Planting in shady areas; deep-shade landscaping

Many gardeners find shady areas around their homes difficult to deal with when it comes time for plant selection.  Bucks County, and just about all of Pennsylvania, were once covered by shade-filled forests- so this area is a natural for shade gardening.  We must first distinguish between part-shade and deep-shade before selecting plants that will thrive in truly shady conditions.

Doylestown, PA shade garden

Part-shade conditions include areas that receive less than 6 hours of sun each day.  If an area receives direct sunlight for several hours, the growing conditions permit a large palate of plant material for your use.  As the amount of light decreases, so too does the selection of plant material that will thrive in less light.

Dense, or deep shade, includes areas that receive little or no direct sunlight, as well as little to no indirect or reflected light.  These are the most difficult areas of the garden!  To further complicate matters, one must consider soil moisture; dry-shade is often the most common problem to deal with in residential settings.  Large, mature trees around your home often create a shady desert beneath their canopy.  These are perhaps the most difficult areas to deal with in a landscape setting.  Thinning the canopy of mature trees may help by providing dappled light to the understory, yet the deep shade, dry conditions will return as the trees grow new branches.  The key to a successful shade garden lies in understanding the amount of light available and soil moisture for you plants.

Following is a list of plants that will tolerate and/or thrive in the deep shade of Bucks County, PA

Deep shade: Bleeding Heart, Ferns, Hosta, Arrowwood Viburnum, Sweet Woodruff, Leucothoe, Lamium, Lily-of-the-Valley, Wild Ginger, Mountain Laurel, Leather Leaf Mahonia, Pachysandra, Lungwort, Blood Root, Tiarella, Toad Lily, Trillium,  Japanese Plum Yew, Winter Hazel, Trailing Arbutus, Gaultheria/Wintergreen, Climbing Hydrangea, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and Virginia Bluebells

Deep, dry shade (these plants work well in ‘normal' shady conditions also): Liriope, English Ivy, Epemedium, Kerria, Sweet Box, Cranesbill, Solomon's Seal, Lenten Rose/Hellebore, and Nandina.