Which vegetables actually grow in a shady spot

Work out what sort of shade you've actually got

Before you pick anything, spend a day noticing what that corner really gets, because most spots people write off as shady are part shade rather than deep shade, and the two are completely different propositions.

• Part shade. Roughly 3 to 6 hours of direct sun, or dappled light filtering through a tree most of the day. Plenty grows here.
• Full shade. Under 3 hours of direct sun and not much brightness the rest of the time. Your options narrow a long way.

Morning sun with afternoon shade is the best version of part shade you can have, and it's worth more than the raw hour count suggests. The other thing worth knowing here is that the south side of a house is the shaded side, because the sun sits in the north, so that's usually where your shady bed is.

The rule that decides it

Anything you grow for its leaves will cope with shade. Anything you grow for a fruit won't, because fruiting takes far more energy than making a leaf does, and that energy comes from sunlight.

So leafy crops are in. Tomatoes, capsicums, chillies, eggplant, pumpkin and beans are out, and no amount of feeding will talk them round. Root crops sit in between and will usually give you something smaller and slower.

What to plant

Silverbeet. The most forgiving thing in the whole list. It'll grow in part shade almost indefinitely, and picking the outside leaves rather than cutting the whole plant keeps it going for months.

Lettuce. Shade is actively good for lettuce, because heat and strong sun are what make it bolt to seed and turn bitter. A shaded bed will give you lettuce well past the point a sunny one has given up.

Spinach. It's the same story as the lettuce, because spinach prefers cool and bolts in heat, so a shady spot buys you a longer picking window. Perpetual spinach is the tougher option if English spinach keeps running to seed on you.

Asian greens. Wong bok and the rest grow fast and bolt fast, and shade slows the bolting without slowing the growing much at all.

Kale. Handles shade and tastes better for a bit of cold. Watch the watering, because shaded soil stays damp longer and kale will sulk in a soggy bed.

Spring onions. Slower in shade than in sun, but they keep going and you only ever want a few at a time anyway.

Radishes. The one people don't expect. They mature slower in shade and come out milder and crisper for it, which is usually an improvement. Sow a short row every few weeks rather than the whole packet at once.

The four things that change in a shady bed

Water less, not more. Shaded soil holds moisture far longer, and the commonest way to kill a shade bed is watering it on the same schedule as the sunny one. Push a finger in before you turn the tap on.

Feed gently. Leafy crops aren't heavy feeders and a big hit of nitrogen in low light gives you soft floppy growth that snails find first.

Expect it slower. A shaded crop takes longer to get there, so sow a bit more than you think you need and be patient with it.

Watch the season shift. A bed shaded by a deciduous tree is a completely different bed in July to what it's in January, so the same patch can carry different crops through the year.

Shop related products

• D.T. Brown Silverbeet Fordhook Giant. The one I'd start a shady bed with.
• D.T. Brown Lettuce All Year. Picks over a long window and handles less sun.
• D.T. Brown Spinach English Medania. Prefers it cool, so shade suits it.
• D.T. Brown Perpetual Spinach. Tougher again and slower to bolt.

Did you know we carry a lot more of the seed range in the garden centre than goes on the website. Radish in several varieties, spring onion, wong bok and kale are all on the rack in the shop. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's there, or browse the D.T. Brown seed range and the wider garden centre range.

Read next

• Brunnings Seed Raising Mix, and why seeds fail to sprout
• Why potting mix stops soaking up water, and how to fix it
• Mushroom compost, what it does and where not to use it

The shadiest corner of my garden grows better lettuce than the good bed does, which I try not to take personally.

Cheers,
Candeece

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