The Shady Lady's Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening

by Amy Ziffer

Overview

The Shady Lady's Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening is a crash course in the essentials of shade gardening, helping gardeners take advantage of the potential in shadow. Within this expanded second edition, Amy Ziffer identifies best practices, best plants, and best information for the greater Northeast.

Placed in a broader context of ecology, Ziffer promotes gardening as the act of focusing the natural world rather than manipulating it. She categorizes shade plants based on their function in the garden and describes how to cultivate them with a high likelihood of success and a minimum of failure and frustration. Ziffer introduces the concept of "backbone plants," which should make up 75 to 80 percent of a shade garden, and discusses soils, fertilization, maintenance, animal browsing, and much more, providing clear and concise advice on what to do and what not to do.

This edition of The Shady Lady's Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening includes an expanded illustrated plant gallery with over forty new photos, an updated taxonomic classification of the plants, and a candid discussion of the future effects of climate change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501760037
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2022
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Amy Ziffer is a garden designer and public speaker. She has been a Master Gardener for over twenty-five years and is a former staff editor and photographer for Fine Gardening magazine.

Table of Contents

PREFACE • Why Buy This Book? • Who Is This Book Written For? • How Is This Book Organized? • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • SHADE AND SHADE PLANTS • Getting Specific about Shade • About the Plants Recommended in this Book • Some Plant Terms You Need to Know • Surprising Shade Plant Facts • SHADE GARDEN DESIGN • Types of Shade Gardens • Situating Your Garden • Selecting Plants • Backbone Plants . . . and Everything Else • Plants for Both Shade and Sun • Using Colorful Foliage in the Shade • Arranging Plants • Using Bulbs and Spring Ephemerals • Shrubs • Shrubs for Moderate Shade • Shrubs for Light Shade • Other Possibilities • Vines • Moss • MAINTENANCE: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING DILIGENT • DEER • Products Applied to Plants and Gardens • Fencing and More • MANAGING SHADY AREAS • SOIL BASICS • Improving Your Soil • pH • MULCH • FERTILIZATION • PLANT GALLERY • PLANTS FOR DEEPER SHADE • Backbone Plants • Accent Plants • Spring Ephemerals • Bulbs • Ferns for Border Use • Ferns Best for Naturalizing • PLANTS FOR LIGHT SHADE • Backbone Plants • Accent Plants • Spring Ephemerals • Bulbs • PLANTS FOR SPECIAL SITUATIONS • Naturalizing • Shady Rock Gardens • Cool, Moist, but Well-Drained Spots • RESOURCES • Plants Native to Eastern North America • Plants by USDA Zone • Plants That Grow Well in Both Shade and Sun • Plants for Moist Areas • Plants for Rock Gardens • Plants Suitable for Use as Groundcovers • For More Information • INDEX

What People are Saying About This

New York Times Book Review

"[W]ritten exclusively for those of us who live in this region of acidic soils, sultry summers, wintry mixes, twisters, hurricanes, nor'easters and, my new favorite, wind events. The Shady Lady is bossy, as well she should be. Just tell us what to do: We need help!"

Tovah Martin

“Every Northeastern gardener needs to read this eyes-wide-open, tell-it-like-it-is book. Even if you don’t have shade now, follow the advice in this book and sections of your garden might someday bask in the shadows of luxuriant bedfellows. Get enlightened.”

Karen Bussolini

“Gardens—and gardeners—are rooted in place, so it’s a good idea to let people know where you’re coming from when you offer advice. Amy Ziffer’s The Shady Lady’s Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening puts it right out front. Hers is no one-size-fits-all tome, but a friendly and informative guide for gardeners who deal with trees, deer and unpredictable weather of the northeast. Practical, detailed and realistic, Ziffer engagingly conveys the challenges and rewards garnered from years of hands-on gardening and close observation. Her depth of experience and conversational tone make this book the next best thing to being in the garden with her.”

Douglas Tallamy

Amy Ziffer challenges a common misconception in gardening: that there are very few perennials that thrive in the shade. For gardeners seeking a nondestructive compromise between all native landscapes and those decorated only with exotic ornamentals, The Shady Lady's Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening is a must read.

The American Gardener

"The Shady Lady's Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening by Amy Ziffer aims to help gardeners take advantage of not-so-sunny spots. A gallery of reliable perennials paired with close-up photographs forms the heart of the book. Ziffer defines the categories of shade, then divides listed plants into those that do well in deep shade and those that prefer lighter shade. More lists in the appendices group plants by use and zone."

Editorial Reviews

The Shady Lady's Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening by Amy Ziffer aims to help gardeners take advantage of not-so-sunny spots. A gallery of reliable perennials paired with close-up photographs forms the heart of the book. Ziffer defines the categories of shade, then divides listed plants into those that do well in deep shade and those that prefer lighter shade. More lists in the appendices group plants by use and zone.

The American Gardener

Written exclusively for those of us who live in this region of acidic soils, sultry summers, wintry mixes, twisters, hurricanes, nor'easters and, my new favorite, wind events. The Shady Lady is bossy, as well she should be. Just tell us what to do: We need help!

New York Times Book Review

Amy Ziffer is a decidedly pragmatic, opinionated writer. Three cheers for her protests against English garden books repackaged for the American market with an utter disregard for our growing conditions.

The New York Times Book Review - Dominique Browning

[W]ritten exclusively for those of us who live in this region of acidic soils, sultry summers, wintry mixes, twisters, hurricanes, nor’easters and, my new favorite, wind events. The Shady Lady is bossy, as well she should be. Just tell us what to do: We need help!”—New York Times Book Review

 "For gardeners this is a fine guide to the shade garden, and Ziffer's style is funny and opinionated, which is what you want in a gardening book — or at least I do, since many gardening tomes, while useful, can be dry to read. A tour through The Shady Lady's Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening will have you looking at the shady spots in your garden with anticipation, rather than What-do-I-do-here bafflement." —Valley News

“Northeast gardeners should consider this a specific ‘must.’” —The Midwest Book Review

“The Shady Lady’s Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening by Amy Ziffer aims to help gardeners take advantage of not-so-sunny spots. A gallery of reliable perennials paired with close-up photographs forms the heart of the book. Ziffer defines the categories of shade, then divides listed plants into those that do well in deep shade and those that prefer lighter shade. More lists in the appendices group plants by use and zone.
—The American Gardener

From the Publisher