Morning Shade/Afternoon Sun - what should I plant?
dtownjbrown
16 years ago
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ginny12
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agodeeje
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Morning Shade/Afternoon Sun - what should I plant?
Comments (19)Most of the plants I mentioned aren't evergreen, and they weren't meant to be prescriptive in any event. You should check out what your local nurseries have available, see what you like, and research their eventual shapes in a shrub book or on the internet. I'd say deciduous shrubs would be nicest in this setting, but your taste may dictate otherwise. I will add my mite too to the question of whether your conditions "qualify" certain plants to grow in the situation you are working with. What you need to understand in order to evaluate plants for this area is why various plants need the amount of sun or shade that is recommended for them, and what will happen if they don't get it. To some extent trial and error is the only way to learn this, but you can also learn the horticulatural principles to improve your ability to guess which plants will succeed. For example, most shade plants are adapted to catching as much light as possible in a shady environment. This is why many of them have big leaves. And they tend to prioritize surface area over leaf thickness, as they aren't faced with dessicating sun. So when you put shade plants in too much sun, the leaves are prone to burning and scorching, and they tend to wilt. Sun plants, on the other hand, have adaptations that allow them to resist heat, and they get leggy and don't bloom if they get too little sun. Obviously there are endless variations of leaf size and other attributes. For example, as someone mentioned above, there are hostas that actually want and need a certain amount of sun. And there are plants that are adapted to grow in the shade of deciduous trees, so they bloom in early spring when they get sun, and go through their leafy phase during summer. Some plants can also adapt to local conditions. For example, if the shade is really heavy and dense, as in the shade of a house, shade plants will grow their leaves extra big. But such a plant will be extra-sensitive if you change its conditions in mid-season or maybe if it gets a mid-day blast of sun. The conditions recommended on plant labels are only a guideline, and there are no guarantees that your conditions of partial shade are the kind of partial shade that a certain plant wants. KarinL...See MoreMorning shade, strong afternoon sun, in CA
Comments (2)The bay area has different growing conditions than the areas where we generally design. But what you want to look for is a full sun plant that can grow in part shade; you do not want to try to convince a shade grower to be happy in 4-5 hours of strong sun. A number of plants would be happy with that amount of sun, so you should still have a variety to choose from. You listed some other traits you wanted, but did not explain what you wanted the plants to accomplish landscape wise (backdrop, showy, privacy, for example). Is there an overall design plan, even though you may not be installing everything at this time? What height(s) do you need, how wide is the planting area and how large is the overall yard size? Trees or shrubs, or a mix? What is the planned irrigation method? What backyard activities need to be taken into account?...See MoreLimited morning sun( 4-5 hours) verse shaded afternoon sun (6+)
Comments (5)I'm not much of a fan of self watering containers. If the water gets hot the plants seam to die really fast. Some people really like them though so it may be just me. Its easier to care for tomatoes in really large containers. The smaller the container the more often you have to water and fertilize. You picked good varieties for containers though so if you watch them really close you may have good success. When I read the reviews on Bush Goliath it made me wish that I had planted some. Best of luck to you....See MoreNeed a plant for morning shade, afternoon sun
Comments (11)I'd love so see the suggestions anyone has for this problem, too. Doesn't everyone have this spot somewhere in their yard? I have a ~5 foot wide planting bed next to the west side of my house, and am grappling with the same problem. Mine does get winter sun. It gets the burning afternoon sun (only, with full shade all morning) all year round (though, of course, the sun's gentler in winter). It seems like every plant I read about that takes "full sun to partial shade" really means "lots of lovely morning to mid-day sun with some shade protection from precisely the nasty afternoon blaze" we're trying to deal with. I love the "yellow wave" phormium, and I'm in San Diego, too, but inland more, and I thought the lighter leaved phormiums need protection from hot afternoon sun? I'd love to be wrong about that! Help! Laura...See Morewaplummer
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