What Bushes & Ornamental Grasses Do Well in Shade?

By Home & Garden Last updated Monday, May/27/2024

Shrubs

Shrubs growing in shade include most viburnums and many hydrangeas, which are generally hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 6 through 9. Examples with deciduous foliage and spring flowers include Arrowwood viburnum Viburnum dentatum, spring hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens and oakleaf hydrangea H. quercifolia. An evergreen selection is the Anglojap yew Taxus media, which sports red berries and is hardy in zones 5 through 7. Japanese camellia Camellia japonica is an evergreen shrub with showy carnation-like flowers in fall and winter and glossy, leathery leaves. It is hardy in zones 8 through 10.

Ornamental grasses growing in shade include hakone grass Hakonechloa macra, a perennial hardy in USDA zones 7 through 9. Its nodding, variegated leaves resemble bamboo foliage. Bowles golden grass Milium effusum also grows in partial shade. This yellow-green ornamental has golden flowers dangling from slender stems. It's hardy in zones 5 through 9. Northern sea oats Chasmanthium latifolium is known for drooping, green-to-copper flowers that bloom well in shade. Its light-green leaves resemble bamboo.

Shady areas can have inadequate moisture, especially under a canopy of large trees. Regularly water shrubs and ornamental grasses growing in these shaded areas. The soil in shady areas can lack proper nutrients. Apply a balanced fertilizer in spring, followed by another application later in the season. The University of Minnesota Extension recommends adding organic matter, such as peat, manure or compost, to the soil in shady areas, especially sites with sandy, clay or compacted soil. Shade-loving plants grow best in well-drained, fertile soil.

Country Living magazine recommends visiting botanical or other public gardens in your area to see which specimens grow in locally in the type of shade you have. Shade cast by tall, deciduous trees is called light or dappled shade and is the most desirable. Shrubs and ornamental grasses growing in this type shade include spring-flowering rhododendrons and azaleas. Plants growing in deep shade, or full shade, generally have fewer blooms.