Shade Growing Tips

Welcome to Shade Growing - the website devoted to tips and tricks for successful gardening in the shade.

As someone who has been gardening in the shade of huge Western Red Cedar trees for over 20 years, I know that shade growing isn’t all that easy. But with some careful planning and patience your hard work will pay off. And once established, a shade garden is low maintenance and provides much needed respite from a hot summer day.

Definitions of light, medium and dense shade

Light shade is created by trees that have a fairly high canopy to allow for air circulation therefore it allows for the greatest range in gardening options.  There are many plants that grow and even thrive in light shade.

Medium shade is created by various things like fences, decks, and sometimes buildings (depending on where the building is situated in relation to the sun).  All of the plants recommended on this web site will grow well in medium shade. Another name for medium shade is “part shade”.

Dense shade is the deepest kind of shade. It is sometimes referred to as “full shade”, which means that there is very little sun present. Dense shade is created by tall walls, buildings and thick branches of large trees.  Although dense shade limits your plant choices significantly, it’s still possible to grow certain plants in dense shade.

Shade growing considerations

To be successful in shade growing, you first need to choose the right plants.  Check out our plant recommendations for shade growing trees, shade growing shrubs, shade growing perennials, shade growing annuals, shade growing bulbs.

Once you have chosen the best shade growing plants for your garden, you then need to consider where the plants are going to live - the growing conditions.  Plants need a combination of light, good soil, good drainage, and sufficient water to thrive.

Preparing the soil is pretty much like any other type of garden; you need to make sure there a good mixture of organic compost and mulch in the soil.  To check to see how the soil drains, dig a hole and fill it with water then come back in a couple of hours to see if the water has drained. If not then you will need to mix sand into the soil to help with drainage. Soil balance is essential to success in growing any garden.

In addition to the soil, the shade and roots of any surrounding trees will need to be looked at. Your plants will be competing for food and water with the trees, so regular feeding and watering is required so the plants aren’t too depleted for nutrients.

If the trees doing the shading are evergreen conifers, the soil tends to be acidic.  So have the soil tested and adjust the soil Ph. accordingly for what you plan to grow. And be sure to think about potential leaf covering in the fall.  While some leaf covering is needed to protect the plants from the elements, too much cover may kill your plants.

Shade from a building or wall will also affect what you can grow in your garden.  If you choose the right shade growing plants, shade from a building or wall will actually be a help to your plants. consider the placement of the building or wall: if your garden is in the front of a north-facing wall it will be in shade most of the day, plus the garden will be exposed to the elements like the prevailing winds and frost come fall and winter.

What you need to do is look at where your house is placed on your property, and how that affects where the sun is at various times of the year. For instance, where the sun is in the morning isn’t going to the same in the evening, especially the later in the season it is.

So things to remember in growing a shade garden are plant selection, the degree of shade you are dealing with (light, medium or dense), good soil and drainage and sufficient water.

There are useful and informative articles on all these shade growing topics listed at the top right hand side of this page under the heading “Main Menu”.