Shrubs and Trees That Withstand Shade

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Growing trees and shrubs in shade can be a challenge if you choose plants that prefer sunny conditions. If you choose plants that are adapted to shady conditions, shade gardening is quite enjoyable and barely any work at all.

There are many shrubs and trees that prefer shade. They are understory plants that like the company of tall trees or overarching shrubs. Many have colorful blooms or foliage.

Choosing shrubs and trees for shade

When choosing shrubs and trees for shade be sure to consider the following: (1) will the plant grow in my regions or growing zone; (2) what height and width will best fit the location; (3) is the plant evergreen or deciduous; (4) does the plant flower, have interesting foliage, or or colorful branches (for winter interest).

Planting in shade

Keep in mind that the soil under large trees can be poor or dry; trees draw up a lot of moisture and nutrients. Preparing the planting area for shade-loving shrubs and trees may require amending the soil with organic matter. Adding aged compost on a regular basis can transform poor soil. If you find tree roots in the spot where you want to plant, you can remove any roots less than 1-inch (2.5cm) in diameter without hurting the tree.

Dig a large hole for shrubs and trees, larger than you would in a sunny spot, then add plenty of aged compost or commercial organic planting mix; this will help new planting become esstablished.

Trees that withstand shade

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Acer circinatum	25’	5-9	Vine Maple
Acer pensylvanicum	36’	3-7	Striped Maple
Acer spicatum	25’	3-7	Mountain Maple
Amelanchier spp.	36’	4-9	Serviceberries
Cercis canadensis	30’	4	Eastern Redbud
Cornus florida	25’	5-8	Flowering Dogwood
Ilex spp.	10’-15’	5-9	Hollies
Podocarpus macrophyllus	50’	7-10	Yew Podocarpus
Prunus pensylvanica	30’	6-8	Pin Cherry
Rhododendron maximum	12’-36’	4-9	Rosebay Rhododendron
Thuja occidentalis	10-15’	2-9	American Arborvitae
Tsuga spp.	25’-50’	3-8	Hemlocks

Shrubs that withstand shade

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Abelia spp.	5’-10’	7-9	Abelias
Acanthopanax sieboldianus	9’	4	Free-leaved Aralia
Alnus spp.	9’-40’	2-7	Alders
Amelanchier spp.	6’-25’	2-7	Serviceberries
Ardisia crispa	2’-5’	6-9	Coral Ardisia
Aronia spp.	2’-9’	4-9	Chokeberries
Aucuba japonica	10’	6-10	Japanese Aucuba
Azara microphylla	12’-18’	8-10	Boxleaf Azara
Berberis spp.	2’-10’	5-9	Barberries
Brunfeldsia spp.	3’	10	Raintree

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Calycanthus floridus	8’	5-9	Carolina Allspice
Camelia japonica	3’-10’	7-9	Common Camellia
Camelia sinensis	30’	9	Tea Camellia
Chamaecyparis obtusa	2’-15’	4-8	Hinoki Cypress
Chimonanthus praecox	8’-12’	7-9	Wintersweet
Chionanthus virginicus	10’	4-9	Fringetree
Clethra alnifolia	24”-36”	3-9	Summersweet
Colutea arborescens	10’	6-8	Bladder-senna
Comptonia peregrina	24”-36”	2-8	Sweet fern

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Cornus spp.	1.5-24’	2-8	Dogwoods
Corylopsis spp.	10-18’	5-7	Winter hazels
Corylus spp.	15-30’	3-4	Hazels
Cotoneaster salicifolius	15’	5-8	Cotoneaster
Daphne mezereum	3’	4-8	February Daphne
Daphne odora	4’	7-9	Winter Daphne
Diervilla sessilifolia	3’-5’	4-8	Southern Bush-honeysuckle
Euonymus japonicus	12’	6-9	Evergreen Euonymus
Fatsia japonica	5’-12’	8-10	Fatsia
Fothergilla spp.	8’	5-8	Fothergillas
Fuchsia magellanica	3’-6’	6-9	Magellan Fuchsia

