Permaculture Orchard Tour Part 4 of 5: The Shade Garden

Join me as we tour the shade garden portion of our permaculture orchard. Did you know you can grow fruit crops in the shade?? Learn the hows and whys of growing fruit and edible native plants in a shady location.

[@Meatherxc]

You have a dream garden! I would love to have this in my yard... My husband wants grass... Boo grass!

[@canetiberius7050]

Thimbleberry leaves are a great alternative for toilet paper, if you find yourself in the woods without a roll.

[@soilbellefarm3710]

I love the thimbel berry. Never saw one. Beautiful flowers

[@erikjohnson9223]

Shade near your AC might be a good place for southeastern natives b/c of the heat blasts from the AC (& in the coastal PNW you probably have mild winters). Ilex vomitoria (Yaupon holly, which is not prickly like many other hollies) is an evergreen, well-caffeinated tea plant (foliage). Like other hollies, the berries are pretty but poisonous to people (bird food only). Dwarf types (used in place of boxwood in Dixie) are available in the landscape trade if that is useful. Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry) has "edible" (not great) but very pretty lavender-pink berries, but really shines in that tisanes of its foliage are a great mosquito repellent though I guess y'all don't have the dangerous types in the PNW (Aedes--Yellow Fever/Zika/Dengue etc vectors, and Anopheles--malaria vectors). Malvaviscus arboreus v. drummondii (sleepy hibiscus or Turk's cap) from Texas gives edible potherb foliage (like other mallows, think mildly mucilaginous spinach), and flowers and mealy berries that are fine raw. Away from heat blasts might be good for regular tea (Camelia sinensis) or Udo. Understory greens: Claytonia (miner's lettuce) and almost certainly your local Viola species. Ostrich fern has edible (if cooked to destroy the thiaminase) fiddleheads, and would be a good though seasonal choice for soggy shade. Probably myogi ginger also. Wild sarsparilla (Aralia, nudicaulis I think), ramps (Allium tricoccum from eastern North America &/or A. ursinum from Europe) and either the wild American (Osmorhiza) or European (Myrrhis) sweet cicelies would be shade vegetable/herbs that take several years to reach harvestable maturity. Solomon's seal (Polygonatum) is a low productivity but attractive "asparagus" for shade, and the Koreans also use the rhizomes for tea. Smilacina racemosa and some types of Streptopus give berries that are considered useful laxatives, though I struggle to see why one would need that.

[@ishficici999]

I liked the visual map you did at the beginning.

[@ProfBWKreisler]

RE: the York and Nova elderberries-- Yours are getting to be closer to 20 ft. even in shade? That is fantastic! Stark Bros, for example, says that York and Nova are much smaller than Adams and Johns. It is exciting to hear that York and Nova can get tall, too!

[@charlesbale8376]

Enjoyed the tour of your shade garden, gave me a lot of ideas to try.

[@BroadShouldersFarm]

Hadn’t considered elderberries for shady spots. Thanks!

[@l1zuka]

Not edible but for pretty stuff you could try lily of the valley or snowdrops in that shady spot for ground cover and early spring interest and smell. I’ve seen lily of the valley survive right under pine trees and snowdrops under bamboo in some yards. They can take the shade :)

[@Lochness19]

Yeah, they survive almost everywhere in my garden. If fact they've done a pretty good job of taking over the garden... since most of it is shade/partial shade. Lily of the Valley, English Ivy, Periwinkle, and Goutweed are the main ones spreading invasively in the shady areas.

[@edwinthompson6510]

Hi talking of snakes we get Western Diamond Backs we get use to them crazy you might say .....the horses let us know where they are around the Corral rattlers keep the vermin down like your garter snakes We wear knee high boots when we are outside a striker can't bite higher than your calf "what a conversation " must say love your vids shall look for more thanks Ed

[@laurao8025]

Cool. You could try wasabi in that second spot, for the greens.

[@Gandalf-The-Green]

Nice shade garden! I suggest hardy kiwi for the fence. Actinidia kolomikta would do well, probably even A. arguta with enough morning sun. Heavy producer of tasty fruit after 4-5 years. Make sure to plant one male and multiple female plants, space plants 6-8 feet apart.

[@annettecastellanosguillen9491]

I love it thanks

[@soilbellefarm3710]

Do you use any natural fertilizer besides comfery. Your apples are amazing. I have had my apple trees for five years and i get a couple that never ripen. And the leaves dont seem grow well

[@sundoesshine8800]

Yep, same here.

[@shipwrek4533]

Eating hostas during the zombocalypse haha

[@halleylair928]

Will urzone aupport Malabar spinach it can keep very narrow. Also beware planting poisenous with edible. Ie. Digitalis.

[@erikjohnson9223]

Definitely as an annual. Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian vine spinach) would be a similar perennial. Schisandra chinensis (wu wei zi) and possibly less hardy species of Schisandra or Kadsura would be fruiting vines for shade or partial shade, though Schisandra at least is more of an Oriental medicine (qi tonic or adaptogen) than delicious. Think salty, tannic cranberry juice. The Schisandra family other than S. chinensis "Eastern Prince" usually has male and female plants as separate vines.

[@meuhey]

york and nova r sambucus canadensis

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis is a subspecies of Sambucus nigra. Have read varying accounts as the both varieties' origins (both are from Canada, but unclear if parentage is American or European stock, have read sources attributing them to either), so it is unclear to me whether they truly originate from a European parent, or the American subspecies. The nursery I bought them from clearly labeled them as S. nigra with European origin, so that's what I'm going with unless I find something that clearly contradicts that. Thanks for your comment and for stopping by!

[@ygermino]

hello... arent you having problem with snakes etc .on the woodchip mulch would appreciate your comment thanks

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

We actually don't have any snakes in our yard. The few that we had were garter snakes, which I welcome, because they eat slugs. However, our chickens and also a local Red Tailed Hawk that stalks our yard have caught and killed nearly every snake. I would love to introduce more. (We don't have any venomous snakes in our part of Oregon, so any snakes we have are ones I am not going to worry about and ones that wil eat pests like slugs and mice.)

[@tamaracampbell2167]

@@ParkrosePermaculture We use 1x10 cedar planks for walkways, and it creates a lovely space for the snakes to hide. We love our snakes!

[@erikjohnson9223]

@@ParkrosePermaculture In Florida, red tailed hawks are very effective predators, of chickens.

[@erikjohnson9223]

Munger is Rubus occidentalis, native to the Midwest. R. leucodermis is native to the PNW. York and Nova are Sambucus nigra canadensis, (eastern) American elderberries, not the European subspecies.

[@rosaarias7128]

🤍🕊

[@-whackd]

Have you tried the purple ones? I just ordered some online and their picture looks purple while yours are white.