What To Plant In A Shady Garden

Go bush under eucalypts with natives, logs and rocks, and a rustic sculpture.

SHRUBS such as correas attract honeyeaters, and Hardenbergia ‘Bushy Blue’ flowers during winter and spring.

BANKSIA ‘Roller Coaster’ and ‘Cherry Candles’ are striking groundcovers.

PERENNIALS like brachysome have daisy-like flowers, and fan flower, or Scaevola, is good for dry spots.

GRASSY PLANTS like lomandra look great in drifts while dianellas have pretty blue flowers and purple berries.

Generally, fruiting plants need sun to ripen, but those grown for their leaves and roots will tolerate shade.

SPINACH and silverbeet will both perform well in part shade.

LETTUCE prefers part shade with the morning sun only.

ROOT VEGIES such as potatoes, radishes, carrots and beets grow in part shade but mature more slowly.

CULINARY HERBS like chives, mint, thyme and parsley all do well in part shade. Mint likes morning sun.

In apartments, all gardening is done in pots and the conditions are usually part to full shade. But the plants can be moved about to take advantage of sunny spots.

BONSAI need protected positions, as their small pots tend to dry out.

CYLCAMENS provide constant winter colour. Feed and deadhead regularly.

DAPHNE ODORA has fragrant, late winter flowers and likes morning sun.

ROCK LILY is a native orchid with beautiful shiny green leaves and wonderfully fragrant flowers.

These areas are usually found right next to big trees. For these challenging places to garden, choose robust types that look lush but need little water.

BROMELIADS come in a variety of different leaf colours.

PLECTRANTHUS has eye-catching leaves and flowers in the autumn.

HOLLY FERN has glossy green fronds and can be planted as a groundcover.

ASPIDISTRA or cast iron plant, as it is known, has hardy attractive leaves.

HENS AND CHICKS are shade-tolerant, rosette-shaped succulents.

For very shady yards or south-facing passages, try a mini jungle look with canopy, filler and groundcover plants.

BANGALOW PALMS and native frangipanis are ideal canopy plants, with cordylines as a palm alternative in a small backyard.

AZALEA and Fatsia japonica shrubs are great fillers. Use bird’s nest fern on tree branches and Canna ‘Tropicanna’ for a lush understorey.

MONDO GRASS, variegated liriopes and kaffir lilies are verdant and make ideal groundcovers.

Shady gardens have very different maintenance needs to sunny spaces. Most plants grow more slowly, so pruning and weeding is easier. Here’s how you can help your shady backyard thrive.

MULCH planted areas under established trees with compost and manure, then top with a thick layer of organic mulch to provide nutrients and trap water.

FEED plants with a seaweed foliar liquid spray directly on the leaves so the trees can’t steal the goodness.

REMOVE any bark, small branches, sticks and fallen leaves smothering plants and return them to the garden as mulch or compost.

CHOOSE hardy plants with low water needs and a tolerance for shade, such as orchids, bromeliads and succulents.

BUILD up beds over tree roots to 150mm deep and use bark mixes.

USE root barriers near big trees to help plantings establish. The barriers must not interfere with major tree roots and should extend above the ground.

PLANT in pots under trees where it is difficult to dig into the roots.

PRUNE established trees carefully to let more light through to the ground. As a general rule, don’t prune more than one-third of the canopy of a tree at any one time.