9 Beautiful Plant Combinations for Shady Side Yards
Turn a side yard into a calming retreat or a lovely area to pass through with these inspiring plant combinations
Part of the challenge with planting in side yards is that they are narrow spaces with limited light exposure. But with clever design moves and smart plant choices, even a side yard with low light can become a lovely area to linger in. Take a look at the side yards below, all of which feature beautiful combinations of plants that thrive in partial to full shade.
2. Purples and Greens
Proving that it doesn’t take a complicated combination of plants to create plenty of interest, the designers at Dear Garden Associates used hosta, pictured in bloom, feathery ostrich fern and reed canary grass to put together a simple, lovely display. The bed runs along the side of a guest house in Pennsylvania and receives partial shade.
Plants include:
Proving that it doesn’t take a complicated combination of plants to create plenty of interest, the designers at Dear Garden Associates used hosta, pictured in bloom, feathery ostrich fern and reed canary grass to put together a simple, lovely display. The bed runs along the side of a guest house in Pennsylvania and receives partial shade.
Plants include:
- Hosta (Hosta sp., zones 3 to 9)
- Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris, zones 3 to 8)
- Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea var. picta, zones 4 to 9)
3. Showstopping Ferns
Adding a curve in a side yard path creates room for a focal point — such as a standout plant or fountain — which draws the eye and helps distract from the narrowness of the space.
For example, in this semishaded garden in Dublin, landscape designer Patricia Tyrrell took advantage of the curve of a steppingstone path to showcase the bold shape and semitranslucent foliage of a large alpine woodfern. Other plantings in the garden include pale pink hydrangeas and a carpet of periwinkle.
Plants include:
Adding a curve in a side yard path creates room for a focal point — such as a standout plant or fountain — which draws the eye and helps distract from the narrowness of the space.
For example, in this semishaded garden in Dublin, landscape designer Patricia Tyrrell took advantage of the curve of a steppingstone path to showcase the bold shape and semitranslucent foliage of a large alpine woodfern. Other plantings in the garden include pale pink hydrangeas and a carpet of periwinkle.
Plants include:
- Alpine woodfern (Dryopteris wallichiana, zones 5 to 8)
- Hydrangea (Hydrangea sp.)
4. Formal and Elegant
A straight pathway surrounded by lush plantings, including snowy white ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea, on the north-facing side of a home in Glencoe, Illinois, takes visitors down a semishaded walk to the backyard.
The natural cleft Pennsylvania bluestone used as pathway pavers references the home’s exterior detailing. On the perimeter side of the walkway, a dense hedge of pyramidal arborvitae adds privacy, with glossy ‘Green Carpet’ Japanese spurge planted below.
Plants include:
A straight pathway surrounded by lush plantings, including snowy white ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea, on the north-facing side of a home in Glencoe, Illinois, takes visitors down a semishaded walk to the backyard.
The natural cleft Pennsylvania bluestone used as pathway pavers references the home’s exterior detailing. On the perimeter side of the walkway, a dense hedge of pyramidal arborvitae adds privacy, with glossy ‘Green Carpet’ Japanese spurge planted below.
Plants include:
- Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis, zones 2 to 8)
- ‘Annabelle’ wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, zones 4 to 9)
- ‘Green Carpet’ Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis ‘Green Carpet’, zones 5 to 9)
- ‘Green Velvet’ boxwood (Buxus ‘Green Velvet’, zones 5 to 8)
5. Contemporary With Soft Foliage
A lush progression of foliage and flowers (not pictured in bloom) unfolds alongside a contemporary-style pathway beside a home in North Vancouver, Washington.
Concrete pavers form a path that widens and then narrows to create planting pockets for flowering vines such as climbing hydrangea and evergreen clematis, along with grass-like Japanese variegated sedge and a spring-blooming Oregon crab apple tree. A yew hedge runs along the other side of the walkway to form a rich green backdrop.
The designers at Bearmark Design & Landscape report that the bed receives half a day of sunlight and irrigation two to three times a week, depending on weather conditions.
Plants include:
A lush progression of foliage and flowers (not pictured in bloom) unfolds alongside a contemporary-style pathway beside a home in North Vancouver, Washington.
Concrete pavers form a path that widens and then narrows to create planting pockets for flowering vines such as climbing hydrangea and evergreen clematis, along with grass-like Japanese variegated sedge and a spring-blooming Oregon crab apple tree. A yew hedge runs along the other side of the walkway to form a rich green backdrop.
The designers at Bearmark Design & Landscape report that the bed receives half a day of sunlight and irrigation two to three times a week, depending on weather conditions.
