How To Propagate And Grow
Shade Plants

Shade plants, selected carefully, will give you long glorious flowering displays and just like plants that flourish in full sun they can be propagated and grown just as easy.

Shade in a garden can be created in many ways and in many cases there is not much you can do, if anything, about it to reduce the amount of shade your garden is in.

Fences, hedges, buildings, shrubs and trees will all create shade in your garden. Hedges and shrubs can be reduced in height. Overhanging branches of trees can be removed and the height reduced. This will reduce the amount of shade, but not always eliminate it completely.

And that of course is if the hedges, shrubs and trees can be cut. If they are in your neighbour's garden you can't touch them, your stuck with the shade.

Buildings, walls and fences are usually permanent so you are stuck with the shade they make.

But all is not lost.

There are some plants that will grow in shade, in fact some will actually thrive out of the sun.

But shade gardens can be a problem if you don't choose the right gardening plants. Plants that thrive in full sun will not always do well in shade, in fact they may not survive at all.

So, choosing the right shade plants is essential.

There are different types of shade conditions in a garden, shady and moist and shady and dry.

Shady and moist gardens are less troublesome than shady and dry gardens and there are many gardening plants for this type of situation.

But shady and moist gardens are not without their own problems. On rainy days the ground can become waterlogged with surface puddles appearing and taking forever to drain away.

Slugs and snails love moist and shady gardens, so you will need to take evasive action and protect those venerable plants such as hostas.

Use environmentally friendly methods to keep slugs and snails at bay.

Beer traps, eggshells, sand, grit, copper rings, all will have some effect at keeping slug and snail populations down.

The addition of horticultural grit dug in to the soil will help with drainage.

And when it comes to shady and dry gardens it becomes even harder.

The shade in these conditions is very often caused by overhanging trees, whose roots suck every last drop of moisture out of the ground, leaving none for your plants.

In these conditions the only solution is to add plenty of well-rotted manure or compost, by the barrow load!

You can always, if possible, cut away some of the overhanging branches or reduce the height of the trees creating the shade. It's surprising what a difference this can make.

After you have planted your shade plants a mulch of compost or bark will help retain what little moisture there may be, giving your plants at least a fighting chance.

But don't get all despondent thinking you can't grow very much in a shade garden, you can, there are lots of gardening plants you can choose from that will thrive in these conditions and some will give you years and years of enjoyment.

While others will last just one season.

Even so they will give you a splendid display and probably self-seed at the end of the season giving you free gardening plants!

Use shaded gardens to your advantage, in shady and moist areas create a bog garden, bog plants love to have their roots permanently in moisture.

In shady and dry gardens create a woodland area, these woodland plants have evolved to survive and prosper in these conditions. And many woodland plants will naturalise very quickly, even more free gardening plants!

You don't even need a large area to create a bog garden or a woodland area. An area as small as 3m (10foot) by 1.5m (5foot) can be turned into a beautiful bog garden or a mini woodland area.

So what shade plants can be grown in shaded gardens?

Shady and moist conditions

Astilbe
Hosta
Impatiens
Lysimachia
Tricyrtis
Euphorbia
Tiarella

Shady and dry conditions

Geranium (Cranesbill)
Lythrum
Cyclamen
Helleborus
Colchicum
Scilla
Erythronium
Muscari

These are just a few that are suitable as shade plants, there are loads more that you can grow in shaded spots.

Once established you can propagate them like any other gardening plant and collect seeds, take cuttings or divide, depending on the plant.

How to sow seeds….. read more

How to take cuttings….. read more

If you want any further information on shade plants or how to propagate and grow any of your favourite gardening plants please feel free to contact us

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