Suitable herbs for the shady herb garden

Suitable herbs for the shady herb garden

Herbal garden in partial shade

The choice for a partially shaded herb garden is still very large, although you can mainly fall back on native species. But even some varieties of Mediterranean herbs tolerate a light penumbra - a look at the variety label can be worthwhile. However, we particularly recommend these herbs for cultivation in light partial shade:

  • various mints (e.g. peppermint, orange mint, brook mint, curly mint ...)
  • Local herbs such as parsley, chives, chervil, meadowsweet, lovage and dill
  • Wild herbs such as Wiesenknopf, meadowfoam, wild garlic or woodruff
  • as well as marigolds and fragrant violets

also read

  • Which herbs are best for the herb garden?
  • The right location for the herb garden
  • The best tips for hedges in shady places

Herb garden in the shade

There is also a small selection of herbs for the deep shade, which mainly grow in forests and are therefore naturally dependent on little light. These include, for example, watercress, wood sorrel, wild garlic, garlic mustard and field horsetail. The lush green peppermint up to 80 centimeters high also thrives in the shade. But be careful: the species listed tend to spread too rapidly and must therefore be hindered in their urge to expand. By the way: A location is considered a place in the shade if it is exposed to the sun for less than four hours a day.

Requirements for the soil

Herbs that thrive in partial shade or shade make certain demands on the supply of nutrients. Before planting, mix the garden soil (which should also be as humus or loamy as possible) with plenty of compost. This serves as a nutrient reserve and at the same time improves the water holding power of the substrate. Give your herbs a good shovel full of compost as fertilizer twice a year. Alternatively, you can also use horn shavings (€ 6.39 at Amazon *) or other, slower flowing fertilizers. In addition, the soil must always be slightly moist.

Tips

Wherever a fragrant green space is to be created in a shady place instead of lawn, you can resort to carpet-forming mint. The carpet pennyroyal, for example, is very suitable, as it even tolerates kicks. Corsican mint can also be used well for this purpose, but is not always completely hardy with us.