Landscape Designs & Shade Plants

Types of Shade

• According to Rosalie Davis, author of "Taylor's Guide to Shade Gardening," there are three types of shades. Full shade is a planting area with significant shade almost all day. Part shade, also known as half-shade, has both full shade and full sun: for example, sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. The third type is light shade, also known as dappled shade. The sun's presence is felt all day, but is filtered through nearby trees.

Design

• Landscape designer and horticulturist David Berle recommends that a copy of the site plan be used to designate shade areas for planting. These areas should be marked and labeled with the type of shade. The sun should be studied as it moves from east to west over the design site to determine the shade. The site plan's shade areas should be marked with the hours of sun and labeled full, part or light shade.

Perennials

• There are fewer perennials available for shade than for sun gardens, and colorful plants are harder to find. Horticulturist and garden designer Susan Wilson Hamilton names the 10 top shade perennials: for full shade, the list includes ferns, hostas and foam flower; for part shade, daylillies, coral bells, columbines, American alum roots, lobelia and lady's mantle; for light shade, Hamilton lists rudbeckia among the top 10.

Annuals

• Annuals bring color to the shade gardens, an element not otherwise easy to find. Begonia, impatiens, caladium and coleus are among Susan Hamilton's top 10 annuals for full-shade areas. Ageratums, petunias, periwinkles and dahlias are among the plants for the part-shade garden. Other annuals requiring part shade include German camomile, annual fountain grass, annual phlox and scarlet sage. Another full-shade annual is blue torenia. Chilean monkey-flower and woodland forget-me-not do well in light shade.