Shade Gardens

When I first moved into my current home, it had no trees: I couldn’t have planted a shade garden if I’d wanted to. I planted, instead, a variety of sun-loving plants. My azaleas were tucked away in pots in a sheltered corner where the summer sun wouldn’t fry them.

Twelve years later, the situation had changed. The trees had grown and cast a great deal of shade that killed the sun-loving plants: I now had to create a shade garden. I knew all about azaleas and rhododendrons (of course!), but landscaping with only shade plants? How was I to do that?

After a lot of research on landscaping, I finally learned what I needed to know. Now I’m going to save you that time by giving you the quick and dirty shade garden basics (forgive the pun), on how to landscape those shady areas.

Ten Steps to a Shade Garden

Step 1 – The successful shade garden or yard is the product of careful planning. First of all, you’ll need to know what shade garden plants you like. I’m assuming that, since you’re here on an azalea site, you’ll want to use some azaleas, but what else? Begin by searching through garden magazines at your local library and taking notes. Take a look at one of the prominent gardening books like Sunset’s Western Garden Book. Most of the larger gardening texts will include sections on shade loving plants and you’ll see there are plenty of plants to choose from. Create a file with your likes and dislikes.

Inquire about your neighbor’s plants, if they have recently landscaped. I stress recently because people typically forget what’s in their yards within a few months. When you have some ideas about what you enjoy, proceed.

Step 2 – Define and rank your goals. Do you intend to have a quite restful spot in which to retreat at the end of a tiring work day? Looking for an area to entertain? Will you want a play area for the kids? A portable veggie garden to push around into the sun that’s left? Do you want a shade flower garden to putter around in? Or are you looking for a low-maintenance yard?

Step 3 – Think twice about your lawn. If you have space and the desire to maintain it, go ahead. Remember, though, that most trees have roots that love to come up into lawns, especially in small yards. Before you put a lawn under your trees, check to see if you already have a number of roots running right along the surface. Mowing your tree roots is definitely harmful to your tree. It doesn’t do your lawn mower much good either. Ground cover may be an option.

Still want a lawn? Okay, but consider planting a smaller one. Just having a smaller lawn will reduce the amount of yard work you’ll do each year by literally days. I know a gardener who has quite a large piece of property and has a lot of it in lawn. He spends 10 hours a week mowing! Personally, I’d rather be planting more azaleas or spending time with my kids. Small lawns are also less water-hungry: this is very useful in hot, dry locations where water is metered.

Step 4 – Measure your yard with a hundred foot (or longer) measuring tape and make a rough sketch. Add notations for north, south, east, and west. Shade plants will not want to be exposed to hot afternoon sun, so it’s helpful to note which direction the sun takes through the day and where shade appears in your yard. In your sketch add any permanent landscaping that is already present: decks, patios, walk-ways, and pools. Also note hose-bibs, slope information, trees, and sprinklers.

Step 5 – Review the basic principles of Garden Design. Learn about unity, color, accent, and balance for your garden.

Step 6 – Create an outline sketch on graph paper of your shade garden or yard. A typical scale is 1 inch to every 2 to 4 feet. It can be useful to obtain a landscape architect’s scale, which looks like a triangular ruler. This will make the job of converting your measurements into ratios easier. A landscape and circle template may also be useful for showing plants and trees at their mature size in your drawing. Most art stores should have these templates. Be sure to add in the permanent features you noted in Step 4.

Step 7 – Once you have your base design drawn, it’s time to experiment with where to put your plants. Purchase tracing paper that will fit over your drawing. Tape a piece at a time over the base drawing and begin sketching where the plants you selected in Step 1, will go. Play with different shapes! Consider curved flower beds, geometric forms, and different elevations such as raised beds.

Stand in the different areas of your yard and visualize how it will look. Use gypsum or a hose to lay out the dimensions you’re considering. Once you have a design you’re happy with, draw the final design on your base design.

Step 8 – Now lay one more piece of tracing paper over your design. Consider how to get the water to all the different areas of the yard. Unless you plan on watering by hand (heavens, no!), then consider drip systems for at least the shrubs and trees. The lawn should be able to use pop-up sprinklers, although there is a new type of drip system that can be laid right under your sod and provide drip irrigation to it as well. Even if you cannot afford a built-in irrigation system at this time, it is wise to plan for it. I have dug one-too-many tunnels under concrete sidewalks because I didn’t do this step. If I had planned, then I would have known to place pipes under the concrete where I someday expected to have sprinkler lines. Trust me on this one!

Step 9 – Hopefully you considered the final size of all your shade garden plants when you were in the planning stages. You’ll need to know this before you purchase any plants.

If you are taking the slow route to landscaping and aren’t in a hurry, consider taking shade garden cuttings for your plants. In a few years, you’ll have plants you didn’t have to pay for ready for the yard. I also find that if I take my project a bit at a time, I can get it done without killing my back or becoming sick of looking at it and quitting. Remember, gardening is a process.

Step 10 – Top dress all the plants with bark or mulch. This one step will save you hours of weed-pulling, and will encourage your plants to grow as they decompose into the soil. It protects the shallow-rooted plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons from injury to their root systems. If money is scarce, simply do what I did: purchase just one or two bags of bark a month. You will still eventually make it around your shade garden. You’ll just have to weed until it’s all covered.