Landscaping in Dry Shade

Plants suited to grow in dry shade gardening conditions are listed here. Choose your plants for season of bloom, flowers or fruit, fall color, attracting pollinators, etc. so you have interest throughout the year. A dry, shady habitat such as a pine, or broadleaf oak and maple woods will generally have shallow soils and dense tree roots which can make establishing new plants challening. Compost with chopped leaves, pine needles, or other material will help dry shade gardens get through dry spells. Consider the following species in dry shade environments. 

Perennials (Forbs)

Anemone quinquefolia - Wood Anemone
Aquilegia canadensis - Wild Columbine
Asarum canadense - Wild Ginger
Chrysogonum virginianum - Green and gold
Conoclinium coelestinum - Blue Mistflower
Dicentra eximia - Wild Bleeding Heart
Eurybia divaricate - White Wood Aster
Helianthus divaricatus - Woodland Sunflower
Heuchera Americana - American Alumroot
Maianthemum racemosum - False Solomon’s plume
Packera aurea - Golden Ragwort
Podophyllum peltatum - Mayapple
Polygonatum biflorum - Solomon’s Seal
Pycnanthemum incanum - Hoary Mountain Mint
Solidago caesia - Bluestem goldenrod

Ferns

Dyopteris intermedia - Evergreen Wood Fern
Dyopteris marginalis - Marginal Shield-fern

Vines

Clematis virginiana - Virgin’s Bower
Gelsemium sempervirens - Caroline jessamine
Parthenocissus quinquefolia - Virginia Creeper
Wisteria frutescens - American Wisteria

Shrubs

Clethra alnifolia - Sweet pepperbush
Ceanothus americanus - New Jersey Tea
Euonymus americanus - Strawberry-bush
Gaultheria procumbens - Wintergreen
Hamamelis virginiana - Witch Hazel
Hydrangea arborescens - Wild Hydrangea
Hypericum prolificum - Shrubby St. John’s Wort
Lindera Benzoin - Spicebush
Sambucus canadensis - Common Elderberry
Staphylea trifolia - Bladdernut
Stweartia malacondendron - Silky camelia
Vaccinium corymbosum - Highbush Blueberry
Virburnum dentatum - Arrow-wood
Viburnum prunifolium - Black-haw

Trees

Amelanchier arborea - Downy Serviceberry
Asimina triloba - Pawpaw, Common pawpaw
Carpinus caroliniana - American Hornbeam
Cercis canadensis - Eastern Redbud
Chinoanthus virginicus - Fringe Tree
Magnolia virginiana - Sweetbay Magnolia
Oxydendrum arboretum - Sourwood