Shade Gardening

Plants for Shade Gardens

Introduction

Gardening in the shade can be challenging, but if you follow a few simple suggestions and use the right plants, it doesn't need to be. The simplest of shade gardens simply follows Mother Natures Design - look for the plants marked native to create a natural woodland garden.

There are more plants available for the shade garden than you may realize. Some of the best are listed in Table 1.

Table 1 - Plants for Shady Locations (Minnesota Native Plants are marked with *)

Perennials & Groundcover

Shrubs

Small Trees & Evergreens

Ajuga Arborvitae, Hetz Midget Arborvitae, Holmstrup

Anemone Azalea Arborvitae, Pyramidal

Aruncus (Goatsbeard) Clethra Arborvitae, Techny

Astilbe Currant, Alpine Dogwood, Gray

Bergenia Dogwoods Dogwood, Pagoda

Brunnera Euonymous Ironwood

Dicentra (Bleeding Heart) Honeysuckle Redbud (Cercis)

Ferns* Rhododendron Serviceberry*

Geranium Serviceberry, Regent

Hostas Snowberry

Pulmonaria Viburnums

Tiarella

Planting

When planting, there are a number of things to consider with shade gardens just as with any garden. These include; soil, exposure or microclimates, and moisture & drainage.

The remainder of this article will be completed shortly.