Shade Gardening - Using Color and Texture to Create Interest in the Shade Garden

Designing a Shade Garden

Design is always a matter of personal taste, but shade gardens lend themselves to understatement. Focusing on foliage and texture rather than flower color, will give you the most natural effect. While there are many plants that will flower in shade, colors will be more muted than in a sun garden. White flowers and variegation will add brightness to a shade garden, however yellow variegation tends to be less pronounced when grown in shady conditions. Delicate foliage and flowers lose even more definition in shade. Plants with strong form and bold leaves will stand out more clearly.

A natural woodland is layered with plants: a tall canopy of trees, under story trees and shrubs and then a herbaceous plant layer. You may not have room to recreate this, but you can create interest by choosing plants in pairings, rather than as specimens.

Choose Appropriate Plants for Your Shade Garden

The real key to shade gardening success is choosing plants that will thrive in the shade you have. Most nurseries and catalogs now group shade plants together, making it easier to make the right selections. There are also several plants that grow well in sun, such as daylilies and monarda, that will tolerate partial shade. They may not grow as quickly or bloom as profusely as in full sun, but they are worth keeping in mind when choosing shade plants.

Top Perennials for Shade