A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Gardening in the Shade How Much Shade Is This?

I'm not accustomed to gardening in the shade. If there was any thing in shade it was existing bushes or grass that I just left there.

Now, I have a garden, well, some bushes in a bed, that is shaded by both a Live Oak and the house. I can't move either. I may cut a limb or two off the tree for more sun.

The bed faces due east.

After watching for several days, here's the skinny.

08:13 dappled sun, mainly tree shade
08:50 some more sun
09:16 about the same
09:44 less sun, still dappled
10:03 about the same
11:00 a little more sun than shade, more sun than before, still dappled
12:00 noon, full sun
13:30 same
14:30 front half full sun, back half full shade from house
15:00 full shade from house for the rest of the day

EDIT
There was Box Wood and Snow Hawthorn in the bed. It was doing fine. There are still Junipers that are doing quite well.

Hello, If your interested in some seasonal color you can try several different plants.Most of what I have grown in the shade are perennials.List:Colocasia,(they look like purple elephant ears)Hosta (not the vareigated type),Johnny Jump ups,and no suprise Ferns.I have also had luck with local wildflowers like Jack-in-the pulpits,mayflowers,virginia Blue bells and lily of the valley.

Ditto on what Joclyn said..

Also, do you want the area to be more just left natural..
or plots, or sections here and there, or more just natural
with plants that will naturalize????????

And is your area hot/dry? Or cooler/wet???

"What would you like to add to the area? Perennial things, annuals? Vines, another bush, plants, flowers? What zone are you in? What kind of soil is it - clay, sandy, etc?"

I'd like color, mainly from flowers, but also from foliage. Perennials are preferred even if they are die down and come back types. Different textures are also nice. Self seeder annuals, too. More bushes would be good for near the house foundation. The zone is 7b/8a, Texas. The soil in the bed is almost loamy, just a bit high in clay, but still has a very nice texture and absorption/drainage with decaying/decayed plant material, mainly oak leaves and old cedar or cypress mulch. Someone worked at amending and improving this soil. They done good.

"Also, do you want the area to be more just left natural..
or plots, or sections here and there, or more just natural
with plants that will naturalize? And is your area hot/dry? Or cooler/wet?"

I'd like the cottage garden or chaos garden look with some bushes acting as anchors to the whole scheme. I'm looking to go as native as possible, wild flowers would be nice. My area is more hot/dry than cooler/wet. We get freezes in the winter, snow and ice, too. The summer brings constant high 90's and some runs of 100's. There will be city imposed watering restrictions and guidelines. The guidelines are pretty good, really. Such as, water in the early am or near dusk. That's the best times anyway. Plants with low to medium water requirements will be best.

My real quandary is, how much shade is this? Do I have part shade or part sun? The difference is subtle, but enough to be the difference between plants not making it at all, struggling and looking like it or doing great.

Here is a list of what I have scoped out. Some of these natives show up in 4 categories; full sun, part sun, part shade, shade. Some plants are more flexible like that, some just won't do as well in one light condition as another. There is no good substitute or compensation for light quantity and quality.

-Purple Coneflower (a multi category plant)
-Lanceleaf Coreopsis
-Golden-Wave
-Cutleaf Daisy
-Drummond Phlox
-Black-Eyed Susan (a multi category plant that I have only seen growing in full sun)
-Scarlet Sage
-Annual Winecup
-Butterfly weed (a multi category plant that I have only grown in full sun. Also, the name butterfly weed gets used for a wide variety of milk weeds popular with butter flies.)
-Obedient Plant
-Frostweed
-Western Ironweed
-Tall Aster

Of course, all suggestions are welcome :)

Thanks.

Sideburns -
Where you have the full sun listed for 14:30 is the spot you want to use for any perennial or annual that needs at least 4 hours of full sun. Intersperse throughtout the sunny area patches of alyssum. This will give some color, act as a ground cover and should reseed the following season. Just remember what the foliage looks like so you don't pull it out as a weed.

Some areas of the south will not support ferns and hostas. If you can have those plants they would go in the back half you have listed for 14:30. Other suggestions would be lungwort (pulmonaria) and lady's mantel (both for texture and shape) along with a mix of coleus. Add punches of color with impatients either in the ground, in containers or in hanging baskets hung on sheppard hooks. This will provide some height and color without a huge cash outlay and give you the opportunity to fine tune the space.

The middle of that plot would be ideal for any perennial, annual or shrub that will tolerate any type of partial shade, some sun, afternoon shade.

I would encourage you to avoid obedient plant as it is invasive. Mulching will be important if water restrictions are in place.

If you are not familiar with the U of T wildflower center visit the website for ideas. www.wildflower.org/

Start with a few small groupings within each of your areas and observe. Think park setting. Keep any plants outside the dripline of trees. Watch for plant exchanges and check out your county extension website for local info. Be aware of what is already growing in your area that you like and where it is sited. Consider adding your state for your location, it serves as a starting point for posting a reply. Lucky you to have the space to start a new garden.

most of the plants that you listed prefer sun.


for shaded areas try:

shrubs: azaleas, hydrangeas, acuba, daphne, viburnum, abutilon

flowers: bergenia, heuchera, ferns, acanthus mollis, anemone, aquilegia, clivia, dicentra, hosta,