The Shade Gardens are not evil or sinister.  There are garden plants, trees, shrubs and flowers that like the shady side of the street. 

The Shade Gardens denizens like less sunlight, cooler and sometimes damp environments.

Dry Shade Plants

Shade comes in varieties or degrees.  There is dry shade, damp (no lamp) shade, and then your garden variety type of wet shade or mud.

There are a great variety of Dry Shade plants for your consideration.  Some of them are:

The Hosta plants like the Liriope Spicata; the Foxglove plants like the Stella d’Oro Daylily.

Shady Trees

The popular Dogwood tree has beautiful flowers and prefers the cool and shady side of the street.  Likewise the infamous Hemlock tree loves the shade.

Shrub It Off

The Red Osier Dogwood is a great shrub for the shady side of your house or yard, as is the many variety of Yew Shrubs.  There is a tremendous variety of Yew shrubs such as the Japanese and Irish Yews.  But I bet yew already knew that!.

Favorite Shade Flowers

The wonderful and colorful impatiens and the Periwinkle Vinca along with the Fringed Bleeding Heart are wonderful shade flowers that you can use in shade alley.

The nice thing about the shade plants is that they grow and thrive in the shade and you do not have to worry about watering them too much.  A little water goes a long way in the shade where evaporation is less a concern than in the sunnier spots in your backyard.

Grasses for the Shade

There are some great Grasses you can plant for your shady areas such as Fine Fescue, which is more of a lawn grass.  Also there is a more ornamental grass called Northern Seas Oats which may suit your need for variety.

The Hosta Plants

The interesting thing about the Hosta plants is that the color of their leaves is indicative of where they should be planted.  For example the Hosta with gold or yellow leaves must be planted in a full sun area so their leaves can soak up the sunlight and produce that nice golden yellow leaf.

The Hosta with the blue or green leaves require partial to full shade locations.

Be sure to check with your local nursery or plant supplier when selecting your shade trees and plants.  They can be most helpful in making the proper selection and they can tell you which shade plants do the best in your neck of the woods.

Got Moss?  Get Some Today!

Many Shade gardeners are turning to Moss as another way to cover the ground in and amount their shad areas.  Moss was made in the shade and loves the damp wet climate.  It thrives and can look quite attractive if you plan it carefully.  You may want to add some rocks and other features to your moss garden area to help make it more attractive.

As a kid I can remember playing in a moss area on the side of our house.  It was great fun especially during the hot lazy and hazy days of summer.  I had miniature army men and cowboys and Indians and would play for hours in the moss and rock garden area.  Of course this was in an era of black and white TV, no computers and only 5 or 6 TV channels.  But gee did we have fun.

Moss gardens are easy to establish and they grow rather quickly in the shade.  So don’t be afraid, put a little moss in and watch it spread.

Partial Shade Flowers

If you prefer to plant flowers in the shade I whole heartedly recommend the Primroses.  They come in many varieties and can add great color to you partial shade areas.

If you have a dry shady area you can create a Dry Shade Garden.  It would be best to try the perennial Astilbes which comes in a variety of red, pink and white and is quite attractive looking.

I hope that by now you have gotten the idea that Shade Gardens and Shade Gardening can be fun and just as challenging as a full sun garden.  So I hope I have shed some light on your Shade Gardening ideas!!!