Shade Gardens That Shine: Formal and Informal Designs

Two Beautiful Shade Gardens, Two Distinct Styles

Like their sun-loving counterparts, shade gardens can take on formal or informal personalities. In Boulder, Colorado, landscape designer Robert Howard created a shade border with the formal look of an English garden. In Bellevue, Washington, Nita and Johnny Therrell planted a woodland garden that retains the informal look of the wild forest from which it sprang.

Shade plants need little extra fertilizer if they're grown in good soil (nitrogen only makes them leggy), but competition for water can be intense when ground covers are planted over tree roots. Water whenever soil dries out.

Boulder Border: A Formal Shade Oasis

Howard created this shady oasis beneath a pair of apple and pear trees. First he built a retaining wall of dry-stacked stone, then dug compost into the top foot of soil, avoiding the tree roots. He set the plants close together to keep weeds down.

At a mile above sea level, the light is so intense that it spurs strong growth, even in shade. This light made it possible to combine true shade-loving plants—including dead nettle, hosta, and meadow rue—with perennials that tolerate bright shade at higher elevations, such as catmint, 'Berggarten' sage, and veronica.

Next: A Washington Woodland