Recently, a friend’s 13-year old son was sitting with us on my back deck and noticed the heavy canopy of trees that provided a dense shade throughout my backyard. He wondered if I preferred so much shade or would rather have more sunlight? It was a good question!
Shady backyards, courtyards, and terraces are soothing respites from the heat of the summer. On the other hand, for us gardeners, these low-sun spots create challenges as well as wonderful opportunities. We have to learn the tricks of the trade if we want gardens in these areas.
Numerous colorful, leafy, and fragrant plants will thrive in shade as long as you know what type you have and how you can create the right conditions to get shade-loving plants to grow and do their best.
WHAT KIND OF SHADE DO YOU HAVE?
There are as many different misinterpretations of shade types as there are books written about shade. For the sake of consistency, I am using shade definitions from the American Horticultural Society.
Light
Light shade is a permanent shade cast by the shadow of a building, wall, hedge, or tree on a site otherwise exposed to the sky and open to light. It offers the most opportunity for blooming plants that otherwise like the sun.
Partial
After light shade, partial shade provides the next best opportunity for flowers in shade. Under these conditions, an area receives up to six hours of direct sun, with four or more of those hours being in the morning, and the rest of the day being in shadow. It is the most beneficial for a variety of plants. (Note that if four or more of the six hours of sun are in the afternoon, it is considered to be full sun.)
Dappled or Filtered
Dappled, or filtered, shade is created by sunlight filtering through the canopy of open tree branches or through latticework structures, with the pattern of light shifting all day. This is probably the most common shade in suburban backyards and is also the most common woodland shade-garden environment.
Deep or Full
Deep, or full, shade is the dense kind of shade found under evergreens or closely spaced shrubs and trees that do not allow any direct light to penetrate. This is the most cooling kind of shade but is also the most difficult: it takes effort to find plants that will bloom here. But it also can be the most interesting, because the plants suited to it tend to have the best leaf structure.
DRY SHADE OR MOIST SHADE?
This can be a critical question. It will be to your advantage to figure out which you have.
* Dry shade can be challenging but not impossible. If you are under a great leafy tree, such as a maple tree, you are in dry shade. Many plants won’t make it here. Yes, you can water over and over and over, but when there is a drought or a water restriction, it is difficult to grow plants under trees in dry shade.
* Moist shade is best described as an area that is evenly moist over most of the season. There is no gigantic maple tree overhead, and rainwater can penetrate to the ground. You can grow most of the shade-loving plants we mention if you have a moist shade area.
FOR BEST RESULTS
As you begin your garden, dig a two- to three-inch- thick layer of organic matter, such as compost, corn- posted manure, or shredded leaves, into the soil, If you are struggling with tree roots, do your best to scratch these amendments into the soil around the roots, and leave a thin layer on top of the soil. After planting, add a two- to three-inch-thick layer of mulch to hold in moisture. My favorite shade mulch is made up of compost, shredded leaves, and what is known in the landscape trade as double-shredded bark.
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