What is the difference between part shade and full shade?

Part shade is roughly three to six hours of direct sun a day, often morning sun. Full shade is under three hours, with the rest bright or dappled light. Deep shade, such as under evergreens or between buildings, gets almost no direct sun and suits only the toughest plants.

What grows under a tree where nothing grows?

Dry shade under trees is the hardest spot in a garden. Bigroot geranium, Pennsylvania sedge, epimedium-style groundcovers, Allegheny spurge and Christmas fern are among the most reliable. Plant them small, water through the first season and mulch with shredded leaves.

Do shade plants flower?

Many do, though shade gardens lean on leaf color and texture more than flowers. Lenten rose, bleeding heart, brunnera, foamflower and lungwort all flower well in part to full shade, mostly in spring.

Can I add soil under a tree to plant a bed?

Only a little. Piling more than an inch or two of soil over a tree's roots can starve them of air and harm the tree. Plant small plants into pockets between roots and top-dress with mulch instead.

Shade Garden Plants: What Grows in Part Shade, Full Shade and Under Trees

Shade is not a problem to fix; it's a different kind of garden. The mistake most people make is treating every shady spot the same. A bed that gets the morning sun until eleven and a strip under a mature maple are almost different climates. Work out which kind of shade you have and the plant choices get much easier.

Work out how much light you really have

Watch the spot on a sunny day in summer and note when direct sun touches it.

Part shade: three to six hours of direct sun, ideally in the morning. Many sun plants cope here, and nearly every shade plant thrives.
Full shade: under three hours of direct sun, with bright or dappled light the rest of the day. This is classic woodland-garden light.
Dry shade: shade under trees, where roots take most of the water. The light may be fine; the dryness is the challenge.
Deep shade: almost no direct sun, under evergreens or between buildings. Stick to ferns, sedges and a few evergreen shrubs.

Afternoon sun is much hotter than morning sun. A "part shade" plant that gets sun from 2 to 6 pm may scorch where the same hours in the morning would suit it well.

Plants for part shade

These want some sun but not all day.

Coral bells: leaves in every color from lime to near-black, with airy flower spikes.
Astilbe: feathery plumes in early summer; keep it moist.
Oakleaf hydrangea: a native shrub with white summer flowers and deep red autumn leaves.
Japanese forest grass: soft, cascading grass that lights up a shady edge.
Columbine: red and yellow spring flowers that hummingbirds visit.
Virginia sweetspire: fragrant white flowers in early summer, then red autumn color; copes with wet soil.

Plants for full shade

Hosta: the classic, with endless leaf sizes and colors. Slugs and deer love them, and they're toxic to pets.
Japanese painted fern: silver and burgundy fronds that brighten dark corners.
Brunnera, especially Jack Frost: forget-me-not flowers in spring over heart-shaped silver leaves.
Lenten rose: evergreen leaves and flowers in late winter, when little else blooms.
Bleeding heart: arching stems of heart-shaped spring flowers; dies back by midsummer, so pair it with ferns.
Foamflower: a native groundcover with frothy white spring flowers.
Lungwort: spotted leaves and pink-to-blue flowers in early spring.
Ostrich fern: tall, vase-shaped fronds for moist, cool shade.

Plants for dry shade under trees

Bigroot geranium: probably the toughest flowering groundcover for dry shade, with scented leaves.
Pennsylvania sedge: a fine, low native sedge that can replace thin grass under trees.
Christmas fern: an evergreen native fern that tolerates dry soil once settled.
Allegheny spurge: the native cousin of Japanese pachysandra, which is invasive in parts of the US.
Creeping woodland phlox: a low native carpet with blue or pink spring flowers.
Sweet box: a compact evergreen shrub with tiny, intensely fragrant winter flowers.

Shrubs that give shade gardens structure

Shade gardens can look flat without some height and winter shape. Mountain laurel and camellia (zones 7-9) are evergreen and flower in shade; Japanese aralia gives bold, tropical-looking leaves in mild climates.

Planting under a tree without harming it

Don't build up the soil. More than an inch or two of new soil over the roots can harm the tree.
Plant small. Plugs and 1-quart to 1-gallon pots fit between roots without heavy digging. Never cut roots thicker than your thumb.
Water through the first season. The tree will win any competition for water until the new plants have roots of their own.
Mulch with shredded leaves, which is what woodland plants grow in naturally.

Make shade look intentional

Shade gardens rely on texture and leaf color more than flowers. Repeat a few plants in groups, mix fine (ferns, sedges) with bold (hostas, brunnera), and use pale leaves and white flowers, which glow in low light, where dark purple disappears.

See it in your own yard

In LandscapeGPT, upload a photo of your shady corner, set Light to match it and add your town under "Your garden". The redesign is planted with real plants that suit your zone, and the plant list under the design checks each one.