My husband and I were just looking at photographs taken in our back yard only five years ago. We were astounded at how quickly the oak trees had grown. We wanted a privacy screen, but more importantly, we needed shade for our back patio area. We did have a minor setback early on. A couple of beavers decided they needed dinner one night. Two trees disappeared. We replanted them and protected all four with hogwire - we knew we needed the trees more than they did.

The trees were not large, so the garden underneath them originally had beds of miscanthus grass, Gulf muhly, Russian sage, Veronica ‘Sunny Border Blue’ and Rudbeckia goldstrum. They all thrived in the full sun, with very little care, providing color all summer long.

What a difference five years make…the trees have grown so much that I have had to transplant the Gulf muhly, Russian sage and most of the rudbeckia to other spots in the yard. Now I have an odd assortment of shade-loving plants in their place. Hardy ground orchids given to me by a friend, ferns, viola, varieties of heuchera, toad lily, butterfly ginger and viburnum have replaced the sun-loving plants. The tree branches are now strong enough to hang a birdfeeder filled with safflower to attract the neighborhood cardinals, chickadees and titmice.

It may not be instant gratification, but it is something close to it. Each year we have watched the line of shade slowly march across the back yard. Today as I am writing this it is 4:30 in the afternoon and half of our back yard is in the shade!