Skip to content

Top Navigation

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Food and Recipes
  • Culture and Lifestyle
  • Style
  • Holidays & Occasions
  • Home
  • Gardening Ideas
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Southern Living

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The Best New Haircuts to Try in 2022

      The Best New Haircuts to Try in 2022

      Here are the haircuts you'll be seeing everywhere this year. Read More
    • How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      Learn how to season this Southern kitchen staple in five easy steps. Read More
    • 50 Thoughtful Messages for a Meaningful Thank You Note

      50 Thoughtful Messages for a Meaningful Thank You Note

      Not sure what to write in a thank you card? Here's how to show your gratitude with a handwritten note. Read More
  • Food and Recipes

    Food and Recipes

    See All Food and Recipes
    4 Easy Ways to Tell if an Egg Has Gone Bad

    4 Easy Ways to Tell if an Egg Has Gone Bad

    It’s not all in the senses, but they sure can help.
    • Recipes
    • Quick and Easy Dinner
    • Kitchen Assistant
    • Casserole
    • Holiday and Occasion Food
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • Desserts
    • Healthy and Light
    • Side Dishes
    • Party Food and Drink
    • Appetizers
    • Meat
    • Breakfast
    • BBQ
    • Drinks
    • What's Cooking
  • Culture and Lifestyle

    Culture and Lifestyle

    See All Culture and Lifestyle
    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    Let your besties know how much they mean to you with these unique nicknames.
    • Quotes and Sayings
    • Biscuits and Jam Podcast
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Healthy Living
    • Coastal Living
  • Style

    Style

    See All Style
    The Coziest Winter Nail Colors for January 2022

    The Coziest Winter Nail Colors for January 2022

    The beginning of a new year often has us all feeling like starting off fresh by taking on better habits, getting rid of old ones, and—most commonly—changing up our look. While others are hitting the squats and going into the salon for a pixie cut, why not start slow and steady with a cozy winter manicure in a color that feels new to you? It takes only a little courage to step outside your usual OPI Lincoln Park After Dark or Essie Bordeaux, which is all you need to kick 2022 off on a fanciful foot.  From new wintry takes on classic dark nail colors to unique pops of color that'll have you feeling the opposite of boring, these are the best nail colors to try this January and tick off all the way into spring. 
    • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Fashion
    • Short Hairstyles
    • Nails
    • Medium Hairstyles
    • Skincare
    • Long Hairstyles
  • Holidays & Occasions

    Holidays & Occasions

    See All Holidays & Occasions
    • Thanksgiving
    • Gifts
    • Christmas
    • Mother's Day
    • Hanukkah
    • New Year's
    • Easter
    • Mardi Gras
    • 4th of July
    • Weddings
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022

    16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022

    There's no denying how the pandemic fundamentally changed the world—including how we live (and work) inside our homes. An overall trend toward celebrating the history and originality of our homes is displacing ultramodern aesthetics and sharp lines as we all look to create cozier, colorful, more personalized spaces that better suit our lifestyles. We're turning away from big-box stores and toward vintage items—first, out of necessity due to supply-chain issues, and now, for design reasons—to add charm and character to every room in the house, including the kitchen. Here, interior designers from around the South share their predictions for what's trending in kitchen design for 2022 and beyond.
    • Home Decor Ideas
    • Idea Houses
    • Kitchen Design
    • Before & After Photos
    • Bathroom Design
    • Curb Appeal
    • Bedroom Design
    • DIY Home Decor
    • Color Palettes & Paint
    • House Plans & Builders
    • Inspired Communities
  • Gardening Ideas

    Gardening Ideas

    See All Gardening Ideas
    If You Keep Finding Ladybugs in Your House, Here's What You Need to Know

    If You Keep Finding Ladybugs in Your House, Here's What You Need to Know

    Plus a few strategies for keeping them out-of-doors
    • Container Gardening
    • Gardening Flowers
    • Fruit, Vegetable & Herb Gardens
    • Garden Pests
    • Plant Guides A-Z
    • Indoor Plants
    • Fall Plants
    • Landscaping Ideas
    • The Grumpy Gardener
  • News

    News

    See All News
    • Celebrities
    • Local News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Southern Living
  2. Gardening Ideas
  3. 7 Tips for Planting a Great Garden in the Shade

