Cindy Brady, a recently retired tennis coach, has the best of both worlds. On her large lot in Roswell, she has plenty of space to grow sun-loving flowers. At the back of her lot, she has a woodland, where ferns, hostas, hydrangeas and all kinds of shade-loving wildflowers and shrubs are planted.

This latter area looked great last spring, but it is spectacular this year. The difference? Brady has put in paths through what was a thickly planted, but basically unorganized space. It's made all the difference in the world. Now, it's easier to notice a tiny wildflower or a brightly colored heuchera as you walk along through the woods.

Martha Tate / Special (ENLARGE)

Tennis coach Dan Magill's woodland paths in Athens.

Eleanor Craig / Special (ENLARGE)

Cinnamon fern, Martha's pick of the week, can grow in shade or sun.

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Many Atlanta-area homeowners have either a patch of woodland somewhere on their property, or are surrounded by large trees that create a lot of shade. If you want to turn such a space into a garden-like setting, here are five ideas to help you get started:

• Make a path. I looked through a lot of photographs of beautiful shade gardens, and what they all had in common was a defined path. This way, you have access to areas where you can grow a variety of plants, including tiny hostas that might otherwise go unnoticed. One of my favorite shade/woodland gardens belongs to yet another retired tennis coach, the famed Dan Magill of the University of Georgia. By creating paths and steps throughout his steep woods in Athens, he's been able to enjoy all kinds of plants in what would otherwise be an inaccessible, hostile place. In one spot leading down from the back of his house, he has lined the paths with cheerful yellow primroses.

• Put up a garden arch. Somehow we tend to think of garden arches out in the sun, covered with roses. But an arch either at the beginning of a shady area or somewhere along a path can add a lot of charm and interest. Variegated English ivy and Confederate jasmine are good candidates for vines.

• Create a rock garden. I tend to think of a rock garden as a sunny place for alpine plants. But, you can make an attractive rock garden in shade, as well. Position rocks on a slope and fill in with small ferns, strawberry begonia, dwarf Solomon's seal, peacock moss and tiny bulbs like crocus and miniature daffodils. One of my favorite photographs shows a large rock with a single line of northern maidenhair ferns growing out of the crevice. Very simple, but very beautiful.

• Add a bench or a swing. Another favorite photograph shows a light green bench along a pea gravel path in Bernadine Richard's shady garden in Sandy Springs. Across from the bench are lush plantings of ferns and hostas. If you do put a bench in the woods, be sure you have a clear space underneath. Somehow, putting your feet down into 6 inches of English ivy does not give you peace of mind.

• Create focal points and garden scenes. You can do this by simply adding some statuary or a bird bath. In Louise Poer's Atlanta garden, a narrow gravel path through the shade garden is punctuated by an ornamental concrete doghouse (Poer's two cherished dogs are inside pets). Elsewhere, she has tucked in a concrete chicken among some boxwoods and cast iron plant.

MARTHA'S PICK

Cinnamon Fern

Botanical name: Osmunda cinnamomea

About the plant: This deciduous, upright fern is native to the eastern half of the United States. In spring, fertile, spore-bearing fronds look like cinnamon sticks in the middle of the plant. According to fern expert Eleanor Craig of Canton, Osmunda cinnamomea is an extremely versatile perennial, since it grows just as well in Zone 10 in Florida as it does in Zone 3 in the upper Midwest. Mature ferns in the Atlanta area often reach 3 feet tall.

Use in the garden: Excellent in combination with yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus), hostas, hydrangeas, hellebores and Japanese roof iris.

Planting and care: Cinnamon fern can grow in shade or partial sun and can take damp conditions at the edge of a stream.

Source: Fern Ridge Farms Inc., 395 Old Vandiver Road, Canton GA 30114, 770-479-6996; www.fernridgefarms.com; call for hours to visit the nursery.

Martha Tate is a writer living in Atlanta.