Clearing The Shade Garden

I finally cleared a spot for my shade garden.  It's going to be a circular area.  There's a mulberry tree there, and I'm deciding whether I should cut it down or not.  The birds love it.   The area is right beside my creek, which is known to come out of its banks on rare occasion so I have to  be selective of what I plant there.  Deer are known to come close to that area as well, so they have to be rabbit and deer resistant.  Instead of mulch, I'm going to use flagstone to make a small path and garden pebbles.  Ferns are at the top of my list, they love moist conditions as well Hosta.  I have one that is so huge, I can divide it and probably get 5 plants out it.   I'm going to put a bird bath there and some kind of bench.  I'm a lover of all things old, so an old farm bench or one made out of concrete would be perfect.  

The dead trees don't belong to me, lol.  The property next to me was owned by an elderly couple who were so sweet.  They passed and it was purchased by the neighbors from hell!  The development was farm property of the elderly couple.  They sold  it to a developer, and I purchased an acre plus.  Everyone in the neighbor keeps their property up, and than we have these neighbors.  Unfortunately their property borders mine.  We cleared 200 feet of fence row to put up a privacy fence, hopefully I won't have to look at their dilapidated property much longer.  It's so sad.  When the elderly couple owned the property, we were over the fence neighbors.  We would stand and talk for hours.  They were in their 80's, and walking history books.  Each house in the neighborhood has a story.  They were able to tell which house stood on corn fields, alfalfa fields, cow pastures, horse pastures, pig pens, vegetable gardens etc.   The dinner bell still stands on the property.  My home was build on the pig pen and borders the cow pasture. 

 I did file a complaint with the county, which they responded to.  The neighbors have agreed to tear down the old barn and clear the weeds and trees.  If not, they will be fined for each day it continues to stand aftern 30 days.     

Back to my future shade garden, you can see a stump in the back of  the picture.  I was able to remove one, but decided to leave one.  The stump in the back will be covered by mushroom plugs.  In addition to ferns and hosta, I'm thinking of adding False Indigo, Forget Me Nots, Calla,  and a few Hydrangeas.   Ducks swim on that end of the creek, so it should be a nice spot to sip a cup of tea with fresh mint from the garden and watch the ducks with my grandson.  

Do you have any ideas for my shade garden?  I would love to hear from you with any ideas or suggestions.