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Plants for shade

Sunless plot? Make shade work for you

Most people think it’s the end of the world if they have a sunless garden but there are so many wonderful plants for shade. More and more of us in urban or suburban homes have this to contend with – sunlight not blocked by trees but by other buildings.

You can have a successful, beautiful, lush garden in semi-shade or shade – to use that well-worn phrase, ‘right plant, right place’. There’s a great book I really recommend called Shade by Susannah Grant. Read my review here. Susannah co-founded Linda, a small courtyard shade plant specialist in Hackney.

Hosta Canadian Blue
Hosta Canadian Blue – I now grow them in pots surrounded by copper tape to avoid slug/snail damage

You may have to forego sunflowers and a productive vegetable garden but here’s a list of plants and conditions they will tolerate.

Hostas are the obvious choice when shade is mentioned. They thrive in light-medium shade but will not tolerate dry conditions – and there’s always the slug/snail problem, so I haven’t listed them below. I find that growing them in large pots surrounded by copper tape is a successful deterrent. Read more about growing hostas here.

  • Plants for shade
  • Plants for shade
  • Plants for shade
  • Plants for shade
  • Plants for shade
  • Plants for shade

Plants for shade – How much will they have to cope with?

It’s no good saying ‘my garden is shady’ unless you’re referring to a basement that gets no direct sunlight at any time of the year. The amount of sun and shade will change with the seasons.

When the sun is highest in the sky from May-July, rays may penetrate areas in deep shade at other times. Really examine where the sunshine hits as the days wear on. Don’t just examine ground level – are any walls in sunlight?

Bear in mind if your shade is cast by deciduous trees and hedges, they will get more sun in winter and spring (as is the case with some of my garden). Read about my spring bulbs here.

In the gallery above, you can see late winter and spring flowering plants and bulbs. They include species tulips, daffodils, bluebells, Pulmonaria, Heuchera and Oxalis. These plants are naturally found in the understorey of woodlands. Most have flowered by the time the whitebeam tree and beech hedge come into full leaf.

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  • Plants for shade
  • Plants for shade

Definitions of shade

We see ‘full sun’, ‘partial sun/shade’, ‘dappled sun/shade’ and full shade on plant labels but what do they actually mean?

  • Full sun: six full hours or more of direct sunlight at any time of the day and can be split up say three in the morning, and three in the evening. In nature, meadows, prairies, and other open country.
  • Partial sun/shade: Three-six hours of sunlight each day. However, partial shade usually refers to morning and early afternoon sun, while a plant listed as partial sun needs protection from intense late afternoon rays. In nature, open woods, and small clearings with up to 50 per cent canopy.
  • Dappled sun: Similar to partial shade, only the light is filtered through a deciduous tree. Natural environment – deciduous woodlands with filtered or dappled light throughout all or part of the day.
  • Light shade: Shadow cast by a building, wall, hedge, or tree on a site exposed to the sky and open to the light. In nature, similar to the edges of woodlands.
  • Full shade: Full shade means less than three hours of direct sunlight, best if it’s morning light. Even in the absence of direct sunlight, full shade can be a bright light. Forests and woodlands with complete canopy closure.
  • Deep shade: Dense shade found under evergreens or shrubs with no direct light. Coniferous forests, or gardens where walls or buildings block out the sun.

Don’t forget the strength of the sun’s rays, which vary with the time of day, season and latitude. The early afternoon sun is the most intense, especially from June to September.

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Suitable plants for shade

As this is about plants for shade and there are loads of plants for full and partial sun, I’m only concentrating on deeper levels of shade. I’ve included plants for dry shade, one of the most difficult aspects a gardener can face, and damp shade.

Light and dappled shade: Campanula, Stachys, goldenrod, Aquilegia, foxglove, bleeding heart, Pulmonaria, Brunnera, Ajuga, Tiarella, forget-me-nots.

Full shade: Pachysandra terminalis, box, ivy, ferns, Hebe rakaiensis, Phillyrea angustifolia, Ajuga, Bergenia x schmidtii. Griselinia littoralis, Hydrangea quercifolia, Mahonia, Pittosporum tenuifolium, Sambucus, Epimedium, Galium odoratum, Luzula, Euonymus fortunei Emerald Gaiety, x Fatshedera lizei Variegata, Lonicera nitida Baggesen’s Gold, Hydrangea seemannii, Lonicera henryi, Pileostegia viburnoides, Schizophragma integrifolium.

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Plants suitable for deep, damp or dry shade

Deep shade: Butcher’s broom, Iris foetidissima, wood spurge, spring bulbs, snowdrops, winter aconites, Vinca.

Dry shade: Alchemilla mollis, barrenwort, cranesbill geraniums, Hellebores, masterwort, Astrantia, ivy, Cyclamen, Viola labradorica, sweet rocket, Convallaria, Pulmonaria, Rubus tricolor, Symphytum, Vinca, Waldsteinia ternata, ferns such as Dryopteris filix-mas, Polypodium vulgare or Polystichum setiferum, Fatsia japonica.

Damp shade: Bleeding heart, Monarda, Astilbe, Actaea, Solomon’s seal, toad lily, Himalayan blue poppy, Heuchera, Deinanthe caerulea, Maianthemum racemosum (American spikenard), Saxifraga stolonifera (strawberry saxifrage), Gentiana asclepiadea (willow gentian), Rheum, Rodgersia.

Plants for shade updated August 2022