2
Gazebo or Belvedere
Pergola or Arbor
Summer/Garden House
Lath House
Casino or Roman Summer House Ramada
“The garden of the future
will be a shade garden,
for all kinds of reasons –
fiscal, historical, and
most of all,
environmental."
– Ken Druse
The Natural Shade Garden
covered completely, perhaps by a
deck or next to a north wall in an
urban setting, you have “dense
shade."
Other terms may be used by
different resources, but they will
represent similar characteristics.
Your geographic location will also
have some effect, since light is
more intense as you get closer to
the equator.
It is important to study your
garden location throughout the
day, and during different times of
the year, and make notes on what
light conditions are present. For
instance, you may have “partial
shade" in the early spring, before
deciduous trees leaf out, and only
“dappled light" in the summer.
A site near a building may be in
“light shade" at certain times of
the year, but have “partial shade"
when the sun is higher in the sky.
Sometimes you can add
reflected light by planting near a
light-colored wall or fence. If you
match your lighting conditions to
the plants that you choose, you
can enjoy color and variety – even
in a garden with limited exposure
to sunlight.
Most commonly, shady
conditions in a garden are the
result of tree cover. Just as there
are different kinds of shade to
consider, there are also different
types of tree canopies, and they
affect the amount of light that
reaches the ground.
This is especially important to
consider when you want to
cr
eate
a shade garden by planting trees.
The amount of cover will also
affect the temperature and
amount of moisture in the soil,
which again will influence the
plants that you choose.
Those trees with leaves that are
close together and grow in a single
layer towards the outside of the
tree crown are called
“monolayered." This would include
species such as beech, maple, oak,
and hickory, and each branch will
create a lot of shade.
More sun will reach the ground
when the trees are “multilayered,"
with smaller leaves arranged in
layers moving out from the trunk,
such as you find with elm, walnut,
and hackberry.
The shape of the crown, the
spacing of the trees, and whether
or not they are deciduous, will also
affect the type and amount of
shade.
If there are dead trees in the
area, try to leave them in place
because they are valuable sources
of food and cover for many birds
and animals, and they will enrich
the soil as they decay.
To create a new grove, you may
be able to transplant seedling
trees from more crowded
conditions elsewhere on your
property. For fastest results,
choose those that grow quickly
and have straight trunks, such as
ash, tulip tree, and hackberry.
When possible, avoid trees with
shallow root systems, like maple,
sweet gum, willow, poplar, and
birch. Their surface roots will make
planting other things more
difficult later on, and they will rob
nearby plants of needed moisture.
If you have decided to create or
manage an existing woodland area,
it’s a good idea to remove invasive
species before starting to plant.
Leave some saplings of the tree
species that you like, because they
will then be ready to replace the
larger trees if they succumb to
age or disease.
You can also design a shade
garden by planting in the shadow
of an existing building, or creating
structures such as arbors which
can be covered with vines or
shadecloth. Since you won’t have
tree roots to worry about,
amending the soil and planting in
such conditions will be easier than
in a wooded area.
Shade Structures
