Feeling quite foolish and frustrated. I chose the location assuming it would get enough sun if I trimmed a couple of branches overhead. But in my excitement to get started, I built and planted before confirming. Nothing has been planted for more than a week, so is there a way to move it without shocking all the plants too badly?
Bonus question! Any ideas when the better spot is on a slope with underground cables underneath (ie, can't dig out a terrace)?
by Jacrava
21 Comments
Build more. You know you want to…
Also made the same mistake last year, and this year using what we learned to do better this year. It’s a process!! We still did get a lot of veggies even in the shady parts.
That just your shade garden now for leafy greens. Need a fruiting garden square 🙂
I thought for sure this was the mildly infuriating sub. 🤣
Use that one for lettuce and build more in sunnier spots
I adore my shade bed! Summers are so brutally hot that it’s the best place for many types of vegetables.
Don’t beat yourself up, just pivot a little with your plant selection. What’s your current plant list?
Agree with everyone else that this spot is great for greens.
If the best full-sun spot is on a slope, you can make the downhill side of your raised bed taller than the uphill side, and make the other two sides triangular. Or use stacks of stones or cement blocks to mark out the raised bed so you can vary the wall height more easily. Or do a deep box raised up on legs (uneven legs in this case, or bury parts of the uphill legs), I have a friend who has a big garden like that. Do it quick and put your sun loving plants in there!
Does it get any sun at all? From the small shadows maybe this was taken at noonish? If it gets a few hours of morning / evening light that might be enough for some things. I had good success last year planting broccoli against a fence, which only gave it a few hours of morning and evening sun. What did you plant there?
My very first tomato garden was great. But neighbors planted arborvitae (a fast growing evergreen often used for privacy), and now it is lettuce only☹️ Every few years I build a new small garden plot further to the east. Zone 4, no real need for shady garden.
Don’t feel to bad, it happens to the best of us. I put a raised bed down only to have it get choked out by ground elder coming up from underneath. I super charged the freaking weeds. 😩
Oh noooooo! 😂
Lol we all do it. But like others said you can still grow some good stuff there.
Just build 3 more exactly like it and place them in a square.
Your local university extension office will definitely have resources and classes to help you become a better gardner, and one primary method is the Master Gardner program.
The program (Google for your local Master Gardner info) is all about sharing the passion for gardening – whether it be for growing food or for ornamental gardners. They offer short classes, usually held in a public venue such as a library, and gardening workshops on dozenss of topics. (Who would have thought strawberries were so needy?) They also have an incredible wealth of knowledge on native and invasive species. Our local chapter even has a telephone “hotline” for gardening questions and an office where you can get plants and pests identified – and care/removal advice.
Its a great resource, and they will definitely be able to give you much better advice – especially relevant to your region – than anyone here online.
Filtered shade ? Some peppers actually love it
Great location! Onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lettuce, carrots.
Dam in tx i alreasy had to put up shade cloth. I wish i had a big trree to cover it all
Consider a few raised beds, then you can move them to wherever you want and avoid digging.
I would totally keep the first garden, plenty of things can grow in the shade, even if it is more of an ornamental garden.
A shady bed is a gift for the lettuce lover in your life. You’ll do in June and July what I can’t. Keep it. But add other beds for the heat lovers.
Been there done that. Now everything is in the front yard this year lol. I feel your pain.
I did this also in the first home I owned. Looked like the sunniest spot… for a few hours 😉 just adjust and move on!