Starting a Shade Garden
The shade garden can be exploding with color and texture. No matter how much shade is in your landscape, the right flowers, plants, bushes and bulbs will grow in this area when given a chance. As there are various types of shade, you will need to choose the plants that are 'right' for the type of shade you have: partial, dense, full, or filtered shade.

In starting a shade garden, one of the easiest shade gardens will be the filtered shade garden. What you need to do first is look at the trees or bushes that are making this area a filtered shade garden. Pruning off the lower branches on taller bushes and on the tree will allow additional light into your garden. Because you are planning a filtered shade garden, you do want some amount of sunlight in that garden below the tree.

Thinning out the bottom saplings that are trying to grow from the tree is needed at this time to ensure they do not grow up in your garden. Underbrush and thorny bushes should be cut down and dug up at this time before starting your shade garden.

Now you can work on the soil that is in the area that you want to create that new garden. Adding organic materials, more soil, compost, manure or other types of nutrients to the soil will prepare the fine garden bed that will hold your shade plants.

When possible, do not disturb the roots of the tree that will be in or around the garden area. Cutting or disturbing the roots of a tree can cause damage or death to the tree over time. Working with the soil and adding the needed materials to make your garden about six inches deep is going to be the ultimate situation for your new plants.

After planting your first shade plants in the garden continue to water them every few days until the roots begin to 'take hold' and support the plants. When placing your plants in the soil of your new garden, mulching around the plants will hold the water in the soil for your plants to thrive best.

by Kathy Burns-Millyard

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