Using Shade Gardening to Create a Restful Spot in your Landscape

Shady spots in your landscape can create quite a problem with your plantings if you don't plan ahead by using plant choices that will thrive in shady conditions. The good news is that these plants come in a wide variety to create a beautiful and interesting focal point in your landscape. With a little bit of research and planning, the shady spots in your yard can be just as full of foliage as the sunniest spots around.

The key to understanding shade gardening is to know what types of plants will work best in these conditions. There are a number of varieties that you can choose from, but the list does not include many bright, flowering plants or food plants. Most of these will work better in sunny spots, so save your vegetable and flower gardens for the sun, and opt for a more peaceful shade garden made up of mostly green leaves and vegetation. Since color will not be as abundant, you can add interest to your shade garden by using a variety of textures, shapes and sizes in the leaves of the plants that you select.

Determining the Conditions of your Shade Garden

The concerns over the planting conditions of a shade garden are twofold. First, you must determine exactly how much shade the area is getting. A light shade area may be bright, but shaded with filtered light, or it might only receive full shade at particular times of the day. Medium shade will include areas where the sun's rays are blocked to some extent for most of the daylight hours. This could classify a planting area that is shaded by a tall tree as well as a bed that is blocked by a section of your home during a large part of the day. Full shade occurs when an area never sees the light of day, so to speak. This condition could refer to a place that is covered with a dense growth of trees, or a spot under a deck or stairway.

Understanding the precise shade conditions of an area will better enable you to select plants that will do best in the specific conditions of your yard. Another consideration is the type of soil that you will be planting in. If your shaded garden area is due to a large tree, the soil underneath will be more difficult for other plants to grow in. This is because the tree is already taking the primary nutrients from that location. The good news is that there are plants that can grow well in poor soil as well as shade, so you can fill this area with beautiful vegetation that will thrive.

Shady parts of your yard and landscape do not have to remain a barren wasteland. With the proper selection of plants and appropriate soil preparation, your shade garden can be just as pleasing to the eye as your flowers and vegetables are.

Flowers For Shade Gardening

Many people choose perennials for the shade garden because they are a healthy and striving flowering plant. The Daylilies have so many different varieties that this is a favorite choice in shade gardening. Lilacs and mixed Foxgloves are another favorite in the gardens. If you want a flowering plant that climbs, you might use the climbing clematis for added height and color.

Greens For Shade Gardening

Some people add greeneries to the shade garden. The Lady Fern is popular, and strives year after year without any maintenance once so ever. Some choose to use Zebra Grass as a back border with beautiful colored flowers in front. Some gardens that have stepping blocks has people using Irish Moss to fill the gap between the blocks. If you have a zigzag shape, it looks very elegant between the cracks.

Ground Cover In Shade Gardening

A favorite ground cover with bright red flower that strives anywhere is the Carpet Scarlet Flame Phlox. Another red flowering ground cover that blooms during the later part of summer is the Dagon's Blood Sedum. These two flowering plants are a beautiful attraction to any shade garden. Another popular color in shade gardening is the Carpet Sapphire Blue Phlox, which makes a great filler for empty areas of the garden.

Understanding Shade Gardening Terms

Some shade gardening plants need partial sun and partial shade. This means that the plants made need three to six hours of sun a day. These types of plants are great for early morning sun. If the plants need dappled shade, these plants strive under trees with sunlight breaking through here and there. If the plant calls for full shade, it will strive in all day shade or with about three hours of sun. Preferably, morning sun does the best. It is not hot sun like in the afternoon.