Shade gardens are – as the words imply – gardens that grow and thrive in shades. The common knowledge is that plants need lot of sunlight to grow.
They need sunlight to make food and hence exposure to sunlight is vital. However, there are many plants that can grow in shades too.
It is no surprise that rain forests that house some of the tallest trees on this earth have pretty dense undergrowth too, though there is not a lot of sunlight penetrating through the thick canopy.
The same logic applies in shade gardens too. If you are keen on exploring the idea of a shade garden, there are something that you must know about them:
The plants that grow in shades are typically not as colorful and bright as ones that grow in sunlight. Ample sunlight may not be necessary, but lack of it does have its effects.
Flowering plants rarely blossom in shades. Burgeoning flowers require a lot of energy and hence lot of sunlight. So don’t expect your shade gardens to be all aromatic and flowery.
Likewise, edible plants do not grow in shades too. So you are mainly looking at decorative plants for your personal shade garden.
While the prospect of a shade garden may seem not very exciting, don’t be mistaken by the limitations of shade. There are a wide variety of ornamental plants that are ideally suited for shade gardens. You can play with the shapes of leaves, size of plants, and their hues to create an interesting mosaic in your shade garden.
Depending on how shady your garden is, you can pick from a wide range of plants. It may seem unreal, but there are plants of all shapes and sizes that can fit your shade garden idea. You can choose from Conifers, evergreen shrubs, annuals, climbers or vines, deciduous shrubs, perennials and even grass for your shade garden idea.
One of the best ideas for creating your shade gardens is to use potted plants. There are many advantages of potted plants; the biggest one is that they are mobile. In constrained sunlight environment, you can move the pots around to ensure that the plants get a decent share of sunlight.
Besides, during harsh and cold winters, potted plants can be stored in warmer regions of the house, thereby protecting them.
Another idea worth experimenting with is using a collage of plants tolerant to varying levels of shade. There are plants that survive in dense shades, others that require partial shade and some others that need at least dappled shade.
If you observe your shade garden and make keen notes of the manner in which the sunlight traverses your garden in a day, you can place the plants in appropriate locations to make the most of the sunlight and still have a thriving garden.
When you mix a match shade tolerance with the variety of plants, you can create an artistic shade garden.
In summary, shade gardens are as great and exciting as maintain regular gardens. Though you may be limited in terms of colors (due to limitation on flowering plants), you can still create great gardens.
You need to toy with ideas around potted plants, shade tolerance and plant varieties to make visually pleasing gardens.
They need sunlight to make food and hence exposure to sunlight is vital. However, there are many plants that can grow in shades too. 
