Growing food in your garden is one of the most rewarding things you can do as a gardener.
It’s one thing to grow food in a full, bright six hours of sun. But what about the rest of the garden? There’s often so much shaded, dim or otherwise interrupted space in our gardens. With the right plant choice, this could be turned over to productive food growing. There’s a wide range of plants that have evolved to get by in shady niches in the wild, meaning there’s no reason you can’t turn that neglected shady corner over to growing some edible plants.
Let’s start at the ground level. This is where most people have shade in the garden, as it’s often tucked under the canopy of established trees. Anything that is going to survive these conditions is going to need to be able to handle a bit of shade, but also be shallow rooted, to be able to persist above the trees roots.
I will survive
If there’s a good survivor, it’s Tetragonia tetragonioides/Warrigal greens. The nutritious fleshy leaves and stems are edible once cooked, used like spinach or silverbeet. It’s important you do cook it, as it contains oxalic acid. This plant is native to large parts of Australia, and will freely self-seed in most gardens. Extremely tough, this plant can take it all – from growing in saline soils in full sun right down to heavy shade.
A garden classic for shade is common mint (Mentha spicata). This highly aromatic perennial herb is a classic kitchen favourite. Give it a regular supply of water (planting under a tap is an old trick) and you won’t be able to the hold it back, even in full shade. The plant likes to spread as a ground cover, to the point of becoming a weed, so it’s recommended to grow it in a large pot to keep it contained.
Silverbeet (Beta vulgaris cv.) is a fuss-free, long-lasting annual vegetable that thrives in part shade. The most common form has green leaves and white stems, but there are also more cultivars such as rainbow chard that looks beautiful in pots and in your cooking. It’s grown for large, tender edible leaves that can be eaten raw or cooked. Grow it as you would any other annual vegetable; ready water, good soil and apply organic manures, and expect harvests every fortnight. Try it in spanakopita.
Social climber
Slightly larger is Billardiera scandens ‘Apple berry‘, another Australian native. This is a loose, straggly climber. The furry leaves show this is a plant that knows how to get by without much water. It produces oblong berries that ripen to yellow, and taste like green apple pie. This is a great one to grow on a fence down the side of the house that’s in the shadow.
Another great berry to try in a shady spot is the alpine strawberry (Fragaria vesca). Typical strawberries require more sun, but the alpine strawberry grows wild in forests of Europe, happily thriving in the shade. At your place the right cultivar will happily spread around the garden via stolons in part shade, and produce small, intensely sweet berries that won’t make it back to the kitchen before you pop them in your mouth. Feed with manure and water over dry months to keep the sweet treats coming.
For a shrub to a small tree, try Tasmannia lanceolata ‘Mountain pepper’. It is native to the woodlands and cool temperate rainforests of Australia’s south-eastern region, and it’s used to growing in the company of taller trees obscuring the light. Provided it doesn’t dry out too much, this plant will fit into shady areas of your garden, where it will produce spicy, edible berries that are similar to black pepper.
Tall timber
If you need a tree, a good pick is Backhousia citriodora ‘Lemon myrtle’. It’s a slow-growing native tree that can reach up to 20 metres, but will get by on little light in the forest canopy until it gets there. It does need some extra water over summer if you’re in a drier climate, but the reward is the lemon-scented leaves and flowers, now a popular flavour and tea.
There’s no reason shade needs to stop you growing your own tasty, healthy and fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables!
Do you have any tips for growing plants in the shade? Why not share them in the comments section below?
Also read: Best ever native plants for hedging
