Do you live in an apartments, condominium, or townhouses? If so, your gardening space may be restricted to small balconies or patios or postage stamp-sized yards. You may also have definite regulations about what you can and cannot do. I suggest you check with your complex managers to find out what is permitted before starting a garden. An attractive garden makes the outside of your unit look attractive. Let's assume your unit's only gardening space faces north and is shaded by a streetside tree.

Shade gardening presents even the most dedicated gardener with a real challenge. If you ask the local nursery to recommend good flowering plants for the shade, you'll be told to use begonias and impatiens. It's easy to have a boring garden year after year if you stick to these recommendations.

I spent 16 years living in a townehouse with the dreaded shaded northern exposure for my "front yard" garden. I also faced another difficult problem. My unit bordered the driveway to the shared parking lot. This means the plants grown on the side of my unit have to survive the heat coming from the brick walls of the townhouse, the asphalt driveway, and of course, car exhaust. This is tough gardening in almost solid clay!

COMMON GARDEN PROBLEMS

My townhouse complex gives every family several six-packs of annuals each May and challenges us to create gardens to be judged the first weekend in August. My first summer, I decided to plant them in my front yard. I was immediately faced with three problems: poor soil (whole bricks were dug up while planting), a northern exposure, and the desire for flowers the first week in August. Let's look at solving these common problems.

The soil problem proved easy to solve. I just dug in 40-pound bags of Michigan peat for the next few years. You may have access to compost instead. Many years later, the soil is fast draining down to a foot deep where it hits solid clay. This has proven enough depth for annuals, bulbs and perennials. When I started, I also had to contend with roots from several large, old shrubs. It was difficult to maintain adequate moisture levels — a condition called dry shade. Therefore, I had to keep adding organic matter and mulch each year to help keep the soil moist. .

Plant selection for the north side, the second problem, has proven to be challenging. I thrive on experimenting with plants and have learned one important "fact" — don't always believe the experts — shade gardens can be as exciting and colorful as those gardens in full sunlight! Through constant reading of garden related magazines and books over the last few years, I identified unusual plants to try in the shade. Many were selected because one source claimed they were shade tolerant and another said they required full sun. One or two seasons of experimenting is usually enough to know if the plant is really shade tolerant. The plants discussed in the next few weeks are faithful bloomers in my shade garden. Try them in your shade garden to see if they like your yard too! I've used the majority of them in porch boxes too.

My third problem remains to this year. I want my yard in full bloom for the early August community picnic and garden contest. This is a continuing challenge. One way I solve this problem is maintaining gallon containers of plants ready to pop into the inevitable holes that appear in late July. I also purchase perennials that bloom in late July or early August. When I first use a "new" plant, I grow them in containers for a season. This lets me evaluate them and move them around if they fail to do well in their original locations.