DIY Network

Welling: Plan, Costs and Products Meet Jane Welling and find out the gardening challenge plan. From "Garden Sense" episode DGAR-302

Walter Reeves with Jane Welling in her backyard.

Meet Jane Welling. She's an elementary school principal who has lived in her home for more than 20 years. She built a beautiful creek in her shaded backyard a few years ago, but the shade prevented her from growing much back there.

Jane wants help getting rid of the weeds and filling in the empty gardens with plants that will grow there. She would like to keep the shade and privacy but add more beauty.

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Gardening Challenge

Before--backyard

Before--backyard

After--backyard

After--backyard

Required Project Timeline

The Welling project took one full day to complete.

Project Details

Our plans for Jane's backyard include a design that will be natural and free flowing. The plants mirror what Mother Nature already provided. Our sensible selections blend with the natural landscape so they don't stick out. The plants are shade tolerant in order to thrive.

After clearing the yard, we planted a forest pansy redbud. It added new color but still blended in with the woods. We used a number of shrubs for color and texture including yellow twig dogwood with its bright twigs and variegated leaves and Oregon grape holly with dark, lustrous leaves.

On one edge of the yard we added a couple of variegated Chinese dogwoods. The leaves here pop out from the dark landscape. On the other side, to help block out the neighbors, we added a serviceberry, which will fill out and provide much needed screening.

Throughout the landscape three kinds of ferns filled in the open spaces with texture and lots of visual interest.

Gardening by Zip Code If you're looking to start a gardening projectbut don't know your gardening zone—visit the National Gardening Associations's USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. Enter your Zip Code to identify the proper zone.

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