I know that shade growing can be a challenge. But with some careful planning and patience you can design a lush, interesting garden that thrives in shade. And once established, a shade garden is low maintenance and provides much needed respite from a hot summer day.

The most important thing to realize about shade gardening is that success all depends on what plants you choose. There are a variety of shade growing trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and bulbs.

Having chosen the best shade growing plants for your garden, next give some thought as to where the plants are going to live. Few plants can survive in complete shade. Plants need a certain amount of light, combined with good soil, good drainage, and sufficient water to thrive.

The best thing you can do for your shade growing plants is to give them good soil to grow in. Preparing the soil for a shade garden 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. You also need to ensure that the soil drains well. You don’t want overly wet or mucky clay drowning the roots of your shade plants. 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.

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.

Evergreen conifer trees such as cedars tend to make the soil dry and acidic. You can have the soil tested and if you find that it is overly acidic for what you plan to grow, just add some dolomite lime powder. But the good news is that many shade growing plants actually like acidic soil. Examples include rhododendron, mahonia (oregon grape), and ferns.

Are you wondering where all that shade is coming from? Buildings and walls can create just as much shade as big trees. If you choose the right shade growing plants, shade from a building or wall will actually be a help to your plants. Think about how buildings and walls affect your garden: 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.

Walk around your house and see how it 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 the most important 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.

Want to find out more about Shade Growing, then visit my website for photos and recommendations on how to choose the best shade plants for your needs.

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