Shade Gardening
May 30, 2009 1:43:41 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 30, 2009 1:43:41 GMT
More than half of my garden is in some kind of shade which is fine by me. I fought with a neighbor (actually a slumlord of sorts) over some "trash trees" that he let proliferate shading out the one section I had some sun to grow citrus,herbs,vegetables and some cut flowers. An area of full sun is desirable to me only for those reasons.I do have a small area with a few succulents and other related small sun lovers.
Hurricane Katrina took care of that small problem (trees and slumlord) and then some. All the aforementioned trash trees blew down all over my garden taking my fences with them. Anyway,I digress.
I then had not only my area of sun back,I also acquired some areas of half sun in which to grow some specimens of other plants I had access to but no where to put.
In shade gardening there are really 2 major categories and many get confused because nurseries and garden centers will place plants classified as shade plants into all one area.Oft times it's difficult to consult with someone working these places because many of them really aren't qualified to dispense the right info.(Just because one "loves" plants and works at a nursery does not qualify. Also,the pay is usually really poor).
The 2 categories fall into plants for FULL shade or DENSE shade and plants for HALF shade,PARTIAL shade,SEMI shade,and LIGHT shade.
It's important to consult and plant in the correct light to allow the plant to really flourish. It gets tricky with shade gardening because what looks ok can look really,really good with just the right adjustment. I've seen Calla lilies and Hostas in dense shade and then half shade. The tiniest adjustment can make all the difference in allowing optimum performance in a plant. Sometimes the removal of one branch of a tree will make a dramatic difference.
Of course different times of the year play a huge part as well ,but most gardeners figure this out fairly quickly especially if you're investing a lot of time and money.
Tomorrow I will post some pictures of my favorite shade plants from shrubs(native and exotic),perennials,bulbs,vines,all that.
Hurricane Katrina took care of that small problem (trees and slumlord) and then some. All the aforementioned trash trees blew down all over my garden taking my fences with them. Anyway,I digress.
I then had not only my area of sun back,I also acquired some areas of half sun in which to grow some specimens of other plants I had access to but no where to put.
In shade gardening there are really 2 major categories and many get confused because nurseries and garden centers will place plants classified as shade plants into all one area.Oft times it's difficult to consult with someone working these places because many of them really aren't qualified to dispense the right info.(Just because one "loves" plants and works at a nursery does not qualify. Also,the pay is usually really poor).
The 2 categories fall into plants for FULL shade or DENSE shade and plants for HALF shade,PARTIAL shade,SEMI shade,and LIGHT shade.
It's important to consult and plant in the correct light to allow the plant to really flourish. It gets tricky with shade gardening because what looks ok can look really,really good with just the right adjustment. I've seen Calla lilies and Hostas in dense shade and then half shade. The tiniest adjustment can make all the difference in allowing optimum performance in a plant. Sometimes the removal of one branch of a tree will make a dramatic difference.
Of course different times of the year play a huge part as well ,but most gardeners figure this out fairly quickly especially if you're investing a lot of time and money.
Tomorrow I will post some pictures of my favorite shade plants from shrubs(native and exotic),perennials,bulbs,vines,all that.