Planting in the shade - plants to use in a shady border
- Charlotte Henderson
- Apr 22, 2025
- 3 min read
One of the areas of the garden that a lot people find hard is a shady border. While the sunny borders seem to get all the colour and glory, the shady garden borders can sometimes feel a bit drab if not planted thoughtfully.
There are so many plants that can be used to give colour, shape and structure to a shady garden bed, however.
It's true that a garden border in the shade can sometimes feel less exuberant or colourful than the sunny side of the garden, but the above image shows that there are plants that will keep it looking lush and interesting throughout the year.
Soil
Before you start work out if your shady garden border has dry or damp soil, as shade plants can be highly specialised.
Foliage and leaf contrast
Flowers are often less profuse or showy with shade plants than they are on the sunny side of the garden.
Look for great foliage plants that are suited to your conditions, instead of a flowers first approach. Keep an eye out for variegated and patterned leaves, lor eaves with creamy edges or central splashes of white, gold or silver cwhich an introduce some lightness to a dark corner.
Wide shiny leaves catch and reflect the limited light, providing an architectural, bold feel.
Airy, textured fronds of things like ferns break up the density and add some lightness to your bed, also creating a lush woodland feel.
Light
'Shade' isn't a single condition. Work out first what level of shade you have:
Light shade (dappled) - the areaas receives filtered sunlight throughout the day - often when it passes through the foliage of trees or large shrubs.
Partial shade (semi shade) - This is an area that receives about 3 to 6 hours of direct sunlight a day, ideally during the cooler morning or late afternoon.
Full shade - This area gets less than 3 hours a day of direct sunlight or none at all.
Other things to consider:
Stagnant air
If your border is shady and damp, and enclosed by solid brick walls or in a courtyard, these environments can trap humidity. Look for plants resistant to fungal issue and keep an eye out for powdery mildew and slugs.
Frost pockets
Because shady areas receive less daytime sun to warm the earth, they will stay colder for longer. Cold, heavy air can sink into low points in the garden and create frost pockets. Some plants can have their foliage ruined by a late frost if planted in low lying shade, so look for perennials that emerge later if the site is prone to lingering frost.
All borders have a lot of different factors to consider together when designing a planting scheme, but it can be difficult to put together plants in a shade border with enough succession and interest to make it stand out. Luckily there are so many lush and beautiful plants that thrive in shade.
Shade borders are the ones people tend to struggle with the most but there are so many gorgeous plants that can bring a shade border to life.
If you have a shade border that is looking and bit dull and would like to inject some life and colour into it, I would love to help. If you would like a shade border planting design in Sevenoaks or surrounding areas, contact me at charlotte@charlottehendersongardendesign.co.uk
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