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Most homeowners have some degree of shade somewhere in their gardens
whether it's from their home or the neighbour's, a garage, a fence,
or mature trees. Since shade varies from heavy, where no direct
sunlight penetrates, to partial or dappled, you need to observe
what kind you're dealing with and plant appropriately. The Sheridan
Nurseries Garden Guide will help direct you to plants for full shade
with a black circle symbol and plants for partial shade with a half
black/half white circle.
To start your selection process, remember that plants with non-green
foliage colour like the blue-grey of Junipers or the yellow in Euonymus
won't do well in shade. This is also the case with red leaved shrubs
like Purpleleaf Sand Cherry or Purple Smoketree or golden shrubs
such as Golden Mock-orange that lose their vibrant colour. You'll
soon end up moving them into a sunnier location. So, choose wisely
from a wide range of shade-tolerant plant materials and arrange
them with variety of form, size, texture and colour in mind.
Plants For Full Shade:
Dependable evergreens that add year-round structure to any garden
include Boxwood, Yews, Sarcoxie Euonymus, Rhododendrons, and Hemlock.
To contrast with these solid colours, think about planting them
next to Emerald Gaiety Euonymus, Silverleaf, Silver and Gold Dogwood,
Variegated Kerria, Variegated Hosta, Goutweed, or Variegated Solomon's
Seal.
Flowering plants are possible in low light and some noteworthy examples
are the broadleaf evergreens, Periwinkle, Mountain Laurel, Japanese
Pieris, Oregon Grape, and Rhododendrons. Deciduous shrubs include
Azaleas, False Spirea, Annabelle and Bigleaf Hydrangeas, and Double
Kerria. There are even some small trees that tolerate a lot of shade,
especially in the city, like Eastern Redbud, Downy Serviceberry,
and Pagoda and Gray Dogwood.
The best perennials for full shade are Bugleweed, Astilbe, Bellflower,
Hostas, Bugbane, Bergenia, Forget-me-not, Christmas Rose, Monkshood,
and Lily-of-the-Valley. Many of these can also be used as ground
covers to replace grass. Native wildflowers like Trillium, Jack-in-the-Pulpit
and ferns originated in full shade so they're obviously good choices
for your shade garden. For continuous colour through summer, the
annuals Non-stop or Tuberous Begonia, Torenia, Browallia, Coleus,
and Mimulus will brighten up any dark corner.
Plants that produce berries are also interesting in any garden.
The evergreen ground cover, Wintergreen, and the female shrub, Winterberry,
produce bright red fruit. The vine, Virginia Creeper, has blue-black
berries in fall that attract birds. Boston Ivy is highly valued
because it grows so quickly. There are also great flowering vines
for full shade like Climbing Hydrangea, Dropmore Scarlet Honeysuckle,
Virgin's Bower, and some varieties of large flowering Clematis.
Design Tip For Shade Gardens:
To make a shade garden appear more luminous use the palest colours
that will jump out from a dark background. White, pale pink, light
yellow, and peach-orange are very lively. Red, blue, and purple,
on the other hand, recede into the shade and are, therefore, less
noticeable.
Practical Tip For Shade Gardens:
Consider hiring a professional arborist to thin out branches on
your mature shade trees to allow additional light into your garden.
Air circulation will also be improved which should help limit the
proliferation of moss.
Plants For Partial Shade:
All the plant material listed for full shade can, of course, go
into lighter, partial shade. But we can add to the list with trees
like Black Ash, Honey-locust, Ginkgo, Linden, Flowering Dogwood,
Golden Chain Tree, Weeping Peashrub, and Saucer Magnolia. Shrubs
that flower well include Oakleaf, Peegee, Pink Diamond, and Unique
Peegee Hydrangea, Caryopteris, Mock-orange, Rose-of-Sharon, Carol
Mackie Daphne, Summersweet, and Bridalwreath Spirea. Dappled Willow
is worth mentioning for its elegant white, pink, and green leaves
and Japanese Maple for its feathery, red foliage.
There are many perennials for partial shade such as Bleeding Heart,
Foxglove, Primula, Bearded and Siberian Iris, Lilies, Lupine, Columbine,
Globe-flower, Ligularia, Coral Bells, and Daylily. Wherever there's
a gap in colour in your partial shade garden plant annual shade
Impatiens, Fibrous Begonias, Fuchsia, or Lobelia. Hall's Honeysuckle
is not only a semi-evergreen flowering vine but it's also highly
fragrant in June.
Evergreen interest is created with Spring Heath, Siberian Cypress,
Mugho Pine, Nest Spruce, Bearberry and Coral Beauty Cotoneaster,
Cedar, and English Ivy. Bright red berries are the hallmark of female
evergreen Holly while Firethorn is remarkable for its clusters of
orange berries that last well into winter.
Don't feel limited in dealing with shade. There are lots of interesting
plants to choose from and test the full sun plants in partial shade.
Often they prefer afternoon shade because it's considerably cooler
and moisture is better retained in the soil.
Also refer to
Gardening Tip #10 - GROUND
COVERS
Gardening Tip #11 - NATIVE
PLANTS & WILDFLOWERS
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