Taken at 4:30pm

That fence and those trees are a good start for a Secret Garden, I think. You would have to decide how big, of course. You might want to think about growing a rose hedge in the sunnier part, to form the other "walls"of the SG. My main idea of a SG is one that has privacy from its surroundings - it does not have to be all roses. You could put a circular bed in the middle with a bird bath, and plant whatever plants would grow in that much shade/sun around it. Here is a pic of my SG - it is half shade and half sun, with a long pergola roofed tunnel going into it. (I even have sun plants on one side of the circular bed and hostas on the other!). The roses are not blooming yet in this pic, and you cannot see all of them, but they are directly in the background and on the right, and there is a rose hedge on the right beyond where you can see in this pic that is in full sun. I think you have a great start in your back yard with that much space and the frame of the fence and neighbor's trees.

Jackie

Jackie,

What a lovely secret garden! Thank you for the reply.

How did you create the height on the shadier side of your garden? Ideally, I would like to have the entire fence covered in climbing roses, but it's too dark. You seem to have "walls of green" and I'd love to have a similar effect rather than two sides of the secret garden be bare fence with shade tolerant plants in front. It seems like all of the shade tolerant plants (like hostas, which I love) are fairly low to the ground and would look awkward right next to the fence?

I completely admire all of your garden pics and would love your advice for my fledgling secret garden.

Douglass, you may not have to look at the bare fence. You might be able find shade loving vines suitable for your zone to cover them, presuming the maple roots permit you to dig holes for them. You might also find zone appropriate shrubs for those light levels to provide a green wall or screen for the back drop. I understand the desire for them to all be roses, and it MIGHT even be possible to try some of the more shade tolerant ones suitable for your zone back there. You won't really know without experimenting to see what might make it.

Imagine using either a suitable shade tolerant vine or shrub for the green against the fence with contrasting colored/textured hosta around their feet. If there aren't any you particularly like, consider painting the fence with a colored wash to tint it darker green so it blends in. It could be spectacular and provide the more brilliantly colorful rose beds a rather beautiful surrounding to be enjoyed against. So, I would suggest your dreams of a secret garden aren't necessarily impossible. You might have to reformulate your preconceived ideas of what it was supposed to be, though. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Kim

The maple roots will be a big problem. They are close to the surface, suck water and nutrients, and strangle others' roots. Dig really wide and deep holes. Once the roses get established, they should be able to compete, but in the first few years, I'd go around the rose at least once a year chopping back any maple tendrils.

If it was my yard and I wanted a secret garden, I would take over that corner of the yard.

I would look for a flowering hedge that could compete with the tree and be hardy enough for the zone you are in and plant it to hide the fence and create a planter bed wide enough for the hedge and a bit of a border I could fill with pots with annuals or other wildflowers enjoyed. I would pick (or make) a bench or other seating and remove the grass in favor of a hard surface like a flat stone that a ground cover could creep around. And then out where the sun shines and tree roots are thinner put in a hedge of roses to make the corner my secret spot. I like soft lines rather than hard, so I would be out there with my hose laying out curves in the lawn and making the bed narrower or wider. I would include other flowers with the rose hedge to bring color, butterflies and birds.

I think you could have a fabulous secret garden

To answer your question, the green wall on the left of the pic of my SG is a bunch of huge bushes and some volunteer trees, left over from a formal garden which was started in 1905 by my DH's great grandfather.

However, I think you can certainly start a SG without inheriting it! A blooming vine which grows in shade and likes your climate (I use star jasmine here, but it is only hardy zones 8-10) would be perfect for that fence. Rhododendrons and hydrangeas like shade, too - and I know there are types of both which would be hardy in your zone (in fact, I had to search to find rhododendrons for my garden here which were heat hardy enough). You could plant a hedge of one or the other in front of that fence, with a flowering vine growing on the fence. You could even make the fence a little taller for the vine by adding one of those lattice things to the top of it - it is sold in lengths to be added to the top of fences - my DH increased the height of the neighbor's fence in our back yard by about 18 inches by adding that.

I have a hedge of hydrangeas here in front of a tall fence with star jasmine growing on it - both types of flowers are white, which looks good in the shade, and it looks great.

So, there are all kinds of possibilities, including of course planting rose in the sunny parts. Personally, I would not struggle to plant any roses in the shade, where even if they survived they would not be happy. Plants planted where they are happy will make you happier in the long run. When you get your SG planned, please share the plan and pics with us!

Jackie

There are lots of things you can plant in your lovely new yard! If you want roses though you'll have to plant them out from under that tree to get any kind of decent bloom on them. You could put in a nice rose bed out from under the trees in the sunshine as the entry into the more shady "secret" area.

Thank you for all of the replies! I have a newfound enthusiasm for my shady area. Now I have to decide if I should plant all one type of rose as a kind of hedge bordering my secret garden or mix it up. I'll definitely post pics as this project gets going. Thanks again!!