How to Create a Perennial Shade Garden

List all the characteristics of your shady bed, including how many hours of sun it gets per day, whether the shade is dense or light, what kind of soil it has, whether there are competing tree roots, how much natural rainfall it receives, how much watering you plan on administering and how much these factors change over the course of a year.

List the kinds of perennials you might plant in your shady bed, researching the options for flowering plants, foliage plants, bulbs and groundcovers. If possible, look at them growing in public gardens or in nurseries and list your favorites.

Choose five to 10 types of perennials whose needs match the characteristics of your gardens. For instance, astilbes like shade but need constantly moist soil. If your shady spot is beneath a tree with thirsty roots or has extra sandy soil, choose something else, perhaps the drought-tolerant epimedium.

Spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of peat moss, compost, bagged manure or other organic matter over the surface of your bed and, using a shovel, mix it into the soil beneath. Water well.

Buy your perennial starts and arrange the plants around the bed. Use groups of three to five small plants of the same type whenever possible, spaced the recommended distance apart. Remove starts from their containers, spread the roots slightly, place in a hole and firm the soil around the roots. Mulch with about 1/2 inch of pine needles, ground bark, straw or other mulch. Water well.

Keep your new plants evenly moist, watering again when the soil beneath the mulch dries out slightly. Even drought-tolerant plants need regular water the first few years to get established well.