Great Tips For Shade Growing Plants
I know that shade growing can be a challenge. But with some careful planning and patience you can design a lush, interesting garden that thrives in shade. And once established, a shade garden is low maintenance and provides much needed respite from a hot summer day.
Look for plant recommendations for shade growing trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and bulbs. You'll be amazing at the selection of plants that thrive in the shade.
Once you have chosen the best shade growing plants for your garden, you then need to consider where the plants are going to live. Plants need a combination of light, good soil, good drainage, and sufficient water to thrive.
Now let's talk about the soil that your shade growing plants will live in. For best results, make sure there a good mixture of organic compost and mulch in the soil. To check to see how the soil drains, dig a hole and fill it with water then come back in a couple of hours to see if the water has drained. If not, you will need to mix sand into the soil to help with drainage.
In addition to the soil, the shade and roots of any surrounding trees will need to be looked at. Your plants will be competing for food and water with the trees, so regular feeding and watering is required so the plants aren't too depleted for nutrients.
Evergreen conifer trees such as cedars tend to make the soil dry and acidic. You can have the soil tested and if you find that it is overly acidic for what you plan to grow, just add some dolomite lime powder. But the good news is that many shade growing plants actually like acidic soil. Examples include rhododendron, mahonia (oregon grape), and ferns.
Shade from a building or wall will also affect what you can grow in your garden. If you choose the right shade growing plants, shade from a building or wall will actually be a help to your plants. Consider the placement of the building or wall: if your garden is in the front of a north-facing wall it will be in shade most of the day, plus the garden will be exposed to the elements like the prevailing winds and frost come fall and winter.
Take a look at where your house is placed on your property, and how that affects where the sun is at various times of the year. For instance, where the sun is in the morning isn't going to the same in the evening, especially the later in the season it is.
So the most important things to remember in growing a shade garden are plant selection, the degree of shade you are dealing with (light, medium or dense), good soil and drainage and sufficient water.
Want to find out more about Shade Growing, then visit my website for photos and recommendations on how to choose the best shade plants for your needs. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory
