Does anyone know what vegatables that need little to no direct sunlight? I have a flower bed that I want to convert to a vegatable bed but I have a large tree that shades it pretty much all day. It gets some late day sun but it is mostly shade. Any ideas what would work good there? I want to expand my garden but am limited on space so I thought I would "reclaim" the flower bed for garden use. I'm in Zone 4 in SD. This bed is around a basement window and under a bedroom window. A couple of years ago when we actually got rain, the runoff would pile up in that corner and leak into my basement. I put in a raised bed to keep the water off the house and provide a place for it to be absorbed. The water runs in this area as my St Bernard has made a race course right there and the ground is now so compacted the water just runs off or sits there. :no: Building the bed has helped.
All plants need some sun. You would probably have a hard time growing much of anything in that much shade plus you have to consider how roots from a big tree affect anything growing nearby. If you wanted to prune them back some it might help. We have 100 year old maples around our house and we don't bother trying to grow anything around them; hard enough keeping grass over their roots. DEE
Keep up the ideas please! I know there are flowers or shrubs that do well in shade but I need more garden and less flowers right now. I have a limited space and need to maximize it for my family of 6 I will be pruning back said tree this year but the flower bed will still not get much direct sun light. I forgot to mention earlier that this is a slightly raised bed so I don't have to worry about tree roots.
That will definetely help! Thank you so much for the great ideas! Now if it will quit snowing I will be in luck.
Shrubs are mostly quite shade tolerant. You could grow things like currants, bramble fruit (blackberry, raspberry, etc.), and many other lesser know small fruits. You could grow some herbaceous perennials, such as verities of balm, mints, sage, etc.. Some others you could benefit from would be wild ginger, nasturtium, carpeting brambles, liquorice, and various kinds of mushrooms.
