Increase Your Chance of Shade-Garden Success
These plants and tricks can help a garden flourish where light and, often, moisture are in short supply
Some plants prefer lots of sun; some prefer a little cool shade. One of the most problematic areas to plant in a garden is in shade. This can be the shade cast by a north-facing wall, where little sun or rain can reach, or by trees, which compete not only from above, taking the light, but also at ground level, vying for nutrients and water through their roots. In both cases, the area is most likely to be dry, and this combined lack of moisture and light can be daunting for gardeners. However, some plants grow best in shade, and with a little know-how, you can rise to the challenge — beautifully.
Let bamboo show its stems. A plant that thrives in woodland is bamboo, which has particularly beautiful stems. Polished by Mother Nature to a high shine, they come in colors from ebony to green, orange and yellow.
Be careful to choose a bamboo that won’t spread, or use a root barrier to keep it confined to the area you want it.
Here, narihira bamboo (Semiarundinaria fastuosa) is pruned to show off its lovely green stems. It’s underplanted with the wonderfully tough sedge Carex oshimensis ‘Everest’ in a challenging garden with almost complete canopy cover.
Great Design Plant: Alphonse Karr Bamboo
Be careful to choose a bamboo that won’t spread, or use a root barrier to keep it confined to the area you want it.
Here, narihira bamboo (Semiarundinaria fastuosa) is pruned to show off its lovely green stems. It’s underplanted with the wonderfully tough sedge Carex oshimensis ‘Everest’ in a challenging garden with almost complete canopy cover.
Great Design Plant: Alphonse Karr Bamboo
Bring on the boxwood. Another plant that grows naturally in woodland, boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) is happy in a shady area as an informal ground cover or pruned into shapes to contrast with other textures, as the neatly clipped boxwood balls do here with the tree fern Dicksonia antarctica.
Boxwood has the added bonus of sweetly scented evergreen foliage.
Boxwood has the added bonus of sweetly scented evergreen foliage.
Create a fernery. There’s a vast variety of ferns, all interesting and special. It’s no wonder the Victorians loved them so much. Most ferns love a shady woodland environment and, once established, will provide a lush and natural understory to your space. Combine them with woodland shrubs, such as holly and magnolia or, if your soil is acidic, azalea and rhododendron, to create layers. Then underplant with bulbs.
6 Fantastic Ferns to Enliven Shady Garden Spots
6 Fantastic Ferns to Enliven Shady Garden Spots
Look at little details. In a small shady garden, the little plants are important, as you will see them up close. You can create a lot of interest by layering shady plants like a mini woodland. Here, lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) grows beneath northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum). The subtle variegations of Hosta sieboldiana ‘Frances Williams’ form a strong textural background and contrast the finer foliage of the other plants. All these plants will thrive in shade once established.
Plant lots of bulbs. Spring bulbs are woodland plants that evolved to take advantage of the period in spring when growth has started but the leaves are not yet on the trees. A woodland garden can have color from the moment the first snowdrop or crocus appears to the last daffodil, especially combined with hellebore, brunnera and other woodland perennials. Here, ‘Actea’ daffodil (Narcissus ‘Actaea’), in the foreground, and deep violet-blue grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) have popped up from under the cover of ‘Spring Symphony’ foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia ‘Spring Symphony’), an excellent shade-tolerant semievergreen plant.
6 Splendid Blue-Flowering Bulbs
6 Splendid Blue-Flowering Bulbs
Catch some rays. Even in the shadiest gardens, a little light will fall through the tree canopy. If you can position feature plants to take advantage of this, you’ll have a showstopper.
Here, the translucent leaves of alpine woodfern (Dryopteris wallichiana) reflect the light falling through the trees, with the lower planting beneath it acting as a backdrop or foil.
Here, the translucent leaves of alpine woodfern (Dryopteris wallichiana) reflect the light falling through the trees, with the lower planting beneath it acting as a backdrop or foil.
Opt for containers. A shady space can also be a place to plant outdoor pots and planters. These containers have a rough concrete finish and are filled with shade-loving plants. Ferns have wonderful textures and are particularly lovely when their fronds start to unfurl in spring . You can really appreciate them up close here, combined with hellebore, another wonderful spring-flowering woodland plant.
Soft mosses around the edges complete the picture — a shady garden in miniature.
Soft mosses around the edges complete the picture — a shady garden in miniature.
Choose pale colors. Bright colors like reds, yellows and oranges shine in a sunny situation but tend to look dull in shade. Colors that work well and reflect the limited light under trees are whites, pale pinks and blues. As foliage beneath trees tends to be lush and green to capture the maximum amount of light, the whites and pale shades stand out even more against the green.
Good whites to try in this situation are the many varieties of hydrangea suitable for shade, including Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Madame Emile Mouillère’, H. arborescens ‘Annabelle’ and the panicle hybrids. Hybrid anemones also come in cool white. Try ‘Honorine Jobert’ or ‘Whirlwind’.
Good whites to try in this situation are the many varieties of hydrangea suitable for shade, including Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Madame Emile Mouillère’, H. arborescens ‘Annabelle’ and the panicle hybrids. Hybrid anemones also come in cool white. Try ‘Honorine Jobert’ or ‘Whirlwind’.
Sow seeds. Plants from seeds are true survivors. They establish more quickly and find just the right niche. Foxgloves are woodland plants that are biennials — that is, they produce foliage the first year and flowers the next. They grow easily from seed and, once established, they self-sow, popping up where you least expect them. Other good self-sowers are columbine and hellebore. Some bulbs, once established, also spread by seed.
Caution: All parts of foxglove are poisonous if ingested.
Tell us: What have you learned about gardening in the shade? Please share your tips in the Comments.
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Caution: All parts of foxglove are poisonous if ingested.
Tell us: What have you learned about gardening in the shade? Please share your tips in the Comments.
More
Read other garden guides
Browse gardening tools
A late-autumn planting is best after the leaves have come off the trees and there is more light and moisture reaching the plants from above. Purchase small plants, as these will be quicker to establish. Keep them well-watered for the first year or two, as it is only when they have sufficient roots that the plants can seek out enough moisture to sustain themselves.