Large Shade Plants

Trees

• Plant tall trees with broad canopies to give your outdoor areas plenty of shade. The alder, which grows in wet soils, reaches up to 80 feet in height. The flowering dogwood may reach as high as 40 feet, and grows white or pink flowers through the spring. The evergreen hemlock tree grows in moist to dry soil, and will reach as high as 80 feet. Tall, shade-producing trees help relieve outdoor areas of bright sunlight. Shady garden areas under tall trees are a perfect habitat for many varieties of large, shade-loving plants.

Shrubbery

• Many large shrubs grow well in shady garden areas. The bayberry grows up to 9 feet high even in poor-quality, sandy soil. Coralberry shrubs, which may be as high as 7 feet, are covered with small, white berries. Elderberry shrubs grow well in shaded, moist and wet soils, reaching as high as 8 feet. Saw palmetto bushes have bluish-green, evergreen foliage. The saw palmetto may grow as high as 8 feet, and has high resistance to both cold and salt. Flowering rhododendrons add bright color to shady garden areas. Grow the shrubs in moist soils near your shade trees, where they will provide evergreen foliage and annual flowers.

Flowers and Ferns

• Large flowers add bright color to any shady garden area. Virginia bluebell and Jacob's ladder grow as high as 2 feet, producing colorful blue flowers. Plant American beebalm to enjoy large red flowers on tall, 2-foot stems. American hair fern is well-suited to wooded, shady garden areas. Provide the fern with moist soil and it should grow well, with an average spread of 2 feet.