In the shade

[Weavie]

Hi - Newbie here. In September our garden is going to be landscaped and as well as raised beds, decking etc there will be a long retainer wall made of sleepers down one side of the garden which is in shade. Can anyone tell me if there are any veggies that will grow in the shade? It's fairly sheltered and as it's going to be a long run it would be a shame not to use it for yummy crops.
Thanks everso for any help you can give me.
Weavie

[nick the grief]

Hi Weavie,

Are they reclamied sleepers or new ones? If they are reclaimed the trouble is they are pickled in creosote & the fumes from this can burn plants & the creosote may leech out in the hot weater that we are having at the moment. If they are new ones & they havein't been treated in creosote the worlds your oyster ... well veg bed!

Most things grow better in the sun but things like lettuce will grow in the shade.

If it were up to me I'd have this as a shady border with things like ferns, Azalea's & rhodedendrons & stuff like that in & have the sunnier bit for my veggies which can look just as good as normal plants - tell your landscape desiginer that you want your garden not what he thinks you want & consign the veg plot to the shade

[Alice]

Hello Weavie, and welcome. Apart from lettuce I don't know of any other veggies that will do well in shade. Most things want a bit of sun. If you can move your plan round there are planty of plants that will grow in shade. A good climbing rose for shade is Zepherin Drouhin - pink, scented, and one of the very few roses that will do wll without sunshine. Enjoy your new garden and let us know how you get on.

[Weavie]

Thanks for good advice. They're new sleepers thank goodness. I've been watching the garden and the sun today very carefully so I'm re-drawing and re-designing. There's a part of the shady bit that does get the sun from about 1.00pm. We love lettuce so that's great! Also, thanks Alice re climbing rose; the beds will be up against a 6ft fence so have noted name. I understand that the raised beds should not be more than 4ft wide - what do you guys think? I have no experience and would welcome your views. Thanks again!

[Alice]

Hello again Weavie, yes that's right, the raised beds should not be more than 4 feet wide. The idea is you should never walk on your raised beds, it just compacts them down, so if they are only 4 feet wide you can reach into them from both sides without standing on them.
If you're looking for other climbers for your fence which will grow in shade, climbing hydrangea does quite well.

[Weavie]

Excellent. I wondered why, now it makes sense. I wouldn't have thought twice about trampling all over them to get to the veggies! That goodness for this forum. As I'll be growing potatoes in containers, do the beds have to be deep deep or just deep?

[nick the grief]

Hi Weavie,

There's no harm in standing on the beds, it just means you have to dig them every year.

The Idea of raised beds is that you dig them really well once & then just give them a good forking (hope I speeled that right ) every now and again but add compost or well rotted manure each year. If you do a rotation then the act od digging up yer spuds will constitute the forking.

As to Roses, Yep Zepherine Drouhin is a beauty lovely scent & no thorns also there is a lighter pink sport called Kathleen Harrop that is worth looking out if you can find one.

[Weavie]

Thanks - I've so much to learn! No thorns does and lovely scent does it for me! Looking forward to shaded area after all.

[andrewo]

In the shade, ho hum, how much shade? What's it's orientation? There are certain cherries now that do well on north facing areas (normally shady) but you are looking to the lettuce family, no shame here as there are hundreds, you could also look at nasturtiums, they are edible, some hops will scramble up the wall - thus giving you green manure and beer! Let me know a little about the orientation, if it does get some sun, late afternoon, you may have a chance with a few others.

[leona]

ive found beetroot prefers dappled shade to full sun. my full sun ones always wilt badly

[Weavie]

Well it will get sun in the afternoons from about 1.00pm. It's about 100ft long and will be deeper at one end than the other as it's a retaining wall. It will be lawn, sleepers, soil and then 6ft fence. Hope that helps & thanks.

[andrewo]

Well rhubarb will do well at the deeper end, as it gets sun in the afternoon you could go for fan trained cherries and espalier apples underplanted with chives and oregano (good companion plants), then lettuce or other fruit such as strawberries.

[Weavie]

That sounds wonderful, so much more than I thought I was going to be able to have. I have some Rhubarb seed so will give it a go.
I love the idea of fruit trees as the land our house is built on was originally an orchard. We also love beetroot. I have some growing quite near the calabrese and as you say it's doing well in the dappled shade of the big leaves. Bring on the diggers!

[bramble]

Just to let you know Weavie, rhuberb seed will take about two years to mature to the stage of being able to pull and eat it. I sowed rhuberb seed early this year and got about fifteen plants which are doing well. It will be another year before i can harvest it and then only a little until it builds up strength.

[Weavie]

Ah! I'm either going to have to be very patient or can I get 'plants'? I've read that aparagus is pretty much the same?