Plants include:
- Climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris, zones 4 to 8)
- Evergreen clematis (Clematis armandii, zones 4 to 9)
- ‘Ice Dance’ Japanese sedge (Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’, zones 5 to 9)
- Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis, zones 5 to 9)
- Oregon crab apple (Malus fusca, zones 5 to 9)
- ‘H.M. Eddie’ yew (Taxus x media ‘H.M. Eddie’, zones 4 to 7)
6. Green and Serene
A rich diversity of texture and green hues adds interest to this shaded side garden in Palo Alto, California, designed by Sarah Warto of Boxleaf Design. To lighten what could otherwise feel like a dark, damp space, Warto planted bright accents, including lime-green Irish moss between the flagstone pavers and silvery ‘Jack Frost’ large-leaf brunnera and light green ferns beside the path.
Plants include:
A rich diversity of texture and green hues adds interest to this shaded side garden in Palo Alto, California, designed by Sarah Warto of Boxleaf Design. To lighten what could otherwise feel like a dark, damp space, Warto planted bright accents, including lime-green Irish moss between the flagstone pavers and silvery ‘Jack Frost’ large-leaf brunnera and light green ferns beside the path.
Plants include:
- Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana, zones 8 to 10)
- ‘Jack Frost’ large-leaf brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’, zones 3 to 8)
- Ferns
- Irish moss (Sagina subulata, zones 4 to 8)
7. Japanese-Inspired
It’s hard to believe that this shaded side yard by Mosaic Gardens in Eugene, Oregon, was once just a concrete floor and uninviting cinder blocks. The concrete floor remains — it couldn’t be removed due to drainage concerns — but is now hidden under quick-draining local river rock gravel and a steppingstone pathway.
Carefully placed bamboo screens invite one to slow down and admire juniper bonsai and other potted conifers, a recirculating water feature and a lush border of bamboo.
Plants include:
It’s hard to believe that this shaded side yard by Mosaic Gardens in Eugene, Oregon, was once just a concrete floor and uninviting cinder blocks. The concrete floor remains — it couldn’t be removed due to drainage concerns — but is now hidden under quick-draining local river rock gravel and a steppingstone pathway.
Carefully placed bamboo screens invite one to slow down and admire juniper bonsai and other potted conifers, a recirculating water feature and a lush border of bamboo.
Plants include:
- Clumping bamboo
- Japanese maple (Acer palmatum, zones 5 to 8)
- Juniper bonsai (Juniperus sp.)
- Potted pine (Pinus sp.)
8. Leafy Tunnel
Adding overhead trellising cloaked in vines to a side yard can help transform a narrow alley into a romantic garden passageway pleasantly surrounded by foliage. In this garden by Vert Anis in Angers, France, a shadowy strip between two buildings became a pleasant walkway with the help of wisteria-draped trellises and a crunchy gravel path, bordered by mounds of pink hydrangea and potted boxwood.
Plants include:
Adding overhead trellising cloaked in vines to a side yard can help transform a narrow alley into a romantic garden passageway pleasantly surrounded by foliage. In this garden by Vert Anis in Angers, France, a shadowy strip between two buildings became a pleasant walkway with the help of wisteria-draped trellises and a crunchy gravel path, bordered by mounds of pink hydrangea and potted boxwood.
Plants include:
- Wisteria (Wisteria sp.)
- Hydrangea (Hydrangea sp.)
- Boxwood (Buxus sp.)
- Ivy (Hedera sp.)
9. Romantic Woodland With a Hidden Grill
In this Northern California side yard designed by John Black of Verdance Landscape Architecture, a romantic woodland garden planted with foxglove, boxwood and ferns gives way to a gravel patio featuring a wisteria pergola with a grill set beneath.
The design places plants upfront, where they receive more sunlight.
In this Northern California side yard designed by John Black of Verdance Landscape Architecture, a romantic woodland garden planted with foxglove, boxwood and ferns gives way to a gravel patio featuring a wisteria pergola with a grill set beneath.
The design places plants upfront, where they receive more sunlight.
The grill is tucked out of sight near the home, in the most shaded portion of the side yard. A Connecticut bluestone flagstone path ties the garden and patio together.
Plants include:
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Plants include:
- Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea, zones 4 to 9)
- Boxwood
- Wisteria
- Camelia
- ‘Marjorie Channon’ kōhūhū (Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Marjorie Channon’, zones 8 to 11)
- Ferns
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As part of a garden renovation in Newburyport, Massachusetts, landscape designer Andrew Leonard of Leonard Design Associates converted a side yard into a lush shade garden. The area, which sits along the north side of the three-story home, receives little sun, and the original lawn was struggling to thrive. Leonard used a planting scheme of shade-loving hostas, bleeding heart, columbine and many types of fern, along with a new steppingstone pathway, to turn the neglected area into a cottage-style shade garden.
Plants include:
- Mixed hostas (Hosta spp., USDA zones 3 to 9; find your zone)
- Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, zones 3 to 8)
- Eastern hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula, zones 3 to 8)
- Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris, zones 3 to 8)
- Bleeding heart (Dicentra sp.)
- Sweet violet (Viola odorata, zones 4 to 9)
- McKana’s Giant columbine (Aquilegia hybrid, zones 3 to 8)
- Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum, zones 5 to 9)
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