Before you plant anything in a shady gardenYou need to know what type of shade you have.
Plant expert Stephen Ryan is one half of the YouTube channel The Horti-Culturalists alongside Matthew Lucas. He also has a nursery called Dicksonia Rare Plants. He says people often ask about plants that do well in shade.
“And when you ask them, you find that they have no idea what kind of shade they are working with,” he says.
(The Horti-Culturalists produce weekly videos highlighting individual plants and gardens. You can find their video “8 Plants That Bloom in Shade” here.)
What color color are you?
Not every color is the same. In fact, sometimes the shadow isn’t as shady as you think.
Therefore, it is important to think about what type of shade you want to plant.
“Look at where and when the light falls,” advises Stephen. For example, don’t assume that planting under a tree will always be done in the shade, because if the tree is in a sunny location, sunlight will often fall below the tree’s canopy.
They can have dense shade – where there is little sunlight or less than 3 hours of sun per day. This can be in the shade of tall buildings or under evergreen trees.
Or you have partial shade, which means 3-6 hours of direct sunlight per day. There is also dappled shade where a light tree canopy allows a certain amount of light to pass through.
And finally, you have seasonal shade. Deciduous trees shade a bed in summer, but lose their leaves in winter. This is why many scallions do so well when planted near deciduous trees – they get the sunlight they need while the leaves depend on the trees (Here’s where to plant scallions.)
Do you have shade in the morning or afternoon?
What time of day is your shadow? A bed with morning sun and afternoon shade will appeal to any plant that likes partial shade. The morning sun is always relatively cool and gentle, and as the day warms up, your plants will be in the shade. Hydrangeas would be a perfect choice.
However, a bed with morning shade and afternoon sun can be difficult because the morning will be cool and shady. Then there will be a sudden transition to bright, hot sun in the afternoon because the day will be hotter by then. You need hardier plants – here are some good suggestions for partial shade with 10 beautiful but hardy perennials.
“If your bed has shade in the morning and sun in the afternoon, look for sun-loving plants that don’t mind a bit of shade,” advises Stephen. These include flowering shrubs such as lilac, deutzia and spirea.
Flowering shrubs thrive in afternoon sun. Try lilac, deutzia or spirea.
And do you have dry or damp shade?
Dry shade is one of the most difficult areas to plant, but there are still options. Try bergenias, epidmedia, pulmonaria and some ferns.
Bergenia is a good flowering plant for dry shade
And if you have moist shade, astilbe, persicaria, lobelia cardinalis, and some ferns or irises can be good. As shrubs, hydrangeas love shade and often do best in wetter conditions.
Astilbe – a good plant for moist shade
Planting and aftercare are important in dry shade
When you buy a plant from a nursery, it lives in a pot, explains Stephen. It will be watered and fertilized. The plant is not accustomed to the relatively harsh conditions of dry shade, even if it is a dry shade plant.
So you have to take care of newly planted plants. Water them the first summer, and if planted around tree roots, Stephen would even suggest fertilizing them.
Once their roots are well established, you should be able to grow them without much effort.
Should you cut down trees to reduce shade?
Trees have value in every garden. They provide vertical interest, improve air quality, prevent water runoff, and provide habitat for wildlife.
And as some summers get hotter, the shade of trees can be valuable in itself.
However, if you want a little more light for your plants, you can often achieve this by removing the lower branches and raising the canopy. Or you can “thin” the canopy to create dappled light.
It is important to have this done by an expert. Simply chopping back branches can destroy the tree’s shape and even cause it to grow thicker and faster. Check out Top Tree Tips – What you need to know before hiring an arborist.
Of course, if the shadow comes from buildings, you can’t make it brighter.
It’s worth consulting an arborist rather than simply chopping off the branches, but removing some lower branches can let in more light. This post will tell you what you need to know before contacting an arborist.
What can you plant under a dense evergreen tree?
“The more difficult the conditions, the smaller the range of plants you have to work with,” says Stephen.
Not only is it dark and dry directly under a conifer, but the conifer’s root system competes with whatever you plant.
However, you can often plant at the edge of the canopy – just below where the branches end. This spot will get quite a bit of sun and will be further away from the tree.
Try Bergenia cordifolia, epimediums and pulmonaria. Some fern species also do well in dry shade,
Stephen says clivia (part of the amaryllis family) grows well in mild climates, with bright orange flowers and strappy leaves. However, they cannot tolerate frost and therefore do not survive in many British or US gardens.
How about raised beds under a large tree?
If the ground under and near a tree is full of tree roots, can you fix this by building a raised bed?
Stephen says you have to be careful. If you completely cover the area above the tree roots with large beds of soil, you could deprive the tree of vital air.
However, a raised bed slightly away from the tree, in front of it, or to one side could give you additional planting options and an area of better soil for planting.
What are the best green plants for a shady garden?
When planting in shade, always keep in mind how much a different leaf shape, size or color has to offer.
“There are hundreds of good options for foliage shade plants,” says Stephen. “Plants that have evolved to thrive in shade often have large, interesting leaves to capture as much sun as possible.”
Rodgersia (right) and Hosta with dramatically contrasting leaves. They are both good shade foliage plants for relatively wet conditions – they don’t like really dry soil.
Mahonia and “Polystichum” or “Dryopteris” ferns grow well in dry shade.
Can you experiment with plants for a shady garden?
A lot of gardening is trial and error. And so often plants don’t do what you expect them to do.
So can we take some risk and try planting a plant labeled as “partial shade” in “deep shade” or vice versa? Or try a sunbather in a dingy spot?
Stephen says you can, but you shouldn’t spend a lot of money on it!
However, he recommends planting self-seeders in a shady garden. “They often spread into quite difficult places,” he says. “And if the plant chooses to grow there rather than being planted in a pot there, then it can be very successful.”
Good shade-loving self-seeders include honesty, forget-me-not, foxglove and smyrnium. (For more suggestions, see my Top 25 Home-Sown Plants.)
I managed to place Smyrnium and Foxglove in a dry, shady spot near a wall. However, Smyrnium can spread very quickly. So be prepared to pull it out if it strays too far. However, it is one of my most commented on plants.
Oddly enough, Angelica has also self-sown in this group for many years, even though it is said to prefer moist conditions.
So little experimentation can be very satisfying.
My self-seeded shade group – Foxglove and Smynium perfoliatum – both self-seed well in this dry, shady location. Angelica also self-seeded, although I didn’t expect it to thrive here.
Watch the interview and other plants in the video
The video on planting a shady garden can be found here.
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