Do you think you can't garden because your yard (or patio or balcony) is in the shade? Take heart, there are ways to work around the challenge and successfully grow vegetables in the shade.

I've learned about shade gardening by experience. We once rented a house with a well-established garden plot behind the garage. Unfortunately it was in deep shade most of the day, but it still produced carrots, parsley, lettuce and other vegetables.



Here in Oklahoma the east end of my garden is shaded during the morning hours, but has full sun later in the day. I like the location of my garden for the most part. The morning shade allows me to spend more time in the garden during the hottest part of the summer, although the mosquitoes tend to congregate there. The shade on the eastern-most raised bed also allows me to grow cool-weather vegetables for a longer period of time than if they were in full sun all day long.

Evaluate your shady spaces

Your space might not be as shady as you think. Buildings, fences, sheds, and trees all create shade and can block the sunlight your garden needs. However, the sun moves throughout the year which means the sunlight moves too, not just from morning to afternoon but also from spring to fall.

Mapping your yard's sunlight patterns is a long-term project, and I know you might not have the time to do this for a year or even for several months before you decide where your garden should go, but
perhaps you can plant in containers this year while you map the sun and shade throughout the growing season.

To map your yard's sunlight and shadows, notice every week or so where the shadows are. You can do this in a very in-depth manner with sketches and measurements every Saturday at 9:00 am, 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm, or you can do this more casually, but the smaller your yard is the more important it is to find any pockets of light that might exist.

After a few months you might find some less-shady areas that you can use to your advantage. If your available planting space is a balcony or a small patio area, finding these spots that have a bit of sunlight is more important.

Deeply shaded spaces are often damp too. Take this into account when you decide what to grow there. Don't expect a plant that likes well-drained soil to thrive in a soggy place. If you're limited to damp places, using containers will allow you to provide the soil your plants prefer.

Choose the right plant varieties

Choose plants that prefer to grow in shade. Leafy greens and root vegetables are the easiest to grow in low light. Brassicas such as broccoli, cabbage and kale are tolerant of shady areas.

Plants grown for their fruit such as tomatoes, squash and peppers need the most hours of sunlight, so locate them in the brightest, sunniest areas of your garden space.

Many herbs grow well in light shade including parsley, mint, cilantro and chives.

Boost the available light

To boost the light in your garden, place mirrors or shiny sheets of metal to reflect light towards your plants. Remember that deep-shade garden at our rented house? The previous gardener had covered plywood with aluminum foil for this purpose.

Placed against the back side of the garage, the shiny surfaces reflected the light (not the sun, but light) back onto the plants, eliminating the deep shade against the garage wall. Mirrored surfaces along the north edge of the garden reflected sunlight back into the garden.

If there is a wall or a fence nearby you can paint it bright white to reflect light.

Prune low-hanging tree branches or large bushes to maximize the sunlight.

Space plants a little farther apart to allow more light to reach them.

Follow the light

Plant in containers so you can move your plants around as summer progresses and the shade moves. In worst cases, you can move the containers throughout the day so they are in the sun. Look for plant stands or plant caddies with casters to make moving the containers easier.

Plant caddies would be easy to build, but remember that containers of soil can be really heavy, especially after watering. Use high-quality casters that are rated for heavy use such as these.

Add artificial light

If your shady garden is a balcony or covered patio, hang some plant lights in strategic places to boost the light. The long florescent-type tubes aren't the only grow lights available, you can buy individual bulbs as well. These single bulbs fit well into heat-lamp type fixtures with reflective hoods.

Use shade to your advantage

Careful planning and a little creativity are all you need to grow vegetables in a shady garden.


Related Post:
What to Grow in a Small Garden
Start a Container Garden





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My hope is to inspire you, and to encourage your homesteading plans and your dreams of a simple, self-reliant, God-dependent life. You can follow me at:
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