Having a hard time choosing what edible plant to place in a heavily shaded area. - Ask Extension
Hi!
I recently moved into a property that has a lot of larger trees so it is pretty well-shaded I have attached a (poorly drawn) diagram of an empt...
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Having a hard time choosing what edible plant to place in a heavily shaded area. #742065
Asked April 01, 2021, 10:06 PM EDT
Hi!
I recently moved into a property that has a lot of larger trees so it is pretty well-shaded I have attached a (poorly drawn) diagram of an empty area in my garden (grey) which is currently covered in landscaping fabric so nothing is growing there. Based on what I've observed in the time that I've stayed here, I think it would be reasonable to divide it into 3 different areas based on the amount of sunlight-hours.
My general goal for the garden is to make it produce as much food as possible. In this area, I would like to plant hardier perennials that wouldn't require too much work. With shade being the biggest constraint, I have narrowed them down to asparagus, raspberries/blackberries and rhubarb. My idea was Asparagus in the blue area, rhubarb in the purple area and raspberries/blackberries in the orange area. Thus far, I haven't planted perennials in MN yet because my previous place required us to clear everything up before the winter. I know that all 3 take a year or two before being productive so I wanted a second opinion on this arrangement.
Preferably I would have more plants in there so any suggestion would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks!
Best regards,
Bach
Hennepin CountyMinnesota
Expert Response
I don't see an attachment, so please re-send. Note there is a limit to the size so you might have to size it down.
Regarding edible perennials, this is a great idea. The shade will be limiting as most of the edible perennials in Minnesota landscapes require full sun (at least 6 hours a day) in order to bloom and set fruit. You may want to consider removing 1-2 key trees or having your trees pruned - "limbed up" - to allow for more sunlight to reach the planting areas.
Many of the plants you mention also require pollination by bees, so I encourage you to also leave space for pollinator friendly flowers (perennials or annuals) that provide quality nectar and pollen:
Thanks so much for your swift reply. Here's the diagram again - hopefully you can see it this time:
I actually have some perennial flowers doing pretty well under the oak trees already (3rd year based on the previous occupant). One of my friends told me that his blackberries and raspberries were so vigorous that they were having issues fighting it back in the St. Cloud area, and I also remember picking them in the woods as a child so I was hoping that those would be able to survive in the heavily shaded areas. I'm not too concerned about ultra-high productivity at all since this is really just a bonus planting area as I do have a full-sun raised bed area.
One other possibility is to have the raspberries and rhubarbs together and replace the raspberries area in the back with a variety of goodies for the bees :)
I am also interested in the Kiwiberry since I have a pretty long mesh fence that I could convert into trellises - those certainly would have full-sun. However, I am having a hard time finding a nursery that carries them. A recommendation would be very helpful.
Got the diagram - thank you. The deep shade is tough. Rhubarb definitely needs full sun. In deep shade, it will struggle along for a couple years, but the leaves will be small and the petioles (the part we eat) will be thin. Rhubarb is a big "feeder" - it needs nutrition - and much of that is from photosynthesis (needs full sun).
Blackberries are not reliably hardy here like raspberries / black raspberries. However, they all need full sun to - again - photosynthesize and produce energy for growth. Plants that are not planted in optimal growing conditions will just not thrive, and likely be taken over by weeds. You want a garden that grows well and produces for you, but these plants are all full sun plants and will not be long-lived or productive in shade.
You could use your fence in full sun as a trellis for your raspberries however. Our Extension educator in fruit, Annie Klodd, just produced a good video on trellising for raspberries and I imagine you could figure out how to use your fence in this manner. https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-news/planting-and-trellising-raspberries
