5 Backyard Ideas For Where The Sun Doesn’t Shine
By: Masood Rusmaully
Tags: Succulents, Garden, DIY, Backyard, Gardening

So you love gardening, right?

Who doesn’t love to sit back on a cool Spring evening and appreciate their garden?

As a gardener you already know the struggle of having dry grass in those shaded nooks and crooks of your backyard that seem scary and full of creepy crawlies; it’s definitely not the look you want to have when guests arrive.

You want to show off a little bit and express yourself through your backyard.

It’s like you have the perfect image of your garden in mind, with herbs and flowers and healthy grass, but you just don’t know what to do with that dull, dark shaded area..

As we already know, sunlight is responsible for the chemical reaction known as photosynthesis inside plants, which essentially produces glucose to allow the plants to flourish and grow.

So, not having enough sun in your yard can actually cause:

Yellowing/browning of leaves

Drying of plants

Wilting

Slow growth

You can easily replace these dying plants with more tolerant plants or simply remove plants all together and design your yard using our ideas outlined right here.

Plants

While most plants need a lot of sun to grow, some of them only need partial sun, roughly 3–6 hours of sun per day or can live in dappled shade.

For example vivid flowers or an “enchanted” theme, you can choose a variety of shade-loving plants to grow in the corners of your garden that don’t get much sun.

Flowers like Begonias, Foam Flowers, Lady Ferns, Impatiens (see below) and many more will achieve the desired look for your garden.

Some of these can be used to cover up dried grass or replace withering flowers from before like the lady ferns, which use their large feathery leaves to shelter the ground.

All it takes is a few bucks at your local nursery and your green thumb to turn a dull patch into something beautiful.

Begonias, Foamflowers, Ferns and Impatiens

If parts in your backyard get barely any sunlight at all, then there are plants that can adapt and survive in those conditions.

Succulents are plants with engorged and fleshy parts that help them retain water. This helps them survive in droughts and low conditions.

Aloe and Echeverias are just two succulents out of many that will grow in darker areas in your backyard, and their physical appearance will definitely strike you and your guests as impressive.

Other plants like the Dracaena Trifasciata (A.K.A Snake Plant) have a high tolerance for negligence and are also very stylish.

Aloe Vera & Snake Plant

Walkway

For those who have a small walkway at the back of your yard with no plants growing, a good suggestion is implementing a pebble walkway and/or placing pavers on the ground.

The best part about doing this is that you can design it however you like; white pavers on black pebble or just grey pavers on grass. It definitely adds to the sophistication of the garden while ridding the effects of a shady area like dry grass.

Paved Water Feature

Mulch

Instead of pebbles/pavers, you can use wood chip mulch in the shaded areas for a more natural look. Organic mulch comes in a variety of colours and helps reduce pests in the backyard like beetles and retains moisture, keeping the soil healthy.

If your garden is on a slant then mulch prevents soil erosion when it rains or storms, thus keeping all the nutrients within your soil.

Wood Chip Mulch

Water Feature

Another fantastic solution is to add a bench or a water feature to your backyard.

A water feature also really helps the aesthetic of your home; it could be a little bird bath or even a little waterfall! Youtube D.I.Y tutorials are a great way to build your own distinct water decor or you can buy one from the shops and place it in shady places so the sun doesn’t evaporate the water.

The best part is, you’ll start to notice a wider variety of birds and animals coming to your backyard for a dip!

Seating

Seats and water features work great on organic mulch, pebbles and concrete since they are supported levels of ground, so all you have to do is decide on a design.

A seating area would be perfect under the shady areas where you can cool off in the summer heat, especially if you have spare chairs or a small table to put a cool glass of lemonade on.

Bench & Plants With Wood Chip Mulch

It’s not difficult to turn a shaded spot in your garden into something beautiful. Water features will bring new life to your backyard, while succulents will thrive in low level lights with vibrant colours. All it takes is a little knowledge and a lot of creativity and you’ll have heads turning in no time.

Good luck!