Shady Front Yard Design Ideas

Turf

• One of the biggest landscape challenges for shady yards is growing grass. Although there are shade-tolerant turf grasses, tolerance does not mean that grasses will thrive in dense shade. One principle of xeriscaping, or the efficient use of water in the landscape, is to eliminate grassy areas and replace them with mulch. Mulch can stand alone or form a cover for flowerbeds or shrub plantings. Another design idea is to plant groundcovers instead of grass. Bungleweed (Ajuga repetans) is one of the best groundcovers for heavy shade, according to the Denton County master gardener website.

Trees

• Shady front yards usually have established trees and shrubs, which form the framework for other landscape plants. If you want to feature a focal-point specimen tree, many Japanese maples can be grown in large pots and placed at or near a home’s entrance. Orantum (Acer palmatum) is a shade-tolerant cultivar that grows well in containers. The University of Florida IFAS Extension’s website suggests lighting this tree at night to display its gray multi-trunked weeping form.

Shrubs

• Tall camellias can be planted as vertical interest at one front corner of your house with shorter shrubs, such as hydrangeas or azaleas, in front. Shrubs with foliage interest to anchor flower beds are grape leaf holly (native mahonia), and Gold Dust (aucuba), which has yellow flecks on dark-green foliage. American holly (Ilex opaca) can grow in shade as an evergreen understory plant. Female plants produce bright red berries in winter for Christmas decorating or for attracting birds to the winter landscape.

Flowers

• Annual flowers, such as impatiens and torenia, lend color to brighten shady landscapes. Coral bells (Heuchera), and foam flower (tiarella), are mound-forming perennials that hold tall flower stems above pretty foliage. Hostas are reliable mainstays of the shade garden that are generally grown for their foliage, although they produce tall spikes with bell-shaped flowers in summer that attract hummingbirds. Used as foundation plantings, border plants or container specimens, hostas come in a variety of foliage shapes, sizes and colors.