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Texas Gardening

Evergreen shade shrub

15 years ago

I've lurked here a fair amount in the past, but am new to posting here. I'm hoping all you incredibly informative people can help me a bit. I'm in Austin, and am looking for an evergreen shrub type of plant that will grow well in almost full shade - very light dappled sun very early in the morning, but for the most part, all shade. This would be for a background foundation plant, in front of which I'll plant perennials and annuals. I don't really want it to be more than 4 feet high. The soil is between clay and loam, not too bad for drainage or digging.

A couple of years ago, I planted pittosporums, and they never grew. They're still there and are alive, but are almost the same size as when I bought them. I don't really understand this because everything I've read about pittosporum is that it adapts well to shade or sun, and almost any soil.

The recommendations I've gotten from nearby nurseries are:

japanese aralia - very pretty, but will it get too big, and does it really serve the purpose of a bush/hedge?

split leaf philodendron - same concern as aralia

cast iron plant - this would probably work well, but I just don't like the looks of it

ferns - which types?

euonymus plant - will this really grow in shade? It looks like a "partial sun" plant, and I've been down that road before. All the "partial sun" plants I've put there have died.

I suppose another option I have is to leave the pittosporum there, if someone here tells me that it will really actually grow in shade, or that I'm being too impatient. I just thought they would have grown some in the past 2.5 years, but they've barely grown at all, and a couple of them haven't.

I don't care for nandina or yaupon holly. All these qualifications have probably narrowed my selection down to about 2 plants, if that. :)

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Comments (6)

endeitz
15 years ago
My two recommendations, based on my own experience only (in Austin), would be ligustrum or boxwood. Although these are both "part sun" plants, mine live in basically full-shade conditions (the shade is from cedar elm and ash juniper, so it is not the dark shade like from large oak trees).

The boxwood grows very slowly in these conditions, but stays green and healthy-looking. The ligustrum can get a little leggy, but if you prune in the spring it will fill out within the year.

Ed.
debndal
15 years ago
Leatherleaf mahonia, carissa holly, jade tiara cleyera, aucuba (several types) have all worked for me in complete shade in DFW. Keep in mind that plants growing in complete shade will grow much slower than if they had partial sun, so I couldn't say if any of these would grow any faster in your situation than your pittosporum. Good luck.
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OP is back ;-) I appreciate all the answers I've gotten and I realize that I didn't give you enough to work with. In the first picture, you see the spot. The distance between the house and the hedge is 5 feet and 9 inches. The window is facing north and there's a public walk/bike path on the other side of the hedge (so more or less right outside the window) as you can see in the second picture: The hedge is carpinus betulus and not particularly dense, especially not in the winter: The room (behind the window) is going to become our bedroom. The window sits rather low (knee-height) and it gets very dark here in the winter (from 3.30pm to 8.30am), so when the lights are on, we'd feel rather exposed :-( Blinds would be ok, but I'd also like some kind of plant outside the window that together with the hedge would make it less easy to see every little detail in our bedroom when the lights are on and the blinds open. I'm afraid I have no idea whether I have acidic soil... I'll look up the suggestions you've all given me, but please feel free to share your opinion now that you have more information.
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Thanks For the suggestions Ken, here are some photos of the area off my deck in question. First off, please disregard the state of disrepair my deck and yard are in. I’m in the process of cleaning up and pressure washing my deck and fence. It didn’t help things that I was out a month with Covid. Luckily I’m feeling good and feel the itch to do some gardening and yard work now. The area is at the North end of my yard and the North side Of my fence. It receives morning sun for a few hours and dappled shade thereafter. The apidistra is in a pot and will be moved, but that is the area I want to plant some evergreen shrubs in. It is definitely the shadiest part of my yard but it does get some light. As you can see the live oak drops a lot of leaves. Hope this helps. Thanks!
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at12bian
15 years ago
How about a yew or maybe with the light sun a camellia.
With the Camellia you may have to adjust the soil depending on what you have. They will also grow taller then 4 feet but it would take a long time.

Alicia
pjtexgirl
15 years ago
Dwarf wax myrtle can't kill it with a hammer it takes shade,sun,cramped conditions and it smells good. PJ
jody_with_a_y
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks so much to all of you for the suggestions. I'm going to look into all of them. Does anyone know anything about japanese aralia or euonymus?
gardeningartist
15 years ago
I have 2 acres that are mostly shade. My favorite plant is Japanese Holly fern. I space them 5-6 ft. apart. for me they get about 3 ft tall & 4ft wide. Nothing bothers them & they look great year around.

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