Shade Gardening

• Plants with non-green foliage colour like the blue-grey of Junipers or the yellow in Euonymus will not do well in shade.
• Red leaved shrubs like Purpleleaf Sand Cherry or Purple Smoketree or golden shrubs such as Golden Mock-orange lose their vibrant colour if they are planted in shade.

Choose wisely from a wide range of shade-tolerant plant materials and arrange them with variety of form, size, texture and colour in mind.

• Boxwood, Yews, Sarcoxie Euonymus, and Hemlock are dependable evergreens that add year-round structure to any garden.
• Emerald Gaiety Euonymus, Silverleaf, Silver and Gold Dogwood, Variegated Kerria, Variegated Hosta, Goutweed, or Variegated Solomon’s Seal will contrast successfully when planted next to the above.
• Flowering plants that will flourish in low light are the broadleaf evergreens such as Periwinkle, Mountain Laurel, Japanese Pieris, and Oregon Grape.
• Deciduous shrubs include False Spirea, Annabelle and Bigleaf Hydrangeas, and Double Kerria.
• Eastern Redbud, Downy Serviceberry, and Pagoda and Gray Dogwood are examples of small trees that will tolerate a lot of shade especially in the city.
• Bugleweed, Astilbe, Bellflower, Hostas, Bugbane, Bergenia, Forget-me-not, Christmas Rose, and Lily-of-the-Valley are the best perennials for full shade. Many of these can also be used as ground covers to replace grass.
• Native wildflowers like Trillium, Jack-in- the-Pulpit and ferns originated in full shade so they’re obviously good choices for your shade garden.
• Annuals like the Non-stop or Tuberous Begonia, Torenia, Browallia, Coleus, and Mimulus are good choices for continuous colour and will brighten up any dark corner.
• Plants that produce berries are also interesting in any garden. The evergreen ground cover, Wintergreen, Winterberry, produce bright red fruit.
• The vine, Virginia Creeper, has blue-black berries in fall that attract birds. Boston Ivy is highly valued because it grows so quickly.
• There are also great flowering vines for full shade like Climbing Hydrangea, Clematis and Virgin’s Bower.

All the plant material listed for full shade can, of course, go into lighter, partial shade (four or more hours of shade).

• Trees like Honey-locust, Ginkgo, Linden, Flowering Dogwood, Golden Chain Tree, Weeping Peashrub, and Saucer Magnolia can be added to the list of trees that does well in partial shade.
• Shrubs that flower well include Oakleaf, Caryopteris, Mock-orange, Rose-of-Sharon, Carol Mackie Daphne, Summersweet, and Bridalwreath Spirea. Dappled Willow is worth mentioning for its elegant white, pink, and green leaves and Japanese Maple for its feathery, red foliage.
• There are many perennials for partial shade such as Bleeding Heart, Foxglove, Primula, Bearded and Siberian Iris, Columbine, Globeflower, Ligularia, and Coral Bells.
• Wherever there’s a gap in colour in your partial shade garden, plant annual shade Impatiens, Fibrous Begonias, Fuchsia, or Lobelia.
• Hall’s Honeysuckle is not only a semi-evergreen flowering vine, but it’s also highly fragrant in June.
• Evergreen interest is created with Spring Heath, Siberian Cypress, Mugho Pine, Nest Spruce, Bearberry and Coral Beauty Cotoneaster, Cedar, and English Ivy. Bright red berries are the hallmark of female evergreen Holly.

Don’t feel as though your options are limited when choosing plants for shaded areas. There are lots of interesting plants to choose from. You can also test the full sun plants in partial shade. Often they prefer the afternoon shade as it’s considerably cooler and moisture is better retained in the soil. Browse our shade collectionfor inspiration.

• To make a shade garden appear more luminous use the palest colours that will jump out from a dark background. White, pale pink, light yellow and peach-orange are very lively.
• Red, blue, and purple, on the other hand, recede into the shade and are, therefore, less noticeable.

• Consider hiring a professional arborist to thin out branches on your mature shade trees to allow additional light into your garden. Air circulation will also be improved which should help limit the proliferation of moss.