Shades in heaven
Plenty of plants and flowers can’t stand the heat, making them a perfect match for shady spots in your garden
Given the choice, most people instinctively favour a warm, sunny garden. Shady corners are seen as second best, if not actual problem areas. But it’s all a question of perception.
Shade can be a huge asset. Instead of thinking gloom means doom, why not work on ways to bring out the character of a sunless spot?
Shady places bring a wealth of contrast to the garden. Step from blinding hot sun into dappled shade and there’s a complete change of pace.
The mood shifts from exciting, brightly coloured flowers to a restful, cool, sophisticated planting scheme rich in textures and patterns. And it’s not just your eyes that relax – scent hangs on still humid air, creating a tranquil ambience missing from sunnier spots. Also, from a practical point of view, shady areas suffer less evaporation, so plants need less watering.
But not all shade is the same. So the first step in making the most of it is to identify your particular type.
dappled shade
This is the very best kind for gardening, especially when it’s created by a light, airy canopy of small ornamental trees, where the soil underneath remains moist. This provides ideal growing conditions for all sorts of shade-loving treasures.
You can create colourful spring and early summer displays using forget-me-nots, hellebores, violets, Solomon’s seal, ferns, dicentra, hosta, epimedium and euphorbia amygdaloides, followed in summer and autumn by hydrangeas, which put on a good long show in shade.
If the soil is acid, then camellias, rhododendrons and pieris will also thrive. But keeping the ground moist can be tricky in a summer when water is short. In real woodland there’s a natural build-up of deep leaf mould that keeps conditions just right – damp but buoyant. At home that’s difficult to recreate. A generous mulch with composted bark every spring is about as close as you’ll get. If the shade is too deep for plants (as a rule, if it’s too dark to read, it’s too dark for even shade-loving species), it’s worth doing some judicious thinning out, or remove lower branches to lift the crowns and let more light through.
‘‘ The mood shifts to a restful, cool planting scheme rich in patterns
dry shade
This is more of a problem. This is the sort you find under big, water-guzzling parkland trees, such as limes, oaks and chestnuts, whose roots soak up every scrap of moisture and whose foliage makes it far too dark for most plants to grow underneath.
As long as the trees are deciduous, you will find spring bulbs do well – winter aconites, snowdrops and daffodils complete their growth cycle while the trees are leafless, so moisture and light reach the plants, then in summer when spring bulbs are dormant, they appreciate the dry conditions created by the tree.
For summer interest, let the trees be the attraction. Put in an attractive bench, a table, line paths with logs and infill them with bark chippings, and consider putting in woodland-style decoration such as a rustic structure, a willow sculpture or a woodcarving.