Oh, the shaded garden. That’s probably what I’m most persistently asked. Unless the growing space is a roof terrace, or if there are no completely physical boundaries, there are some corners where much light is not visible. If you live in a city, or an overlooked balcony garden, or a basement garden, you will struggle for most of the day’s light. But you don’t have to struggle for the plants.
Before I got my garden last summer, I grew up on a shaded forest balcony. For my first six months, it was a dead zone infested with mind-boggling squirrels. Then I started planting things that didn’t need much light, which became a green oasis.
As you enter the world of shade-loving plants, you’ll wonder why people haven’t told you about them before. They are the best secrets of gardening: forgiving, beautiful, and, I think, have a comfortable class of air. A shaded garden is mobile and is like taking you to New Zealand or Japanese forests.
It is also often easy to clean. Established awning pockets remain lush with less watering than exposed south-facing beds. They also remain green for much longer in the year. The secret is to abandon most of the floral ideas and instead go into the textured leaf area.