Eric Lind Real Estate

Tips for Landscapes in the Shade

While everyone appreciates a shady spot in the summer heat, I find that many clients who come to Steven Vandora and Associates for landscaping help do express some frustration with shade gardens. Some clients mistakenly assume that all flowers that flourish in the shade are “just green and boring” as one of my clients expressed it. Other clients worry about shade gardens being too dank and depressing. None of these issues have to be a problem. A shade garden can be a wonderful spot and you can easily create a soothing outdoor retreat in the shade with these tips:

1) Choose shade-loving plants for color and texture. When a client with a shady garden approaches Steven Vandora and Associates, I suggest a mix of colorful shade-loving plants and plants for texture. I love Lilies of the valley for shady areas, because these flowers are hardy and smell wonderful. Cyclamen, Geraniums, Daylilies, Astilbes, and Hydrangeas can all add color. For texture, I love the look of ferns. When planting shade-loving plants under a tree, though, do keep in mind that soil under trees is hard and lacks nutrients when compared to soil elsewhere in your garden. Offer your trees a nutrient-rich topsoil and fertilizer, especially when they are first planted.

2) Consider rocks. If you don’t want to put in the effort fertilizing and nurturing plants growing under trees in your garden, consider creating a bed made from rocks, pinecones or mulch. This can look very pretty and dramatic and requires little to no maintenance at all. I’ve seen clients create very pretty gardens using ground coverings of colorful stones and even seashells, so don’t be afraid to get creative.

3) Add features. A shady spot is the perfect place for a garden feature, so if you don’t want to add lots of shade-loving plants to your garden you can still create a wonderful eye-catching landscape with features. In the summer, a bench under a tree provides the perfect place for a good read. Birth baths and water features look wonderful in the shade and birds are often attracted to shady spots anyway. Statues can look dramatic in the shade and creating an arch, arbor, or trellis to mark the entrance to your shade garden can be a dramatic look as well.

4) Go green with moss. I love moss and through Steven Vandora and Associates have helped many clients create rich, plush rock gardens in the shade with moss. I love moss because it adds a rich green color and wonderful velvety texture to stones, bark and other areas with little color. Moss also requires very little maintenance and looks fabulous with soft ferns and a few trees. It’s the perfect way to make your shady garden into a real woodland retreat.