Most of us have areas of the garden or yard where full sun doesn’t reach. Sometimes those spots are even too shady for much to grow at all, but if you have sufficient light you can still grow some lovely plants.

It is possible to create both formal-looking areas as well as more informal ones where the plants look like they came from a wild forest. Since shade plants tend to have an open, more informal look, you might have to choose your plants more carefully if you want a formal look. For any shade plants to do well, you will need to fertilize a bit more than for sun-loving plants. And if you plant over tree roots, which is where most shady spots are, you’ll need to water whenever the soil dries out, since the tree roots are competing heavily with the other plants for available water.

True shade-loving plants include the hosta family, meadow rue, and dead nettle. Then you have the “bright shade” plants which include such things as ‘Berggarten’ sage, catmint, and veronica. Shade-tolerant plants include azaleas, rhododendrons, and Japanese maples.

Most shade plants cannot tolerate full sun during the day but do best when they receive plenty of light. Beneath high-arching tree canopies are better places than areas of full shade. You might have to experiment with your plant choices—if they are getting “leggy,” transplant them to a brighter spot to see if their growth improves.

Shade plants, since they come from a woodland environment originally, like soil that is humus-rich and porous. You can create this soil by tilling three to four inches of composted organic matter into your soil or combine two parts organic amendment (like compost or peat moss) with one part sand and one part garden loam.

GROUND COVERS & PERENNIALS
Some good choices for shade plantings in this category include: bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), a deciduous plant with white flowers and red berries; dead nettle (lamium maculatum), also deciduous with pink or white flowers; hosta, deciduous, in solid or variegated forms; Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis), evergreen; meadow rue (Thalictrum), deciduous with airy foliage; Redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana), deciduous with pink or white flowers; sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum), deciduous, white flowers; vanilla leaf (Achlys triphylla), deciduous, cream-colored flowers; ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), a trailing plant with round, scalloped leaves and small blue flowers; wild strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis), a low, compact plant with red-tinted leaves in winter; and wild ginger (Asarum caudatum), evergreen with big heart-shaped leaves and a gingery scent when crushed.

FERNS & SHRUBS
This category includes: rhododendrons which are evergreen with pink flowers; maidenhair fern (Adiantum aleuticum), deciduous with delicate-looking fronds; ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor), deciduous with creamy white summer flowers; Oregon boxwood (Paxistima myrsinites), evergreen; Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium), evergreen with holly-shaped leaves, yellow spring flowers followed by sour, grapelike fruit; red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium), deciduous with edible red berries; salal (Gaultheria shallon), evergreen, don’t need much water, edible purple summer fruit; sword fern (Polystichum munitum), evergreen, doesn’t need much water; winter daphne (Daphne odora), rather unpredictable but has lovely fragrant flowers; Euonymus fortunei, an evergreen shrub great for our area—several varieties available; mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), related to rhododendrons and has apple-blossom-like pink flowers; common snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), deciduous with pink flowers; common sage (Salvia officinalis ‘Berggarten’), a non-flowering sage with the biggest leaves, that is the longest lived of the sages; and azaleas, deciduous, with fragrant white or pink flowers.

TREES
Trees that tolerate shade include: vine maple (Acer circinatum), deciduous, reddish tints in the foliage, tiny reddish purple flowers in spring; and Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), deciduous, slow-growing, with beautiful fall foliage; strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), evergreen—can be damaged in severe winters but the beautiful gnarly, shreddy bark makes this beautiful tree worth the effort.

There are several other kinds of shade-loving and shade-tolerant plants from which to choose. Be sure to consult your local nursery for more ideas.

Pat Diaz is enjoying the spring blossoms and budding plants. One of her favorites is the spring serviceberry show in the local canyons.