My son has asked his brother and I to help him with a garden plan as his birthday gift this year (he turns 34 in early August). He has mostly shade and lots of deer. He is not a gardener, so easy maintenance would be best for his success. He is a single dad of one child, general contractor so not much time in the summer to mess in the yard. My younger son is a landscape architect and I will leave the actual hardscape and design up to him. My contribution will be helping out with a planting list and/or buying/acquiring plants.
I have reviewed the thread "Favorite Shade Plants" and have noted what I can easily chunk off from my yard - dicentra, goatsbeard, lady's mantle, brunnera, darmera, lily of valley, persicaria. I don't think hostas will work with his deer, and ligularia don't work in our area due to slugs. I thought I'd perhaps buy him a couple largish hydrangeas since they will be in bloom and have instant impact.
The north side yard has a fairly good foundation planting of sword ferns, azaleas, a few dwarf conifers, and a mature Japanese maple in the middle of a [very mossy] lawn. This yard falls down to the road and the slope is covered with English ivy. My younger son will encourage older son to get rid of the ivy, but I think will lose that argument. As invasive as it is, it is also very easy care. I'll put my two cents in to at least keep it in bounds and off his trees.
The east back yard is almost all lawn, 5' solid fence on two sides, with a mature ash in the middle, a pear I think he plans to take out, and a spindly fir that is limbed up quite a ways. The south side of the back yard is further shaded by a tall nondescript hedge belonging to the neighbor. He has a smallish garden against the hedge with hellebore, fatsia, and some random plants that would do better in full sun. I thought this might be a good spot for a bold darmera statement.
His south side yard is very narrow and won't need much attention, he uses it for storage; and his sunny west front yard is tiny and faces a busy street - not much used and already planted out OK.
I'll continue to read through the various threads in this forum, but would also welcome any suggestions. Think fast-growing, easy maintenance, hapless gardener more interested in outdoor sports than weeding but willing to put in an effort. I think.
