Can You Grow A Vegetable Garden In The Shade?
Growing vegetables at home is not only fun, but rewarding. After all of your hard work planting, watering, weeding, and fertilizing your garden, there is nothing better than harvesting a big basket full of fresh homegrown vegetables. However, if you’re like us and you have a yard with a lot of shade, you may be wondering if you will be able to have a successful vegetable garden.
You can grow a vegetable garden in the shade if you have at least 3-4 hours of sun per day and choose the right plants. Some vegetable plants even appreciate the shade, especially in hotter climates. Don’t give up if your garden is more shaded than what is ideal. There are many veggies that you can test out to see what will work in the shade filled garden.
Which vegetables will grow in shade?
When purchasing plants at a local nursery, look for vegetables that are identified as “partial shade” or “partial shade.” For further guidance on vegetable plants that tolerate shade well, we have put together a list of the types of plants that you can try. Keep in mind that with shade gardens, it may take a bit of trial and error to figure out what grows best in your specific conditions.
Leafy Greens
This family of vegetables grows quite well in shade and the shade can actually be beneficial during the hottest days of the growing season. Shade can help to keep the leaves tender and prevent the leaves from developing a bitter taste from too much intense heat. A shaded garden can help maintain an ideal temperature for these leafy greens despite the hottest summer days. Some great leafy green options to try in your shaded vegetable garden include:
- Lettuce
- Kale
- Spinach
- Swiss Chard
- Collards
- Mustard Greens
- Arugula
Root Vegetables
This family of vegetables grows well in shade, but you may find that they have a little longer growing period to be ready to harvest if you only have the minimum amount of sun. We have had great luck with all of these in our garden that receives 3-4 hours of dappled sun, but we usually pick only a few each year due to limited space.
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Beets
- Radishes
- Turnips
- Rutabagas
- Onions
- Garlic
Brassica Vegetables
With this family of plants, it may be helpful if you have a little extra sunlight each day, around 4-6 hours. You may find that these flower a bit later with only partial sun, but overall the cooler weather vegetable plants do well in shade.
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Brussel Sprouts
- Turnips
- Cabbage
Herbs
We have always had great luck with herbs in our shaded backyard. We typically do not grow these in our garden, but instead in pots or other smaller herb boxes on our deck which is also mostly shaded. Our favorite shade tolerant herbs to grow are:
- Mint
- Chives
- Rosemary
- Parsley
- Basil
- Cilantro
Peas & Beans
Peas and beans also grow well in shade with about 4-5 hours of sunlight per day. We find that as we pick them regularly, it encourages continued growth. If you’re like us and you don’t get as much as 4 – 5 hours of sunlight each day, you may find that you do not get as large of a harvest as a garden with the ideal amount of sun.
- String beans
- Snap peas
- Snow peas
- Fava beans
Tomatoes
Tomatoes have their own category because we have always had great luck with these even with only 3-4 hours of sunlight. We provide plenty of water and pick the tomatoes often when they are ready to encourage new growth. But despite the recommendation that these plants get more sun, we have never had a problem, and in fact, the plants go wild and we couldn’t hold them back if we tried!
What vegetables grow best in shade?
| Type | Ideal hours of sunlight needed |
|---|---|
| Leafy Greens | 3-4 hours |
| Root Vegetables | 4-5 hours |
| Brassica Vegetables | 4-6 hours |
| Herbs | 3-4 hours |
| Peas & Beans | 4-5 hours |
Problems with shaded vegetable gardens
When we first moved into our home, we were eager to plant our own vegetable garden. We are under a lot of trees, but being new to gardening at the time, we were naive enough to think that our vegetables would still thrive with a lot of attention and watering. I will say that everything we planted grew nice green and lush, however, when it came to the fruits or veggies, there was not much to report.
The problem with lack of sun was that the plants themselves would grow, but without that energy from the sun, the plants could not produce fruits or vegetables. We found that we would get maybe one or two fruits and then no more. Our efforts ended up being a waste for the small harvest that our plants were producing.
What we grew in our shade garden
Below is a list of what we grew in our shade garden and the results that we had. Keep in mind that we are in hardy zones 7a and 7b and our home is under a lot of large trees providing only 3-4 hours of sunlight per day. I always recommend experimenting with everything you want to grow and see how they do in your specific conditions.
- Zucchini – The plants grew quite large, but we only got 1-2 zucchini from the plants. Once we picked these, the plant did not produce anymore.
- Cucumber – The plant grew moderately well and produced 2-3 cucumbers in all.
- Bell Peppers – The plant did not grow very well and only produced a few small peppers that would not reach full size and were often in odd shapes.
- Tomatoes – Our tomato plants went wild and produced a lot of tomatoes. This is something we continue to grow in our garden year after year and have great luck. If you have deer, beware…they love to steal the tomatoes right off the vine.
- Watermelon & Cantaloupe – The vines went wild on these, but never produced any fruit.
Experiment in your shaded garden
Don’t be discouraged if you only have a shaded area for your vegetable garden. Try everything once and see what works in your hardy zone and in your specific garden conditions. In general, though, the vegetables listed above will probably give you the most success when working with only 3-4 hours of shade per day.