Growing Great Shade Perennial Gardens
Not only that but the humidity created by overhead plants is balm to the soul on a hot muggy summer's day. My new backyard gardens are almost total shade perennial gardens and I confess I do love them. The wonders of Hosta and Heuchera combined with lots of ferns. I have some Cyclamen in there and some Pinellia as well as smatterings of Asarum, Arum and Arisaema.
First Tip
The first tip is to mimic Mother Nature by mulching your shade perennial gardens quite heavily.
Nobody rakes up the leaves in the bush where these plants grow naturally, so a thick (2 - 3 inch) deep layer of mulch will work miracles for most of these perennial plants.
If the leaves are the kind that tend to mat heavily (maple for example) it is a good idea to chop them up with a lawn mower before blanketing your garden with them. I've done it both ways (chop and no-chop) and while most perennials will do fine with a two inch layer of leaves, there are some like Pulmonaria that resent this blanket.
I have also used straw as a thick mulch in my shade perennial gardens and it did a fine job of holding down weeds while preserving moisture. It just doesn't look as good as leaves or bark chips.
The only problem with bark chips is that they tend not to rot too quickly if they are accidentally dug into the ground while planting or maintaining the garden. Mind you, I hope you are a neater gardener than I am and you won't have this problem.
Second Tip
Water is the key to success when you're trying to garden under large trees. While there are plants that survive under drought conditions, there are few if any plants that thrive in shade and dry.
We can keep our plants alive but they won't flower for us.
As a rule of thumb, a plant in the shade of a tree needs more water applied to the garden than plants out in the full sun. If you need 1.5 inches of water per week in the sun with no tree root competition, you'll require an extra inch in the shade of trees. Add the inch to keep the trees happy *and* grow your plants.
If a plant is in the shade of a house, then this extra bit of water isn't necessary.
Click here to ask a question about shade perennial gardens.
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