How to Plant a Shade Garden

Shade is considered to be an area that gets less than 6 hours of direct sunlight. If you want to plant a garden in a shady area, first you must decide if it is light shade, medium shade or deep shade, as you will need different plants for each area.

Light shade gets 2 to 3 hours of sun, then sparse shade the rest of the day. Medium shade is when the area receives full shade for 4 to 5 hours, then full sun the rest of the time. Deep shade is the most difficult to grow something in, as it stays shady the majority of the time. Trees like evergreens with low branches and dogwoods with a dense canopy are good examples of plants that thrive in deep shade. Flowers are very difficult to grow in deep shade.

Before you plant in a shady spot, check the ground to see if there is enough soil to plant flowers or other plants, as it may be that the roots do not leave much soil for you to work around. If so, then consider putting your grass clippings in this area with some compost. Keep the area moist with water till the clippings compost down and you have good soil and earthworms. Then proceed with your planting of the area with good soil. If you need to plant faster, you may need to choose another spot. At any rate, you will want to make sure you fertilize the area prior to planting any plants.

Ground cover plants that are good for shade gardens are Ajuga, Wild Ginger, and Winter Creeper. Perennials are Astilbe, Bleeding Heart, Fox Glove, and Day Lilies. For annuals, you can choose from Pansies and Forget-me nots. You could even use Hostas for your shade garden area.