Shade Loving Plants to Benefit Your Landscape

You have that dark area in your garden that hardly gets any sun. It might be hiding under the big oak tree in the yard or maybe it's behind your house. It seems kind of hollow doesn’t it? It really doesn't need to be that way. There are many green plants that like low light and can really brighten up your yard. They like the shade and are a little shy but once you get to know them they will make that overlooked spot stand out.

Let's start our exploration of gardens with hostas. These tough plants are perfect for someone who loves to garden in the shade. Hostas have big pretty leaves and they come in different sizes and colors which can really brighten up dull areas in the garden. They don't require much care at all. You can notice the same kind of growth in ferns which are a varied bunch of plants that really like to hang out in shady areas. Ferns have soft leaves that can add a bit of nature to your city garden.

Picture a path that hardly sees any sunlight or an edge that could use some small plants. What are your options? If you need a solution for your garden try using ground cover plants that thrive in the shade such as Sweet Woodruff. Their pretty star-shaped flowers and fragrant leaves will quickly cover up any ugly dirt and help stop erosion while keeping pests away.

If your dark garden could use some color you might want to consider plants like Impatiens and Bleeding Hearts that people really like. The sun doesn't come out often in their world but the bright flowers bring life to the shadows and make everything feel more interesting. These plants need a little extra care compared to regular ones that like shade but the way they look makes it all worthwhile.

Climbing plants like Ivy and Climbing Hydrangea really enjoy the shade and can make a wall or fence look nice and natural. The leaves look like hearts and the white flowers grow in bunches which makes your garden more interesting and shows that plants that like shade can be quite flexible.

While we look into plants that thrive in the shade we should also talk about astilbes. This lovely plant flowers in the summer and shows off pretty feathery blooms that come in white pink and red. Its fern-like leaves stick around for the whole season.

To sum it up a garden with shade can still be lively and interesting. Gardening in the shade can be a bit tricky but there are plenty of lovely plants that thrive in low light so it gives you a chance to be imaginative and change up your yard.