So whether you are after shrubs to offer a little more ground cover, or you want to add flashes of colour with bright green foliage or fragrant flowers, we will have the shade loving shrubs for you. We will look at the different types of garden shade, before considering the many benefits of shrubs that love shade and then listing some of the bestshrubs for shade.
Shade loving plants are perfect for livening up some otherwise-neglected areas of our gardens. It would be easy to dismiss those dark corners as lost causes - but that doesn't have to be the case. There are plenty of options when it comes to shrubs for shade, and we are going to dedicate this article to helping you find the right ones for your garden.
Types of garden shade
Before you can decide what are the best shrubs for the shaded parts of your garden, we need to establish what type of shady spots we're dealing with. There are a few different types, and different shrubs will thrive in different kinds of shade - so let's take a look at each one:
Full shade (Deep shade): This refers to those parts that get very little direct sunlight, usually by a building or a canopy - the areas that you may assume have no hope. But, despite the obvious challenges that limited sunlight presents, plenty of shrubs have adapted to thrive in these areas, such as the "Debbie" Camellia Williamsii.
Partial shade: These are areas of your garden that will receive some sunlight for parts of the day (between 2-6 hours), but remain in the shade for the rest of the day. They might be near some trees, or in the vicinity of a large structure. There are loads of options of flowering shrubs for this category of shade.
Dappled shade: You'll find dappled shade in areas with plenty of trees around it - where the sunlight gets through in little patches between the branches and leaves. This in itself creates a beautiful setting, but there are also plenty of shrubs that will thrive in these areas, like some azaleas or hydrangeas.
Dry shade: You may have areas in your garden that have plenty of cover, which doesn't only impact on the amount of sun they get, but also the amount of water - perhaps under a large tree which takes a lot of the water, and so the soil conditions are quite dry. The Japanese Fatsia plants are a wonderful example of shrubs that you can grow in these areas.
Benefits of shade-loving shrubs
The main benefit of utilising shrubs that do well in shade, as we alluded to above, is that you can brighten up parts of your garden that might otherwise get neglected. Shady spots do present some challenges for gardeners, but with help from us, you will be able to find the perfect shrubs to plant to spark some life into them - quite literally. Shrubs can provide a habitat for birds, insects and other wildlife that will all compliment your garden's ecosystem.
There are practical benefits as well - shrubs can improve soil stability in your garden by reducing erosion which removes essential nutrients from your garden. They can also help to improve air quality by filtering out pollen and dust - if you suffer from allergies or asthma, a well placed shrub could provide you with some much needed respite.
9 Shrubs that grow in shade
Sarcococca
TheSarcococca, commonly known as Sweet box, is a sweetly scented evergreen shrub that produces winter flowers, but also has a range of colours throughout the year. The purple stems stand tall above the dark green leaves, before the explosion of small, fragrant white flowers in the winter. You'll also find blue black berries in the autumn.
They can grow up to 75 cm, spreading around 50 cm, and can grow in partial or full shade. This is a low maintenance shrub.
Pieris
Sometimes known as Forest flame, thePieris floribunda is another easy to grow evergreen shrub that provides year-round colour for your garden. The mid-green leaves have a creamy white edge to them, while you'll see reddish pink flowers from the early spring - closely followed by numerous bees and butterflies that cannot get enough of them!
These can grow up, and spread, to around 70 cm, and are best in full sun or partial shade.
Chaenomeles
The Japanese quince, orChaenomeles, is a wide-spreading, vigorous deciduous shrub with glossy bright green leaves. It blooms in spring, with bright yellow flowers with hints of green, while in autumn you'll get some green fruit, which are edible. They prefer partial shade or full sun, and can grow to a height of 1.5 metres.
Pachysandra
ThePachysandra (Green carpet) is a low-growing shrub which is perfect for ground cover. The dense, dark green foliage, with white tips will spread to cover a large area - perfect for under larger shrubs or trees. In the summer you will be rewarded with white flowers that grow in bunches. It will grow up to between 10 - 50 cm, and spread 0.5 - 1.0 metres.
Enkianthus
TheEnkianthus campanulatus, or Red bells, is another deciduous shrub, again with dark green glossy leaves, which turn red in the autumn. They thrive in partial shade, and produce stunning pink bell shaped flowers in the spring and summer, which compliment the bright foliage perfectly. They can grow and spread up to 4 metres.
Skimmias
TheSkimmia japonica, or White globe, is a slow growing evergreen shrub which is perfect for shady areas - they can tolerate deep shade and any soil. It grows tightly compact, with lime green budding, and then explodes with an abundance of fragrant white flowers in early spring. It can grow up to 1 metre, with a spread of 1.5 metres.
Viburnums
Viburnum, sometimes known as Coppertop, is a low maintenance, evergreen shrub that produces clusters of creamy white flowers, with a beautiful scent, in spring and summer. It gets the name Coppertop from the red foliage, which become green as they get older - a great contrast to the flowers. It can grow up to 3 metres, and spread 2 metres, and can thrive in partial shade.
Halimiocistus
TheHalimiocistus sahucii, or Sahuc rock rose, is another dense, low-growing shrub - ideal for covering rocks and low walls. They need full sun or partial shade, but once they get going you are rewarded with a beautiful bloom in the summer, with large white flowers and bright yellow stamens. They only grow to around 30 cm, but can spread up to 1 metre.
Schefflera
The Schefflera, or Umbrella tree, is most commonly used as a houseplant, but you can plant them outside in the UK as long as you can protect it from strong winds and frost. It can thrive in dappled shade and grow up 1.5 m. Originally from rainforests, they have a stunning twisted trunk and beautiful glossy dark green leaves.
Conclusion
This is just a flavour of some of the best shrubs for shade -shop our garden shrubs for plenty of other options. You'll find shrubs that produce red autumn berries, evergreen leaves, white flowers, black fruits - whatever you want to bring year-round interest to those shady areas in your garden.
