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“You can’t control the weather” is a common enough gardening phrase. But you can control, to a degree, the amount of shade or sun your plants receive. Even though you can’t move the clouds or redesign your house, you can still select which plants you’ll put in a certain area.

Nature has cleverly already solved the problem of which plants grow best in full sun, which in partial shade and which in perpetual shade. All you have to do is observe your gardening environment and pick the appropriate plant for a given spot.

Shade 

Before you can pick a proper plant you have to know what kind of shade you have.

‘Full sun area’ is just what the phrase says, an area that receives a full day of sunshine, anywhere from 6-12 hours or more during the summer, depending on where you live.

Partial sun or partial shade occurs in areas where there is ample light, but it is supplied indirectly. This happens under awnings, beneath large or heavily-leafed trees or under any other kind of covered area.

All the light received, which is usually plenty for most plants, is reflected light. As it reflects off different surfaces it usually loses a lot of energy, which means there’s less for the plant.

But that ‘less’ is often just the right amount for healthy growth without producing excessive drying or burning. That helps keep the soil warm and the plant’s leaves well supplied with sunlight for photosynthesis.

‘Full shade’, by contrast, means an area that receives very little light, even indirectly. It’s not completely dark, but it is dim and all the light reaching it has been reflected many times.

That causes it to lose most of its energy, leaving little for the plant. Soil in such areas is often no more than cool at best.

Very few flowering plants do well in full shade, but it’s ideal for many kinds of ground cover. Mosses are the most obvious example.

Walk around a heavily shaded forest and you’ll find moss growing. It’s often moist and accompanied by other types of fungi, wild mushrooms and the like.

A wide variety of plants, many of which produce beautiful flowers grow well in partial shade. In such areas there is often no more than 1-2 hours of direct sunlight per day, though there will be several hours of reflected light. The sunlight it does receive will rarely occur during the hottest hours of the day.

Hostas do well in partial shade. Their large leaves are great for absorbing the available light and they produce beautiful pale flowers on long stocks during late Spring and early Summer.

Impatiens also do well in partial shade and produce a lovely pink or orange colored flower. Foxgloves, too, can thrive well in partial shade, provided the soil is warm enough.

Sun

Most trees are very happy to soak up as much sunlight as is available. Cedars, pines, tamarack and many more all do very well. Fruit trees, especially citrus, can take 8 hours or more of full, hot sun every day for months and bloom like crazy. But, flowers vary.

‘Full sun’ means 6 or more hours per day of direct sunlight. Since it’s direct, any energy not taken by the atmosphere is delivered right to the plant.

That means plenty of energy for photosynthesis, producing very green leaves and ample flowering – provided the plant doesn’t get so much light it burns and it has sufficient water.

Foxgloves, for example, do well in partial shade, but they also thrive very well in full sun. Their tall stalks will be lined with flowers when the soil is warm and they get adequate water.

A completely different looking plant, yarrow, also does very well in full sun. Resembling a fern, with small white flowers, they can take as much sun as they can get.

Since there’s so much sun available in such areas, it’s important to keep the soil at an appropriate level of moisture and well fed.

Plants need a certain amount of nitrogen and phosphorous, which they can not get sometimes from the poor soils found in many places around the country.

Keeping plants well supplied with nutrients, however, is easy even under very sunny conditions. For small, potted plants a small amount of liquid fertilizer is enough. How much depends on the plant and the pot, follow the directions.

For moderate to large-sized gardens a few bags of inexpensive dry or moist fertilizer is a good idea.

Manure based fertilizer works well for large gardens. It typically comes in 30lb to 50lb bags, and can simply be shaken over the soil right out of the bag or from a dispenser. Keeping the ground moist, but not wet, at least every other day is important for most flowering plants.

Cacti, of course, and other drought tolerant plants can go long periods on very little water. Their unique structures allow them to retain moisture internally, with very little loss through the leaf, much better than irises or pansies or foxgloves and other common flowering plants.

Yarrow can tolerate low levels of water well, as does aloe and verbena. Several types of vine are very drought tolerant, thriving on lots of sun and little water. Bougainvillea and wisteria are two examples.

Many shrubs get all the water they need from the soil, provided you don’t live in the desert or where it’s too rocky or sandy. Those types of soil don’t retain water efficiently, which can be an advantage in some circumstances.

Then, of course, citrus trees, walnuts, pines, tamarack and others will do very well in dry soil. Most people tend to overwater their orange trees, for example, especially those in big pots.

Pick the right kind of plant for your soil and amount of sun and you’re well on your way to a beautiful landscape.