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Gaultheria shallon	4’	6-8	Salal
Gaylussacia baccata	18”-3’	3-7	Box-huckleberry
Hamamelis spp.	6’-12’	3-8	Witch-hazels
Hardenbergia comptoniana	10’	9-11	Compton Coral-pea
Hydrangea macrophylla	6’	6-9	Garden Hydrangea
Hydrangea quercifolia	6’	5-9	Oak-leaf Hydrangea
Hypericum spp.	1’-6’	6-9	St. John’s-wort
Ilex spp.	9’-30’	3-9	Hollies
Illicium floridanum	8’	7-9	Florida Anise Tree
Jacobina spp.	2-5’	10	Plume-flower

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Kalmia spp.	3’-10’	2-8	Mountain-laurels
Laurus nobilis	30’	8-11	Sweet Bay, Laurel
Leucothoe fontanesiana	3’-6’	5-8	Drooping Leucothoe
Ligustrum spp.	6-15’	3-9	Privets
Lindera benzoin	10’	4-9	Spice Bush
Lonicera spp.	3’-15’	2-9	Honeysuckles
Lycium barbarum	5’-11’	6-9	Chinese box thorn
Magnolia virginiana	28’	6-9	Sweet Bay
Mahonia spp.	10”-12’	6-9	Mahonias, Holly Grapes
Michelia figo	5’-11’	9-12	Banana-shrub
Myrica spp.	5’-9’	2-6	Wax Myrtle

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Nandina domestica	3’-6’	6-11	Nandina
Osmanthus fragrans	3’-10’	7-9	Sweet Osmanthus
Pachysandra terminalis	10”	5-8	Japanese Spurge
Paxistima canbyi	16”	7-8	Canby Pachistima
Philesia magellanica	3’	7-8	Magellan Box-lily
Phillyrea latifolia	28’	7-9
Photinia spp.	10-20’	4-9	Photinias
Pieris	3-12’	4-7	Andromedas
Pittosporum tobira	6’-10’	8-10	Japanese Pittosporum
Pyracantha spp.	3’-15’	6-9	Firethorns

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Rhamnus spp.	6’-10’	7-9	Buckthorns
Rhaphiolepis umbellata	1’-5’	7-11	Yeddo-Hawthorn
Rhododendron spp.	4’-20’	2-9	Azaleas, Rhododendorns
Rhodotypos scandens	4’	5-8	Jetbead
Rubus odoratus	8’	3-7	Flowering Raspberry
Ruscus aculeatus	1’-3’	7-9	Butcher’s Broom
Sabal minor	3’-6’	9-12	Dwarf Palmetto
Sambucus canadensis	12’	4-9	Blueberry Elder
Sambucus racemosa	10’	3-7	Red Elder
Sarcococca ruscifolia	3’	8-9	Sarcococcas
Sasa palmata	6’	7-11	Bamboo
Severinia buxifolia	6’	8-9	Chinese Box-orange
Skimmia japonica	4’-15’	7-9	Japanese Skimmia
Stachyurus praecox	5’	7-9
Symphoricarpos spp.	3-6’	3-7	Snowberry

Botanical Name	Height	Zone	Common Name
Taxus spp.	3’-20’	3-7	Yews
Thuja spp.	3’-25’	2-7	Arborvitaes
Torreya spp.	40’-70’	7-11	Torreya
Tsuga canadensis	2’-10’	4-8	Common Hemlock vars.
Vaccinium spp.	8”-5’	2-7	Blueberries
Viburnum spp.	3’-12’	2-9	Viburnums
Vinca minor	4”-8”	4-9	Periwinkle
Xanthorhiza simplicissima	2’	3-9	Yellow-root
Zamia pumila	4’	9-12	Coontie
Zenobia pulverulenta	6’	5-8	Dusty Zenobia

Also of interest:
Shade Gardening

Annuals and Perennials for Shade

Annuals and Perennials for Part Shade