Designing Your Shade Garden
For garden spaces that only receive direct sun for a few hours each day, planting the perfect shade garden relies on adding great color and design elements that flourish without the sun.
Include Foliage, Color and Texture
You can brighten up a shaded garden area by using foliage plants with leaves in different shapes, textures and colors. Options like ferns, coleus and iresine easily add interest and color without the need for sun.
Enjoy Spring color from bulbs and shrubs, followed by flowering plants and foliage in Summer. Annuals are a perfect way to do this in shade gardens as they bloom and rebloom all Summer long. Top varieties include impatiens, like the Beacon® series, along with begonias, lobelia, torenia and browallia.
You can maximize the power of color by choosing only one or two hues, like tones of pink and burgundy from impatiens and hydrangeas. With the variety of shade plants available, you can create a theme in almost any color.
Mixing and contrasting textures from rough to fine will fill out your shaded garden spaces. Rough textured plants anchor the design, while airy, spreading plants bring movement and a lighter feeling to the space.
Add a Water Feature
A shaded garden is the perfect spot for a water fountain, a small pond or even a bird bath. It will encourage thirsty birds to stop for a drink during the hottest days of Summer, providing a natural show for you to enjoy in your backyard oasis.
Garden Art Sets the Scene
Create drama in the shade garden with interesting garden décor that brings your planted elements together. Whether it is natural stone or logs, or recycled metal patio chairs or wheelbarrows, the effect is an eye-catching display to set off your beautiful plants.