96 Plant Woodland Shade Garden

Any of our Pre-planned Gardens can be succesfully planted in either spring or fall.

The Woodland Shade Gardens includes a few ephemeral species (which are shipped as bare root stock). We often recommend planting bare root stock ephemerals in the fall, as it allows you to see their spring emergence and progress. Planting in the spring is also perfectly fine, but the ephemerals may not show much top growth when the root stock is planted in late spring, and will then become dormant for the summer.

When planting in fall, we recommend having the plants in the ground at least 6 weeks before the ground freezes (soil temps below 40 degrees). This is bit of a guess, as it is difficult to know when that will occur in a given year, but base your estimate on the average fall-winter in your area. There's no harm in planting earlier than that. 

Read our article Tips for Planting in Fall for more information on fall planting.

All of the plants in the 96 Plant Woodland Shade Garden will be Ok to grow in Zone 5. The best time to plant will depend upon the weather at your specific location. In our Wisconsin location, we find that mid-to-late-April is safe for planting native perennials and grasses -- or as soon as the ground is workable. Frost may damage leaves but the plants will continue to grow. There is no need to wait until after the last frost as the plants are quite hardy. Some still prefer planting later, to avoid frost damage, in which case mid-May is a safe bet for most of Zone 5.

As a rule, we don't allow plant substitutions to be made in any of the Pre-Planned Gardens. If you are looking for more customization, our 32 and 16-Plant Custom Kits let you mix-and-match plants, with a wide variety of choices, for a great price.

Yes. The plants in this garden will withstand frost in the spring. Newly transplanted plants may experience frost damage to the leaves, but the plant & roots remain alive (viable). If the frost or cold temperatures persist the plants can take some time to recover, but should continue to grow with warmer weather.
If the plant foliage is damaged by frost (often it turns black or brown), remove the blackened or damaged foliage.  New growth will slowly appear-most plants taking a few weeks to do so.

Most of the plants in our pre-planned gardens are hardy to zone 4, and only a few species are hardy to zone 5. Once the plants are established they are unlikely to be phased by seasonal weather.

The 40 Plant Shade Garden will grow in the full shade, but it will grow more slowly than it would with a bit of sunlight. The problem is that the ground/soil on the north side of building can be too cool for some plants, such as Trilliums, which need the warmth of the sun in the spring. The Palm Sedge also does better with some sun. In cool, deep shade Ferns are a good choice because they like the cool soil. Plants such as Solomons plume, and Wild Ginger can be added for a variety of texture.  If there's room, Pagoda Dogwood (a shrub), and Goats Beard are good in full shade as well.

Yes, we do send instructions for bare root planting with every plant shipment. The planting brochure that we send can also be found here on our website: 
prairienursery.com/resources-guides/how-to-transplant-bare-root-plants/

Fall is a great time for installing bare root plants. Early spring is also fine. We recommend planting ephemerals – which we offer in bare root format – in early fall while the soil is still warm, or in early spring. Spring installations will have some time to develop before summer dormancy, but they might not have time to produce flowers the first year. An early fall planting allows the roots time to establish properly before winter, and gives the plants a stronger start the following spring.

Yes, we provide a planting plant (layout) with each of our preplanned gardens. The layout plan that is visible in the product image gallery is included in the shipment, along with the plants. You can follow our planting plan, or feel free to get creative with your own arrangement!

Some of the plants in the 96 plant woodland shade garden are deer resistant, but most are not.

These are deer resistant:
Columbine
Sweet Joe Pye
Culver's root
Palm Sedge
Sea Oats