Apples, pears and plums prefer a more open position, but cooking apples that mature early can tolerate light shade. Vegetables in shade Full sun: Well-chosen plants with modest water requirements will thrive in full sun, but shade loving plants will usually only do well in sun if well-watered in summer. In winter full sun can be quite feeble and sun loving plants are often grown in front of white painted walls to maximise light. Beetroot, carrots (baby), chard, kale, kohl rabi, leaf salads, lettuce, peas, runner beans and spinach are all relatively tolerant of light shade. Sowing seeds in modules in bright conditions and then transplanting will get them off to an early start with an established root system. All green plants depend on sunlight to manufacture the sugars that go to providing energy for the plant and for making the organic molecules that make up plants. Shade leads to lower sugar production and reduced growth and flowering and ultimately, in plants ill adapted to shade, death. Light shade: Mulching after planting improves water retention, and combined with autumn rather than spring planting, allows some plants to establish more effectively over winter.Many plants that don’t insist on full sun will grow well in light shade but often with reduced flowering.

Plants can be considered as ‘shade avoiders’ and ‘shade toleraters’, to a greater or lesser degree. Sunlight is a mixture of wavelengths but the presence of shade alters the balance of colours which sophisticated systems within plants can measure and alter their growth according to the shade that they encounter. Morello cherries and William’s pears can crop moderately in light shade and are recommended for east and north facing walls. Cordon or fan trained redcurrants, whitecurrants and gooseberries are also sometimes recommended for this position.Deep or heavy shade: Under conifers, especially Leyland cypress, or evergreen trees such as holly or holm oak, where it is dry and sheltered in summer and winter, often with dead needles and debris creating acidic conditions, it is likely that only a very limited selection of extremely shade tolerant plants will survive. Dappled shade: Shade loving plants will perform well, but may need watering. The addition of plenty of well-rotted farmyard manure, garden compost or leafmould will help improve soil structure and aid establishment of plants, either dug in before planting or applied as mulch every year after planting. Plants can ‘measure’ shade by using pigments that can detect far red and blue light and modify their growth habit in proportion to the degree of shade.

Dappled shade: Mainly reflected or diffused light, for example through fairly open tree canopies all day. Dappled shade can approximate to light or open shade where sunlight filters through especially lightly branched and leaved deciduous trees such as silver birch. Changes in red and blue light caused by the effects of shade in a garden trigger shade avoiders to elongate their stems and try to grow into more light above structures and bigger plants. Shade avoiders seldom make good plants for shady areas of the garden. A typical example is of most climbers, a plant form well adapted to clamber over obstacles to grow into the light. Although climbers are not well suited to shade there are some that can be used on east and north facing walls where there is little or no direct sunlight.