If you’re a new gardener you might think that shade growing is an uphill battle. I’m here to tell you that shade gardens can be a beautiful, lush, peaceful addition to your landscape. As someone who has been gardening in the shade of huge trees for more than 20 years, I know that shade growing is entirely possible. With some careful planning and patience you can create a shade garden to be proud of.

To be successful in shade growing, you first need to choose the right plants. Look for plant recommendations for shade growing trees, shade growing shrubs, shade growing perennials, shade growing annuals, and shade growing bulbs.

Having chosen the best shade growing plants for your garden, next give some thought as to where the plants are going to live. Few plants can survive in complete shade. Plants need a certain amount of light, combined with good soil, good drainage, and sufficient water to thrive.

The best thing you can do for your shade growing plants is to give them good soil to grow in. Preparing the soil for a shade garden is pretty much like any other type of garden; you need to make sure there a good mixture of organic compost and mulch in the soil. You also need to ensure that the soil drains well. You don’t want overly wet or mucky clay drowning the roots of your shade plants. 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 then you will need to mix sand into the soil to help with drainage.

Large trees in your landscape are beautiful, but they can be difficult to plant under. 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. I have a lot of large cedar trees in my landscape and you’d be amazing at how greedy their roots are! I’ve dug in areas 30 feet away from the tree trunk and found masses of tree roots just under the soil surface.

If the trees doing the shading are evergreen conifers, the soil tends to be acidic. So have the soil tested and adjust the soil Ph. accordingly for what you plan to grow. And be sure to think about potential leaf covering in the fall. While some leaf covering is needed to protect the plants from the elements, too much cover may kill your plants.

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.

What you need to do is 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.

As long as you do some planning, you can grow a wide variety of plants in your shade garden. Just keep the important factors in mind: plant selection, the degree of shade you are dealing with (light, medium or dense), good soil and sufficient water. I encourage you to try a shade garden. You’ll love it!

Looking for recommendations for Shade Growing plants? Visit www.ShadeGrowing.com for expert tips on choosing the best shade plants for your needs. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

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