How to Choose a Ground Cover for Shade

A ground cover planted in shady areas can create a woodland look or fill in bare areas of ground for a more finished garden. Lily-of-the-valley provides spring flowers in shade, and evergreen sweet box adds year-round charm.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Plants
• Plants

1. Choose ground covers as the lowest layer in ornamental plantings - that is, looking from top to bottom, have trees, shrubs, then ground cover - for a lush garden.

2. Look at your garden at different times of the day to determine how much shade it gets. Note that "partial shade," good for a plant such as wintergreen, means less than 6 hours of sun a day.

3. Remember that partial shade usually means no hot afternoon sun.

4. Choose plants such as sweet box for areas in full shade, with little or no direct sunlight.

5. Decide how many plants you'll need to get by using rocks to represent the plants. Place them at intervals according to how wide the plants grow, then count up the rocks.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose a ground cover appropriate for your USDA plant hardiness zone (see Related Sites).