Shade Garden Tips

If you’re a first time gardener, or you’ve inherited your garden along with your house, then you’ll probably not have noticed that your garden has a shaded area. Believe me that it will have a shaded space somewhere, even if it is in that small secluded corner. That’s why you’ll need to be doing shade gardening this year. Executed properly, your shade garden can become a pleasant surprise.

If you find the shade in your garden, it is probably due to a tree or trees. It might even be your neighbor’s tree. The soil in this shady area will be dry and full of roots. Planting may be difficult and you may have to improve the soil slightly before anything will grow. You have to be careful when doing this because there's always the danger of disturbing the roots of the tree. The Oak tree is very particular, and can be extremely sensitive to changes in soil depth. Also, when tilling the soil around the roots you have to be careful not to injure the roots and cause permanent damage to the tree. No one ever said shade gardening was going to be easy!

Keep in mind the conditions that might be characteristic of your shaded area when you plant your garden. These conditions might be low or obstructed sunlight to perhaps no sun at all. Or even perhaps sun at only certain times of the day. There may be limited water in the soil due to an extensive root system, poor air circulation caused by low lying branches, or intrusive walls. These are only some of the conditions you might have to deal with when shade gardening.

Having passed through the more serious parts of shade gardening, we can now move on to the more fun parts: designing, and laying out your garden, and buying your plants!

Plants that thrive in the shade aren’t as vivid and bright as plants that grow in full sunlight. So, it’s better to choose flowers with pastel shades. Darker colors will only tend to blend into the background.

Foxgloves are a favorite, as are Daisies, and Begonias. Bluebells and Forget-me-nots are also some true blue favorites. You can really have blooming flowers in your shade garden for almost the whole year if you plan carefully.

Other plants to consider are groundcovers. Hostas, are traditionally a good groundcover plant, with its big leaves that tend to hug the ground. English ivy, Wintercreepers, and Ajuga are also very good for groundcover.

In conclusion, the shade garden will add variety and contrast to the rest of your garden.