage colour and textural differences. The house is soft gray.
I have ideas-but what are yours?

[jwholden]

She wants neat, evergreen shrubs that provide privacy (6'-10'), are easy maintenance and have flowers and fragrance

It sounds like your client needs some education. Flowers, screening, low maintenance in shade - not as easy as it sounds.

You may wish to discuss if your client would be willing to do some pruning on her trees to let more light in and give you a wider selection of flowering, and fragrant, plants to choose. An irrigation system is also a neccesity because shade means tree roots which means dry.

If you can get the trees clipped back you will have a much broader palette to pick from and will have healthier plants that won't be stretching for light.

What does your client define a 'French Garden' as. Often a cliebts definition and the textbook definition are quite different. I have been to Versailles and all I remember seeing was a ton of formally clipped boxwoods with annuals planted between(not at all low maintenance) and some very cool allees of trees.

Could you sway your customer toward a naturalistic, groundcover, stepping stone path landscape that will be much lower maintenance and blend with the envirnment? Put a nice bench out there in the shade with some plants that will attract birds or butterflies.

[Fine Edge]

Gotta love those clients!!
Tall evergreen flowering shrubs in the shade.

What zone are you in?

[catmunn]

Sorry-forgot to mention that. I am in zone 8: the raincoast of Vancouver, British Columbia on a south-facing street with many tall decidous elms. oaks and plane trees on street that shade this garden.

[catmunn]

I am an organic gardener and hace sertification in ecological landscape design, so a naturalistic westcoast design with berried-trees to attract birds and insects, a multi-storied eco-system and a hedgerow of varying evergreen and deciduous native trees and shrubs is what I think would look nice-but shewants, and I quote 'everything in it's place. She thinks that she won't get weeds if there is no groundcover-but that probably would also mean that her soil is sterile, poisioned or flooded. Actually-there are a lot of tree roots.
I can't prune the street trees that make it a shade street because they are city trees. We are going to amend the soil greatly before planting. I just can't believe that she doesn't like some of the 'neat' groundcovers like pachysandra terminalis or ajuga.
The starta council has to agree with everything, so this Saturday I sit with the council and will have to please the lot of them.
By French, I think she means the neat 'potager' gardens-though there is little sun for any herbs or vegetables.
I want to attach some photos, but I can't get the upload pictures thingy to work; it keeps saying 'error'

[Hank]

Yes, the magical plant! I have tried to find them from time to time as well. I am not sure what a strata council is, kinda sounds like a home association or historical society...
There may be a few viburnums that would work, but your client may have to bend on, evergreen, or fragrant, or flowering, or neat, or...
Maybe one of the carlesii hybrids, burkwood, mohawk. Pragense is nice. Some camellia sasanqua varieties can be upright and slender and pruned into a semi-formal hedge. Good luck. Let us know what you come up with. Everyone needs the magic plant.

[catmunn]

We have the viburnum beetle destroying the plants all over the lower mainland here-so I'm not going to use it-though I love that plant. We going(so far) with a small upright acer palmatum, a variegated Rhodo called 'President Roosevelt', skimmia japonica, leucothue fontanisiana 'Scarletta', Pieris 'Mountain Fire', arbutus unedo and cornus alba elegantissima, ribes sanquineum, nandina domestica, hardy hibiscus, mahonia aquifolium and mahonia nervosa-some higher and others more like groundcover, some evergreen and some decidous with gorgeous bark colours. I think
it will look great as the various greens and the variegation.I just wish she liked some of the big-leaved plants that I suggested. Anyhow-what do you think?

[TrickyDick]

Sounds like a lot of stuff she didn't want. You managed to get her more on your page which is good cause her page was looking pretty blank. It sounds like a nice palette but I wonder how you got from neat 6-10' plants to where you are now. Do you think she will unltimately be happy with the height of the border?

[catmunn]

I didn't mention that she already has three 5' tall shrubs: 2 portuguese laurels and one privet. She clarified that she didn't need anything higher because of security concerns. A Strata is like a co-op where every member has to agree on changes made to the property. So with the maple and dogwood leafing out in the Spring, she is fine with what we now have decided, The mahonia aquifolium grows fairly tall. The smaller shrub layer is needed because a hill slopes toward her home and the plants will stop the soil erosion from the contant rains.
It is really not a large space. Do you have ant other ideas for evergreen hedgerows? She rejected my idead for a Chameocyparis'boulevard or C. obtusa 'nana Gracilis.

[xxArbUtusxx]

I have had good success with Sarcococca here in the North West. Fantastically fragrant and evergreen, though not 6' tall or tidy. Easily pruned and does very well with filtered sun.
Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies', Mahonia x media 'Charity' (can be kept between 6 and 10')Aucuba japonica 'Variegata', Osmanthus x burkwoodii, Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Variegatus', Vaccinium ovatum (great native with flowers and berries), Daphne odora 'Aureo-Marginata' again great fragrance!!!

Yews seem to be very tolerant of prunig and could be used as hedge material for a shady location. It's hard for me to believe that she didn't like the two Cypress choices. The dwarf Hinokis are my favorite! 'Cyano-viridis' Boulavard cypress is a smaller version of the standard Boulevard (in case you didn't already know).

[catmunn]

Thanks for your ideas; I am going to plant daphne odora 'Aureo-marginata near to one side of her doorway, and a camellia sasangua on the other side. Doesn't the Mahonia x media 'Charity' need more light? If not the case-that would be my pick because of the gorgeous structure and the winter blooms. I hadn't thought of Osmanthus-i'll look into that and the vaccinium ovatum.
I'm still trying to sell her on the dwarf Hinokis-she's crazy!