Gardeners have two opposing problem areas: bright sun and deep shadow. Both of these extremes significantly reduce the ability to grow many plants: both flowers and vegetables.
It often happens that a large plot is in the shade behind a house, garage or other buildings. But there are territories where the sun is present at least partially, but there are those where it does not fall at all.
In this article we will tell you what you can plant behind the house, in the shade.
Shadow Vegetables
Vegetables for the shady area are much less than ornamental plants. The fact is that light is needed to ripen the fetus. But deciduous plants can live in a poorly lit area. You can’t plant anything in the dull shade of vegetables, but you can grow in partial shade:
- spinach;
- watercress, arugula and leaf salads;
- chard;
- onions on greens;
- peas;
- beans;
- cucumbers
- radish;
- broccoli and cauliflower.
Among others, a cucumber can exist perfectly in the shade of trees, hanging on fences. In addition to vegetables, in such conditions it is quite possible to grow greens, such as parsley and dill. This is a short list of what can be planted in the shade behind a vegetable house.
Shady or hardy?
These concepts are often prone to confusion, while a shade-tolerant plant tolerates partial shade well, and a shade-loving plant prefers to grow in deep shade. Before you go buy plants, find out by observing what kind of plot you have, how many hours the sun is there. One question is what to plant in the shade of the trees, and the other in the dead shadow of the house. This will help to avoid a mistake.
Top plants growing in the shade
Among the shady options there is a mass of magnificent in beauty flowering decorative foliage and conifers. You only need to know them. Then, instead of asking what to plant in the shade behind the house, you will have another: what to choose from the many shady plants? There are actually quite a few options.
So, the most popular shadow plants:
- Decorative foliage perennials: hosta, fern, brunner, hoofed.
- Groundcover perennials: periwinkle, ivy.
- Flowering perennials: daylily, aquilegia, tradescantia, clematis.
- Ephedra: spruce canadian conic (conica).
- Shrubs: euonymus, derain, cotoneaster.
- Tuberous: Cannes.
Some of them deserve special attention due to their decorativeness and love for shady places. Still not sure what to plant in the shade behind the house? With photos placed in the article, the choice becomes easier. Next we will talk about other options.
Hosta - Queen of the Shadow
Hosta is the most popular plant for low-light areas. What is noteworthy is the fact that a denser shadow makes the hosta leaves large and impressive. Therefore, the answer to the question of which plants to plant in the shade is the host. She is very shy and in the sun, on the contrary, loses all the decorativeness.
In addition, it is also valued for its frost resistance: it tolerates strong cold without shelter. There are many kinds of hosts; they differ in the size and color of the leaves. This plant is valued for a variety of delicate green, variegated with white and silver leaves collected in a basal rosette.
Hosta has lovely white or purple flowers in the form of a small bell, which are located on a long leg.
It is very simple to plant the host: you dig out a part of the rhizome with leaves and plant it in a new place, preferably in spring or autumn, outside the hot season.
Canada spruce conica - coniferous charm in the shade
The name of this spruce gives us an understanding of the cone shape. Indeed, this evergreen and extremely slowly growing tree has the shape of a cone. Konika has a dense structure, so that the trunk is not visible, and interestingly, it itself forms such a shape, creating the image of a sheared tree.
This spruce is an ideal inhabitant of the shade, loves moist soil, but drainage does not hinder it. Remembering her slow growth, do not place anything tall next to it, otherwise it will clog the conic.
Excellent Canadian spruce will look in a single landing, if around lay agrofibre and sprinkle with small decorative pebbles. It can also go well with low junipers.
Fern - Forest Guest
Some dream to grow fern in their area. However, he does not take root anywhere, except in low-light areas. If you are considering what plants to plant in the shade, feel free to choose it - a forest handsome.
Among shade-loving plants, fern is a champion for survival in conditions of lack of light. But he not only survives there, but also arranges wonderful lush thickets of pale green color. It is appreciated for the unwinding leaves (vai), which have a beautiful carved structure.
You can choose for a long time what to plant in the deep shadow behind the house, but if you prefer a fern, you will not lose.
Ivy - evergreen lace
Ivy - evergreens from the Aralian family, numbering many varieties. Only frost-resistant species that can survive in winter are of interest to our territories.
Ivy is valued for its evergreen wax leaves of various colors: from dark greens to colorful varieties.
If you have an empty, dimly lit place near the fence or you don’t know what to plant in the shade behind the house, then at the first opportunity get this plant. Ivy is used to refine hedges and as a groundcover. They will also be a salvation for shady segments of the Alpine hills: ivy falling from stones gives a wild, mysterious appearance.
Daylily - a flower for the lazy
If we talk about daylily, then, like all blooming, he prefers sunny places, but calmly withstands the shadow. This is a plant with thin long leaves that gather at the root, and with a flower on a long stem. The flowers are quite decorative and bloom even in strong shade, but the pedicels will be very long. Daylily grows with tremendous speed, so in a short time you can get a dense clearing.
Daylily is called a flower for the lazy: ordinary orange and yellow varieties really require absolutely no care. More demanding species have great decorative value. Light varieties are not suitable for planting in a dull shade. You need to choose darker views.
Cotoneaster - wild prince
Cotoneaster - very unpretentious plants, which, in addition to dense, fine, shiny foliage, fascinate with small bright red berries. Berries stay on the branch for so long that the impression of an ever-bearing fruit bush is created.
There are a lot of species of cotoneaster: from tall bushes to ground cover. Cotoneaster cotoneaster, which occupies large areas in a very short time, deserves special attention for shade. For the slopes of an alpine hill and rockery, this is the best option.
For compositions with stones, the shadow side of the house is suitable. What to plant in the shade among the stones is no longer a problem. Of course, cotoneaster, forming wild rampant thickets hanging from a stone or curling between them. The effect is amazing, given that stones, like cotoneaster, do not need bright sunshine.
Unexpected bonuses of the shadow area
In the shadow areas there is a plus - they are often very wet. Even in the scorching heat, these zones retain life-giving moisture, almost never drying out. In such places, there may be plants that die in other areas. But this is not all the benefits of the shadow.
Plants can be replanted only in spring and autumn, as they do not take root with a lack of moisture. But in the deep shadow you have the opportunity to arrange transplants throughout the summer!
So, we told you about what to plant in the shade behind the house. Flowers, shrubs or groundcover - you choose. But annuals for shade are very few, it is better to choose perennials: planted and forgot.
Now you will have no problems in choosing what to plant in the shade behind the house.