Now that April has departed like a lamb and shipments of plants are flooding the nurseries and garden centers on a daily basis, gardeners can be seen wandering the aisles, looking wistfully at the colorful array of flowers and shrubs while softly muttering under their breath, “If only I didn’t have so much shade!” And it is odd that gardeners, who are, by and large, pretty plain spoken folk and eager to call a spade a spade, seem to develop a Victorian sensibility and reticence when mentioning their shaded or shady gardens, akin to glossing over great aunt Maude’s fondness for dandelion wine as “her little problem”, without detailing the lurid specifics. Shade, like the third glass of dandelion wine, can only be a subject for rolled eyes and pursed lips. And it is not just the amateur gardener who is loathe to talk about shade in polite company; even the best gardening books will often provide a meager paragraph or two about evaluating shade, coupled with page-long lists of “shade tolerant” plants. Shade has such a negative connotation for the gardener, yet Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines it in an almost lyrical phrase as “a shelter from the heat and glare of sunlight.” Rather than just baldly stating that we have a shady yard and using this as an excuse to limit our gardening, we should recognize that shade is produced in diverse ways and that there are plants which thrive under a wide variety of shady conditions.
Shade, as the mathematicians might tell us, is a dependent variable. It is described as light, dappled, medium, or dense; chocolate chip cookies are dappled and devil’s food cake is dense. The degree of shade is also dependent on the season and time of day; the type and placement of structures such as buildings, arbors, and fences; the type, size, and location of trees; soil conditions; moisture; and our ability to modify these elements.
Throughout the course of the year, shady conditions will vary tremendously in the garden. From late fall into springtime, the days are shorter and the angle of the sun striking the earth is relatively low. Flower beds adjacent to arbors, fences, and buildings can be in dense shade during this time, only to become partially or fully sunny by mid-summer. Both sunny and shady beds adjacent to man-made structures frequently have poor, compacted soil created during the construction process. The area Texas Cooperative Extension, whose telephone number is (806) 775-1680, can give advice on soil testing and recommend any necessary amendments to improve tilth and fertility. Seasonally shaded beds next to a house, garage, or shed usually do not contain large trees competing for water and nutrients, and with the use of soaker hoses or drip irrigation and a layer of organic mulch, a large selection of plants will thrive in dense shade.
Shade under the canopy of trees is the most variable and presents the most challenges to the gardener. Unlike a man-made structure which either casts shade or doesn’t depending on the season and time of day, trees begin small and grow large; their shapes vary from columnar to broadly spreading, much like Jack Spratt and his missus; they may or may not shed their leaves; the pattern of their branch structure and size of their leaves can create shade that ranges from lightly dappled to dense, always depending on season and time of day. But for all this, it isn’t just the shade the gardener must contend with; trees require water and nutrients sufficient for their size, their leaves are frequently so dense that the ground below does not benefit from rainfall, the use of treated water over time causes chemical salts to build up in the soil, which can further reduce the available nutrients for under-tree plantings; tree roots close to the surface make soil amendment difficult; and fallen leaves can compress, harboring insects and plant diseases.
Given all this, the dictionary definition seems so at variance with reality that there may be the temptation to roll our eyes heavenward, purse our lips, and abandon all thoughts of gardening under trees, without considering their sheltering and aesthetic contributions. For trees provide micro-climates where plants are protected from strong winds, evaporation of soil moisture is slowed, and the soil is slower to warm up, allowing those plants which need a cool root run to thrive. Trees in a flat terrain turn a garden into a three dimensional space by adding height and depth, and their ability to create ever-changing dappled shade adds movement and spontaneity to the garden.
So, if we will only commit to the effort, there are steps we can take. Trees can be thinned to decrease the density of the shade and allow more rainfall to reach the ground; the canopy of many trees can be raised to increase the amount of available light, particularly in the morning and late afternoon when the sun is lower on the horizon. These measures are best done over a period of time, and only by a trained arborist or the most experienced gardener.
It is difficult to mechanically till in soil amendments under trees because of their surface roots. However, as my trees have grown larger and the beds have become shadier, I have experimented with a number of techniques, and found one that seems to work well. When I am ready to put a new plant in the ground, I dig as big a hole as possible between the major roots and mix compost, well-rotted manure and moistened peat moss with the dirt I have removed, gently loosen the roots if the plant shows signs of being pot-bound, set the plant in the hole, fill around the plant with the amended soil, and water well. I don’t measure these ingredients precisely, but stir everything together until it has a nice firm but crumbly feel (make a ball and it should hold together; lay the ball down and it should fall apart when you hit it gently with your fist).
In a planted bed, most of the fallen leaves can be removed with a flexible bamboo rake in late fall and added to the compost pile. I run the leaves through my chipper/shredder so they will decompose faster. After the leaves are raked, I top dress the soil with an inch of composed cotton burrs, which begin to break down during the winter, and by spring everything is off to a good start. I also use soaker hoses which I run on low pressure overnight and these are covered by the cotton burr compost. I do not use pesticides; with the denser and more compacted soil and the presence of tree roots, earthworms are so beneficial in improving the quality of the soil, and I rejoice in their presence.
It may be that the tree cannot be thinned or the canopy lifted; where the roots are so large and near the surface that the soil cannot be amended. Under these circumstances it is still possible to have a very attractive, and it must be confessed, less labor-intensive shade garden by laying irregularly shaped pavers or flagstones under the tree and adding colorful pots of greenery or flowers, and perhaps a seating arrangement, and even a small fountain. To further enhance the setting, the gardener can fill the spaces between the stones with a sandy loam and plant one of the creeping groundcovers such as wooly thyme, which can be walked on and has a lovely fragrance.
Once you have done all this, pretend you are a plant and sit in the shade of a tree in the heat of the mid-day sun. Notice how moist the air is and how cool the soil; how soft the breeze; how fresh and concentrated the scent of growing things. And, as you sit sheltered from the heat and glare of sunlight, maybe even dust off a bottle of dandelion wine and drink a toast to great aunt Maude!