Where our garden railway is gets little to no sunlite thru the summer time, its shaded by two huge mature silver maples. I am wanting a more overgrown look to the line, I plan to make some more cuts by building up dirt mounds and some more rocks. I plan to extend the line around the pond area this spring and relocate the water wheel set up as it doenst work like I want there. I am hoping I can fit LGB R2 curves instead of R1 we have now. My problem lies in good plant selection to deal with north central Indiana winters and the lack of sunlite the area gets once the trees have leaves on them. Mike

Mike,
I have a section of my layout in almost total shade as well.
Last fall, I planted a few miniature rhododendrons to see how they would do.
But I have established miniature Hostas and mosses.
It’s tough to find small and miniature plants for full shade.

They dont even have to be miniature, just something other than cypruss mulch. The layout is to barren for my taste. If I get back to work, I might look into some kind of elevated line in our back yard. It has to be elevated back there as we have two large dogs and the land mines that they leave behind. Finding a dogs calling card on the main line can ruin anybodys day. The mid summer thru late fall sun/heat/humidity makes the front yard much more tollerable for enjoying the outdoors. Thats one of the reasons the water garden/layout is where it is. Mike

You are in USDA hardiness zone 5 (average winter cold down to -20, no mini Rhodies for you!).
Hosta are good. Look for smaller varieties like “Blue Cadet” or “Gold Tiara”.
Most ferns are pretty hardy and very shade tolerant. Japanese painted fern adds nice silver color.
Small astilbes like “Sprite” and Astilbe chinensis pumila offer nice summer color for shade without overwhelming a small space.
Pulmonaria (lung wort) are a nice small perennial with interesting colored leaves like small hosta and flower pink or blue in the spring.
Ajuga “Chocolate chip” is a slower growing dwarf form of bugleweed. Home Depots in my area carry it in the spring time.
Periwinkle, vinca minor, is a nice well behaved evergreen groundcover that blooms most of the growing season.

-Brian

JB already mentioned the various mosses, but I’d just like to re-emphasize that. They make exceptional “scale” yards and pastures.

Hosta are very shade-tolerant, too, and come in thousands of varieties and sizes. I have several that dont grow much beyone a 6" circle in size, and then I have a huge monster that gets about 5’ around. Look around at a gardening specialty place, not Home Despot or Lowes.

Thanks guys, I am keeping all this in my note pad for this spring once the ground thaws and I can do something. First up is modifiying the track plan, I am hoping to extend the loop around the pond and move up from R1 curves to R2, that should help my new Hartland 4-4-0 thru the curves a bit. You cant see it, but there is enough room behind the water wheel for track, but I am moving it as the water wheel doesnt work worth a darn. I also have a full size pair of RR crossing lights/pole/cross bucks that date from the early 1920’s Erie RR just north of where we live. They are in the back yard, but I want to put them out front, but back in the left corner of the yard between the house and our fence. its grown over enough there with the bushes that they wont stand out like a sore thumb. If any large scalers live near me (kokomo IN), I welcome any help I can get, my wife has a bad knee and cant get down and help on the layout. I appreciate all the suggestions so far. I am meeting up with Dennis P and his wife for dinner tomorrow night and some train swapping. Picking up a beautifull Hartland DRGW 4-4-0 Voita Jean, Bachmann observation coach, 2 livestock cars and 1 box car. So begins the new wild west style garden line.

I’m thinking about taking a cue from the local car wash - plastic plants. They even bloom in winter

Bob McCown said:
Hosta are very shade-tolerant, too, and come in thousands of varieties and sizes. I have several that dont grow much beyone a 6" circle in size, and then I have a huge monster that gets about 5' around. Look around at a gardening specialty place, not Home Despot or Lowes.

