Whether you live on a small city plot that is hemmed in
by fences and neighboring houses or on a suburban property
where saplings planted decades ago have matured into
sizeable trees, you must as a gardener come to terms
with shade.
Shade can be a gardener's best ally. It provides a retreat
from the sun. I have a bench placed to one side of my shade
garden to escape from my gardening chores in the sun. It is
good to sit and cool off with a drink of water
and gaze at my shade flower beds.
My Bleeding Hearts are my shade border's hardest workers.
They bloom continuously all spring and summer.
My Coral Bells bloom all summer too. My Pink and White
Astilbe bloom from spring to early summer.
Another benefit of shade is that no matter where you live,
shade cuts down on your garden maintenance chores. A shady
garden needs less watering. Pruning becomes less of a chore
as well. Plants that have evolved in the low light of a
forest tend to grow more slowly and need less pruning.
I have several plants that do well in my backyard borders.
Lady's Mantle, Purple Palace, Lamium White Nancy, and Pink
and White Astilbe do well in moderate shade.
I have planted several Aquilegia and I would like to
plant some Aconitum Anthora (Yellow Monkshood), Brunnera,
Lungwort and Solomon's Seal in the future as they do well
in partial shade.
I have planted several Day Lillies, Ferns and Hosta in my
shade garden. I use Violets to surround the entire backyard
garden border. The Violets were already growing throughout
the grass when I started my shade borders. I just had to
transplant them to the borders. I would also like to add
some Helleborus (Lenten Rose) next spring.
Hosta is a great perrenial. It is valued for its'
foliage-mounds of oval or heart-shaped green, blue and
gold leaves in a variety of sizes. Besides their foliage
Hosta provides flowers and fragnance. I use several of them
to brighten shady corners.
If you want other plants to brighten a shade garden,
plant annuals. There are several annuals that do well in
shade. The two most popular shade garden annuals are
Impatiens and Begonias. They provide spectacular
splashes of color in all kinds of shade.
Shrubs that do well in shade are Rhododendron and Azalea.
These are the most popular shrubs in America. They require
little care. Plant them in a shady place that has some
shelter. They can be found in all sizes and colors except
for a true blue. They need little pruning, just a good
grooming to keep them in shape. Only prune them after
flowering.
Bugleweed (Ajuga) make a good groundcover for shade.
Grass is the most widely used groundcover but it is not
good for shade. The best plants for shade are those with
evergreen leaves. Pachysandra, Myrtle (Vinca Minor ) and
some ivies are the most popular groundcovers. These three
plants are the workhorses for shade cover.
Enjoy your shade garden.
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