IF you have a shady garden, you might dread summer. Not only does it slash your ability to catch good rays, but it can also feel like it wreaks havoc on your garden . While your friends all have sprawling lawns of lush green, you’re doing whatever it takes to keep the minimal grass you have alive.
You don’t have to put up with this, though. In fact, according to one gardener, there are plenty of grasses that can survive a shady British summer . “My favourite grass for part-shade - but it’s particularly hard to get hold of - would be melica uniflora albida,” award winning garden designer Pollyanna Wilkinson shared.
“It’s this very airy little grass that’s got tiny white clusters at the end, which look like dew drops. “My other favourite, hakonechloa macra, can take quite a lot of shade just so long as it’s in well-drained soil.” These two recommendations can survive in part-shade, which Pollyanna says means four to six hours a day of sunlight.
For a garden that receives no sunlight at all, she recommends sowing luzula nivea seeds. “A lot of grasses can handle quite a lot of shade,” she assured. Pollyanna made the revelations on The Ins & Outs podcast , which she shares with interior design expert Jojo Barr.
This grass thrives in shade due to its natural adaptation to woodland environments with low light. It has broad, flat leaves that maximise photosynthesis in diffuse light. What’s more, its shallow, widespread root system efficiently absorbs nutri.
