That's a bit simplistic I know, but defining shade is more of an art than a science. There's light shade, part shade, deep shade and dappled shade. Confused yet ? Let's clear it up. A lightly shaded area is without sun for two to four hours a day . Dappled shade has shadows across it all day but add up to only two to four sunless hours. Partly shaded areas get around 4 to 5 hours of shade and full shade lasts all day.
I've seen many shady gardens with the usual yews, azaleas and boxwood and while these are great as framework, it would be better to mix in shrubs that give longer seasonal interest. As mentioned in previous posts, I am a big fan of our native shrubs Viburnums. For a comprehensive selection of " VIBURNUMS FOR THE HOME LANDSCAPE " go to The Morton Arbetorum's website at Http:www.mortonarb.org.
The incredible fragrance of Spring blooming Koreanspice , combined with its tolerance of adverse conditions such as clay soil, semi-shade, alkalinity and drought, low maintenance, gray-green foilage, attractive red fruit in late Summer , and compact size make it a superb choice for the garden .
Another good shrub for really shady spots is Kerria Japonica which has pretty yellow flowers.
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