Cool Down With These Shade Garden Ideas

Beat the heat and create a lush, relaxing retreat in your own backyard with a shade garden! At Redwood Nursery, we love helping gardeners transform shady spots into beautiful, breezy sanctuaries—even during the hottest days of summer.

☂️ Design Tips for Shady Spaces:

• Layer Your Canopy: Use a mix of understory trees, tall shrubs, and shade-loving perennials to create texture and depth. Japanese maples, dogwoods, and flowering viburnum offer dappled shade and structure.

• Play With Foliage: Since many shade plants bloom less, go bold with foliage. Combine different leaf shapes, textures, and colors for visual interest—think hostas with ferns, coral bells, and brunnera.

• Create a Cooling Feature: Add a bench, small fountain, or birdbath to make your shady garden a peaceful, cool escape.

• Use Mulch: Mulching with Coast of Maine or Espoma organic mulches helps retain soil moisture and keep root zones cool.

🌿 Plant Suggestions for Shady Areas:
Look for these easygoing, heat-tolerant plants at Redwood Nursery:

• Proven Winners® Heuchera (Coral Bells) – Vibrant foliage in purples, golds, and silvers.

• Hostas – A classic favorite with hundreds of sizes and color variations.

• Astilbe – Adds airy, colorful plumes and thrives in moist shade.

• Pulmonaria – Speckled leaves and early spring flowers.

• Ferns – From native ostrich to Japanese painted ferns, they bring elegance to any shady nook.

• Native Woodland Plants – Support pollinators and local ecosystems with selections from our Plant a Pollinator display.

💡 Pro Tip: Ask our experts how to build a shade garden using Redwood Direct—our easy ordering service for top-quality plants delivered right to the nursery.

📲 Don’t forget to download our free Redwood Nursery app to access our Grow Campaign inspiration, app-only offers, and seasonal guides for shady garden success. Visit https://apjl.app/redwoodnursery to get started.