A garden site that receives as few as two hours of direct sunlight each day can grow vegetables. A garden that gets only dappled sunlight during the day can grow vegetables.

Vegetable grown for his or her leaves and roots are the simplest choices for shady gardens. Salad greens like lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and celery are often grown in shaded gardens. Roots crops like beets, leeks, potatoes, and turnips are often grown in shady gardens.

Fruiting vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants aren’t good choices for shady sites; fruit-setting crops prefer eight or more hours of direct sun every day . But some sorts of fruiting vegetables—determinate or bush tomatoes, for instance , and tomatoes adapted to chill conditions—can grow where there are as few as five to 6 hours of direct sun.

Shade within the garden are often described as deep or full shade, light shade, or partial or dappled shade.

• Deeply shaded or fully shaded describes a garden that receives no direct sun and really little if any reflected sunlight. A garden with deep or dense shade isn’t an honest site for growing vegetables.

• Lightly shaded describes a garden that receives an hour or two of sun every day or is light, airy, and well illuminated by reflected or indirect light for an honest portion of the day. Reflected light might bounce into the garden from a white fence or building. Such a garden might sit under the shade of a high canopy tree or within the shade of a foreign building. Leafy crops and root crops will grow during a lightly shaded garden.

• Partially shaded describes a garden that receives direct sun for 2 to 6 hours and is lightly shaded or receives dappled shade the rest of the day. A partially shaded garden could also be sunny either within the morning or afternoon, but not both—the remainder of the day the garden is fully or light shade. A partially shaded garden can easily grow leafy and root crops, and if the garden receives five hours of sunlight, some fruiting crops may grow there.Leafy lettuce

Leafy crops like lettuce will grow in shaded gardens.

VEGETABLES AND HERBS FOR SHADY GARDENS

Rather than choose crops that will struggle during a shaded garden, choose crops that are adapted to shade.

Vegetables. Vegetable crops that will grow in light to partial shade are arugula, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, Chinese cabbage, herb, endive, escarole, garlic, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, leaf lettuce, leeks, mustard, New Zealand spinach, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, salsify scallion, sorrel, spinach, turnips, and watercress.

Vegetables which will tolerate light to partial shade include: bush beans, summer squash, and determinate or bush tomatoes adapted to chill regions or ready for harvest in 55 days approximately . These varieties often bear the names of cool summer regions like San Francisco , Oregon, New York, Russia, or Siberia, for instance .

Herbs. Herbs that will grow in light to partial shade are angelica, basil, catnip, chervil, chives, costmary, cress, germander, horseradish, lemon balm, lovage, mint, parsley, rosemary, calamus, sweet woodruff, and valerian. Lettuce started.

Start crops for shady gardens indoors to hurry harvest. Transplant seedlings into the garden once they are 4 inches tall.

TIPS FOR GROWING VEGETABLES IN SHADE

• Choose vegetables and herbs adapted to shade; don’t attempt to grow crops that demand full sun.
• Start crops for shady gardens indoors to hurry harvest; germination and early seedling growth can begin under optimal conditions before transplanting to the shady site.
• Expect slower maturation of crops and scale down expectations of size and yield.
• Pruning away low tree branches and cutting down high branches will allow more sunlight to succeed in the garden.
• Painting nearby walls or fences white will allow more light to bounce into the garden. Light-colored paving on driveways or sidewalks adjacent to the shaded gardens will reflect more light.
• Grow crops in containers in order that they will be moved into sunny spots because the seasons change

ADVANTAGES OF GROWING VEGETABLES IN SHADE

Leafy crops grown in partial shade are going to be succulent and freed from bitter taste.
A partially shaded garden can allow for an extended growing period for cool-season crops.
Afternoon shade protects crops from the recent summer sun.