I consistently see plants that are thin, barely alive, or not at all alive. What causes this I think is a misunderstanding of what shade is to plants. A lit of plants that like "shade" need bright shade. If plants don't get enough light energy they start using their food reserves, they use less water, and they thin out because they can't make enough leaves. This ends in a downward spiral.

A lot of perennials like the shade but if they don't get enough light they last a couple of years and then they need to be replace4d. In fact in many shaded areas the plantings need to be reworked regularly. Regularly means every two years or so.

You also have to be careful that the plants get enough fertilizer and not too much water. Shade gardens are always a challenge. In some cases more difficult then hot sun areas.

If you have a shade garden that you are having problems w3ith here are a few suggestions that might help.

Look and see if there is anything you can do to increase the light levels. This might be thinning trees, raising the lowest branches of trees, removing extra large shrubs to open up the area to more light.

Check your irrigation system to see if the3 shade areas are getting the same water as the sunny areas. Check to see if the soil in the shaded areas is staying too wet. If this is the case you need to make some changes to the irrigation system.

Check for the correct amount of fertilizer. There are two issue3s here. One is that in the shade you have to be careful to not over fertilize. The second is in many cases tr5ee root competition means you need frequent fertilizing to be sure your plants gat q chance to get some.

Lastly review your plant selection to be sure the3 plants you are using like deep shade. Most plants like light or bright shade. The deep shade choices are really limited. Often they are more limited then we as gardeners are willing to accept.

If your area is under a roof check out the possibility of using houseplants. Generally shade outside is brighter than the light in a house.

In my case my planting area is under a glass roof so my problem is getting too much light. Sorry about that.

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