Create your own shade

Nairobi: An old gardening adage has it that if no shade exists in a garden, it is necessary to create one. Besides giving reprieve from the scorching sun, shade provides the setting for some of the most beautiful and desirable plants out there.

The world’s forests provide an abundance of bulbs, perennials, ferns, and shrubs that thrive in the shade underneath the forest canopy. Most of what we call “shade plants” come from this group of forest dwellers.

A few of them such as the Hepatica nobilis (liverleaf) and the Scilla peruviana (Alba) do flower. But most are foliage plants, such as ferns and hostas.

No matter where you live, you will always find a decent number of shade lovers to help you create a sophisticated tapestry of textured foliage to clothe the ground in the shady areas of your site.

Design

A shady spot provides the perfect opportunity to create a cool and quiet setting where you can sit and pause as you explore your garden.

Your biggest challenge will be how to brighten up the space and create interest with textures and foliage colour with a slightly diminished plant pallet.

Dark purple, deep blue or maroon colours don’t show up well on a shady spot hence you are better off going for whites, yellows and other light colours that will jump out of the shade. If you have to use darker colours, back them up with variegated foliage or lighter coloured flowers.

Pay close attention to the forms and the textures of the plants you select. Make sure you include a few plants with interesting forms, shapes and growing habits such as monsteras and philodendrons.

Create textural contrasts by juxtaposing plants with fine foliage such as a group of ferns with course textured hosts and money plants.

Ideal shade

Many properties are not large enough to accommodate a patch of woodland, which would be the natural choice of site for shade-loving plants. Instead, many have areas that are shaded by high walls, large trees or borders of shrubs.

The most desirable form of shade is filtered or partial shade. This is because relatively few shade-lovers thrive in deep, permanently sunless shade.

If the shade cast by trees is too dense, prune the lower branches from the trunk, and thin the canopy to allow more light through.

In shady courtyards, or where heavy shade is cast by tall walls, you can increase ambient light by painting walls pale colours and by using pale coloured gravel and paving.

In a shrub border or along a hedge, the shade beneath the shrubs is likely to be a patchwork of varying intensities that changes through the days and seasons.

Plants that need partial shade are likely to do best here, but they should be positioned so that they receive at least midday shade, otherwise their foliage is likely to get scorched.

 Maintenance

Since most of these are woodland plants, they grow best in moist, well-drained soils rich in leafy matter.

Unless your soil is like this, regularly add well-rotted organic matter to the soil when planting and mulch generously.

Also remember to recreate the moist conditions of the forest environment by watering regularly during drier months.