7 Tips for Planting a Great Garden in the Shade

Steve Bender, The Grumpy Gardener
By Steve Bender
Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.
Skip gallery slides
FB
Make Focal Points with Flowerpots
Credit: Robbie Caponetto
Beautiful gardens seldom arise in places that nice plants hate. So you can understand my surprise upon discovering Robyn Griffith Brown's wondrous garden sanctuary in Fairview, Tennessee. Flowering shrubs, luminous perennials, creeping ground covers, graceful grasses, and stoic evergreens occupy the spaces between winding paths that traverse her backyard. Twenty years after she began planting, it seems inconceivable that she actually picked a terrible place to garden.Shade thrown down by tall hickories and oaks precluded sun-loving plants. Tree roots sucked up every drop of soil moisture during Tennessee's droughty summers and falls, plus the leaves blocked any brief showers from wetting the ground. Add to that evil soil made of chert—basically clay and rock—and it's easy to see why Brown may have been tempted to give up in the early years.Three things helped. First, as manager of Nashville's well-known Moore & Moore Garden Center, she had access to an array of plants with which to experiment. Second, as an experienced photo stylist and designer, she knew which plants looked good together, what made great focal points, and how to guide the eye along a path to a surprise. Third, she learned from reading the widely praised book The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust that a garden is only as good as its soil and the plants you choose. Brown shares some tried-and-true tips that will help you surmount a similar challenge.
Start Slideshow

1 of 7

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Forget About Doing Everything at Once

Forget About Doing Everything at Once
Credit: Robbie Caponetto

You'll be overwhelmed and probably quit. Brown's garden is a series of areas developed over two decades. It began as a large burn pit in the middle of the backyard into which she tossed a handful of cleome seeds. She added a new area every two to three years.

1 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 7

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Tend to the Soil Before Planting

"I remember using a pickax to dig the holes when I planted my first laurels," she says. Wisely, she tilled in copious amounts of organic matter (about 2 inches each of mushroom compost and soil conditioner) to loosen it and improve both drainage and water
Credit: Robbie Caponetto

"I remember using a pickax to dig the holes when I planted my first laurels," she says. Wisely, she tilled in copious amounts of organic matter (about 2 inches each of mushroom compost and soil conditioner) to loosen it and improve both drainage and water-holding capacity. "Put your money into soil first," she advises. "It will save you grief later."

2 of 7

3 of 7

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Pick Foliage Over Flowers in a Shade Garden

Pick Foliage Over Flowers in a Shade Garden
Credit: Robbie Caponetto

Green leaves can add color, too, but the key is combining different shapes, sizes, and textures. Nashville landscape architect Duncan Callicott gave Brown a tip she now suggests to others—take a black-and-white photo of your garden (you can adjust a color image on your smartphone or computer) to reveal where plant combos are working and where they aren't. "If you don't have enough bold foliage, the picture will appear fuzzy," she explains. "Too much bold foliage will make it look flat." Plant thickly to leave fewer empty spots for weeds to grow.

3 of 7

Advertisement

4 of 7

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Move Plants Around as You Wish

Move Plants Around as You Wish
Credit: Robbie Caponetto

"If I have a hole in a border and don't know exactly what to plant there, I'll fill it with a container for one season," she says. She might actually end up moving it two or three times until it finds a permanent home. In the pot above, the big, bold leaves of African mask (Alocasia amazonica) mix well with dainty Southern maidenhair fern.

4 of 7

5 of 7

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Make Focal Points with Flowerpots

Make Focal Points with Flowerpots
Credit: Robbie Caponetto

Containers inject color—either by themselves or with what's planted in them. Plus, they add height, increasing the impact of what they hold. Pots also protect vole-prone perennials, such as hostas, from attack.

5 of 7

6 of 7

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Consider These Picks for Dry Shade

Consider These Picks for Dry Shade
Credit: Robbie Caponetto

Shrubs: oakleaf hydrangea, smooth hydrangea, boxwood, plum yew, and yew
Perennials: hellebore, crested iris, epimedium, Solomon's seal, and Christmas fern

6 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 7

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Don't Waste Time on Whimps

Don't Waste Time on Whimps
Credit: Robbie Caponetto

Brown believes in choosing the right plant (native or non-native) for the right spot. Anything in the ground must be able to survive with a single soaking a week from an oscillating sprinkler. If it doesn't, she replaces it with something tougher.

Pictured, ferns, perennials, ground covers, and oakleaf hydrangeas slowly reveal a birdbath as you round the bend.

7 of 7

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Steve Bender

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 7 Forget About Doing Everything at Once
    2 of 7 Tend to the Soil Before Planting
    3 of 7 Pick Foliage Over Flowers in a Shade Garden
    4 of 7 Move Plants Around as You Wish
    5 of 7 Make Focal Points with Flowerpots
    6 of 7 Consider These Picks for Dry Shade
    7 of 7 Don't Waste Time on Whimps

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print
    Southern Living

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Books from Southern Living
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    MeredithSouthern Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. Southern Living is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab All Rights Reserved. Southern Living may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Southern Living. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.southernliving.com

    Sign in

    View image

    7 Tips for Planting a Great Garden in the Shade
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.