The only hosta's we have need to be thinned about every 2yrs? Fern's,moss,ivy,and hosta's are all very shade tolerant. Brian gave you a very nice list of plants too. Might want to look into some herbs as well. I'm putting in a lot more herbs this year. They are fantastic and edible as well. What's funny is the rabbit's hit my chives and parsley but don't touch the sage. Sage...that stuff can get out of control....I'm on a planting rant and ready for spring at least Mike has a water feature!!! I want one bad!!! ;)

I wish the water feature was able to support a bridge over it easily. I can do it, but only with R1 curves as i can swing back inward at the rear, cross the main body of the pond, then turn back toward the rear to connect with the exhisting main line. I put a used LGB R1 manual RH turnout in layaway at the local shop I do repair for for, as well as a boxed Delton beer reefer. I would like to redesign the water fall that feeds the pond with more of a small creek set up that I can bridge at a 45’ angle with a covered bridge. The water wheel project didnt work well and will be removed this spring. The half barrel on its side is also gone now. And that Hosta in the wishing well, its very fake. We tired real and you have to constantly water it as it doesnt get enough rain due to the roof on the wishing well. its also flood lighted at night, I hid a low voltage lunalite brand flood up in the roof of the well. Most all my outdoor lights are Lunalite or Toro brand. I use the same transformer to feed the building lights. Mike

I have had luck with Boxwood in shade as well as Azaliaz (yes spelled wrong).

Here is a couple of pictures of the moss I transplanted from the woods. Sorry it was so dark, but it is hard to get good pictures of the moss in the day because of shadows. Ralph

(http://www.lscdata.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/S1030788Small.JPG)

(http://www.lscdata.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/S1030793Small.JPG)

I’ve heard that if you put some moss and butter milk into a blender and liquefy it, then paint if on rocks and other places where you want it to grow, that it has a better than even chance of doing so.

Can anyone verify this?

Steve Featherkile said:
I've heard that if you put some moss and butter milk into a blender and liquefy it, then paint if on rocks and other places where you want it to grow, that it has a better than even chance of doing so.

Can anyone verify this?

I may have to try that. I have plenty of moss in the woods to experiment with.
However, I have bad childhood memories of drinking buttermilk :lol:
Ralph

Steve Featherkile said:
I've heard that if you put some moss and butter milk into a blender and liquefy it, then paint if on rocks and other places where you want it to grow, that it has a better than even chance of doing so.

Can anyone verify this?

I’ve done this and it does work. Of course, the area you put it in has to tolerate fungi and moss. Like rock faces on the north side in wet areas.

As others have posted , go into a woods and find some moss , in the shade , and take some dirt with it , and if your soil is right , you will have some nice cover . From a friends layout TOTALLY in the shade , and moss from the woods looks really good .

(http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/dennispaulson/1152DRcombines%20.JPG)

The buttermilk and moss in the blender does work. I’ve found an even better method that works well. Of course it requires more of a sacrifice, as you’ll see.
Scrape some moss off the ground, (or rocks, or wherever you find it)then place it in a blender with 2 cans of beer and 1/2 cup of sugar. Blend well. Then you can spread this on rock surfaces, pavers, even clay-soils.
In no time you should see the beginnings of the moss growing. This works really well if you’re wanting to “age” new concrete products such as pavers, stepping stones, even out door planters.

Mike

Brian Donovan said:
You are in USDA hardiness zone 5 (average winter cold down to -20, no mini Rhodies for you!). -Brian

We're in zone 4/5. Lots of winter days well below 0F, especially when the wind picks up. I have a couple of small rhodos out front, which have survived several winters and bloom nicely every spring, although they haven't increased much in size. Being covered in snow in the depths of winter may have helped them survive. My mama once observed that rhodos grow wild in the Himalayas, so they should be able to endure the Great White North. Guess it depends on the micro-climate where you live.

Here is a few pictures of the moss growing on my GRR. It survived the summer fine. I don’t water plants on the GRR, so the moss survived on what mother nature provided. Ralph This area gets a good bit of shade.

(http://www.lscdata.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/moss003Small.jpg)

(http://www.lscdata.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/moss006Small.jpg)

Moss came up here of its own accord. I hope this spreads some more. This spot is in the sun about 1/2 the day. This is adjacent to the Sunny View Depot site.

(http://www.lscdata.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/moss007Small.jpg)

The moss here gets full sun up until about 3pm. This also was not planted. It has spread to an area about 4ft.x8ft. This will be a park between Downtown and the RR track.

(http://www.lscdata.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/moss008Small.jpg)

I really like the moss on the hill Ralph!!!