Gardening In The Shade – Create More Sunlight For Your Garden

When it comes to planting perennials in a densely shaded garden area, you do have slightly fewer perennials in which to choose from planting, as opposed to working with lots of sunlight. However, there are some upsides that many gardeners do not consider. For example, people that live on shaded properties enjoy the benefits of having cooler and more comfortable areas to relax in.

In addition, having your property underneath heavy shade lowers the temperatures of your house during the hot summer months. And when it comes to those windy days and nights, your house generally does not suffer from the high winds because of the surrounding structures that are blocking the wind, and are typically built high enough to cause the shade to begin with.

Try Arranging Your Property To Let In More Light

You may want to consider creating more sunlight so that you can have the option to plant more perennials that will benefit your design. Your options of course depend on what structures exist that are hovering and causing the dense shade in the first place. For example, if you have a mass of overcrowded trees then you can remove some of the larger limbs to bring in more light. You could even opt to remove more of the smaller limbs from these trees which can help more sunlight to come in from the sides.

Please use caution as cutting trees can be quite dangerous, especially if you are working alone. There are plenty of tree cutting services that can remove the entire stumps from the ground if need be. What's more beneficial about hiring a professional to take care of your tree removal is that they can also help determine which trees would be most ideal to discard by analyzing your sunlight needs. These professionals are called arborists.

Beware Of Tree Roots

Tree roots from the trees that remain in your garden area can become quite a problem for some perennials. Why? Because many woodland flowers prefer to thrive in rich soil that has a large percentage of humus. Humus is made up of decomposed organic matter such as old tree bark, leaves, and plant remains.

Tree roots become "competitors" and will essentially absorb as much of the moisture and nutrients from the soil as possible. Unfortunately for your flowers, there is little left by the time these nutrients can reach the top to feed your plants.

When attempting to fix this problem, many gardeners make the mistake of piling new soil on top of the depleted soil. They may even try to remove the roots entirely. This can be a problem because you may cause severe damage or even kill your trees. Of course you can add a little bit of loose topsoil under a tree or dig up if you roots here and there, but if you go too excessive in the attempt to bring more nutrients to your plants, you may face the loss of your beautiful trees.