Top edibles for shady gardens
Picking fresh herbs and harvesting your own vegetables has grown from trendy to a way of life for many around the Puget Sound.
Growing your own edibles can be very rewarding but what do you do if you don’t have full sun?
The real trick is figuring out how much and what kind of shade your garden has. There’s a real difference in the amount of light you get from a dappled shade versus full shade from a building. Most of our beloved edibles (tomatoes, peppers etc.) require a minimum of 6 hours of full, direct sun to ripen their fruit and produce a good bounty.
With at least 3-4 hours of sun a day and a little experimentation you may be able to grow a number of edibles.
Start by observing your garden throughout the day. Choose a sunny day during mid-spring to fall to get the best picture of how the sun hits your garden during the growing season. Record your observations every other hour charting when the area gets direct sun, filtered light and when it’s shaded.
Amount of Sun:
- 2 hours or less: If your observations show less than 3 hours of sun you may have little success and productivity
- 3-5 hours: Will need to steer clear of edibles that produce fruit and instead focus on edible foliage plants
- 6 hours: This is sufficient sun for most vegetables and herbs but you may need to focus on fruits that ripen more quickly (65 days to harvest or less)
- Full, all day sun: you have the perfect area for tomatoes, peppers and many fruiting vegetables
Growing edibles in the shade is best approached as a trial and error situation. Every garden is it’s own unique ecosystem with unique conditions making it difficult to say absolutely what will work.
Here are some of your best bets for growing edibles with as little as 3-4 hours of sun a day:
Herbs for shady gardens:
- Parsley
- Dill
- Cilantro
- Chives
- Mint
Leafy greens for shady gardens:
- Swiss Chard
- Scallions
- Kale
- Spinach
- Asian greens
Start experimenting to see what works. If the only sunny spot you have is on the patio or deck don’t be afraid to start a container garden of edibles. Perhaps you have other garden beds that get full sun that are full of perennials. Why not try mixing edibles with your ornamentals!
We’d love it if you shared your successes with growing edibles in the shade. Drop us a line or leave a comment below.
Organized under Edible Gardening. Labeled as Edible Plants, shade garden.
