Do you have a troublesome shady spot in your yard? Or is your whole yard shade and you have no idea what to do?
Shade gardens can give folks trouble sometimes. Everyone wants lots of flowers in their gardens, but successful shade gardens are more often about texture and contrast than the number of flowers.
Here are the 3 basic ways to go about gardening in the shade.
#1. Full of Flowers
The only way to do this is to fill your shade garden with annual shade plants that will happily flower all summer long. The down side is that they will all need to be replaced the next spring. If this isn't a problem for you, and you value color and beauty over work, then we have an entire greenhouse full of different shade annuals for you to chose from!
#2 Lowest Maintenance
This shade garden is filled with perennial plants and shrubs that come back on their own year after year. Some of these plants flower for a portion of the year, others have interestingly colored leaves and different textures from fine and lacy to chunky, waxy, and tropical. These gardens are colorful and interesting all season long thanks to the variety of plants in them. You'll find a whole section of them in the perennial department. The best part is, you'll only need to plant them once.
#3. The Hybrid Garden
This garden has some plants from both of the other types of gardens. The perennial plants are interesting and fill up a good portion of the area. The flowering annuals are planted in groups to give the most flowering bang for the buck. That way, only a few areas of the garden need to be replanted each year.
Plant Suggestions
ANNUALS:
New Guinea Impatiens Miniature Impatiens Double Impatiens Torenia Polka Dot Plant Coleus Wax Begonia Reiger Begonia Dragon Wing Begonia Streptocarpella
PERENNIALS:
Hostas Astilbe Columbine Ostrich Fern Painted Lady Fern Cinnamon Fern Goatsbeard Foxglove Coral Bells Tiarella Heucherella Periwinkle Pachysandra Chameleon Plant Aegopodium Ajuga Solomons Seal Lily Of The Valley
SHRUBS:
Red Twig Dogwood Autumn Jazz Viburnum Ivory Halo Dogwood Blue Muffin Viburnum Korean Spice Viburnum Burkwood Viburnum Big Leaf Hydrangea Annabelle Hydrangea incredibal Hydrangea Limelight Hydrangea Little Lime Hydrangea Serviceberry Fothergilla Little Henry Sweetspire
Evergreens:
Densi Yew Hicks Yew Holly Boxwood