Shrubs to Plant in a Shady Area

Shade Types

• Shade is not all the same. Full shade never sees the sun. Partial shade may get sun for a short time or get it indirectly. Medium shade is often found on exposures that face north, getting steady indirect light. When considering shrubs, avoid the types that need some sun if filling a fully shaded area. Most shrubs like at least a little sunlight. Yew is the shrub that can tolerate the deepest shade.

Color in the Shade

• You don't have to do without color when putting shrubs in shady spots. There are many flowering types. Common witch hazel, or Hamamelis virginiana, gives you yellow flowers in the fall. Snowberry, in the Symphoricarpos genus, has fruit that shows white, pink, or purple. Pagoda dogwood, or Cornus alternifolia, is 15 to 25 feet tall and blossoms yellow and white.

Hedging and Bordering

• Some shrubs lend themselves to use for hedging and bordering. Five-leaf aralia, or Acanthopanax sieboldianus, makes a barrier fence with its prickly stems that can keep out intruder animals like raccoons. Mentor barberry, or Berberis x mentorensis, also has thorny stems to make a barrier hedge. Both of these shrubs grow as high as 6 feet.

Specialists

• Another advantage of the yew shrub is that it lends itself to pruning, making it possible to have topiary or interesting curves in the shade. Black jetbead, or Rhodotypos scandens, grows to about 6 feet tall, and is highly durable and hardy in the cold. Japanese kerria, or Kerria japonica, is a shrub you can use as an arch and it shows yellow in June. For a low, spreading shrub, Russian cypress, or Microbiota decussata, is a good choice.