What edibles can I plant in my shaded yard?

[1iora]

You guys are so encouraging. My hopes and dreams are back!

Seriously. I'm going to plant a blueberry bush. And an elderflower one.

I'm not sure about any of this, but one of my neighbors has either a rosemary or something that looks just like it along their fence. It's a decent size, though not the biggest I've seen here. That makes me think it must get some light, since the internet says rosemary needs light. Is that a logical conclusion? Right next to the rosemary bush is an empty pot. But it has a tomato trellis in it. I wonder if that worked out for them!

My other neighbor has a rhododendron along their fence which still has lots of green leaves. There's a small-to-medium tree in their yard which probably has leaves that extend over the rhododendron in the summer.

I think I better meet my neighbors.

 

[catjac1975]

You are doing a good job with observation. I have always observed what was in bloom in other peoples yards whenever I had a lull in color. I have been told that my home is know as "The house with all the flowers." We also grow much of our own food. I never give up on a type of plant that I want to grow, What won't grow one year might thrive the next. Success changes seasonally.

 

[1iora]

Guess who Google Maps made happy? This girl!

Check it out:

This picture was taken August 28, 2010. My yard is the brown one - the second plot on the left of the drive, with the blurry silver car on the other side of the fence. The sun goes about 6 feet into my yard. Am I correct in assuming that because there's that much sun in late August there will be a good amount of sun for the majority of the growing season? I don't know much about it, but I'm thinking that, assuming that satellite shot was taken at high noon, that area of my yard will get at least two hours of sun in late August. And therefore more closer to the summer solstice. Do you guys think that makes sense?

Also, assuming I get 4 hours of direct sun, and then shade the rest of the time, would that be enough to grow fruit?

 

[digitS']

1iora, that looks good to me.

August 28th is a long ways from June 21st, when the sun is highest in the sky. In fact, it is closer to September 21st, when the sun is at the halfway point on its way to crowding the horizon thru the winter. Think of it this way: April 21st should look a lot like that picture! April, May, June, July, August -- Hey!

Yes, it looks like the photo was taken very close to mid-day. Thru the spring and all but the last month of summer, it looks to me that about 1/2 of your backyard will be in full sun right around noon. There are trees in both your neighbors' yards - kill 'em!

No, no! Just kidding . By fruit, are you thinking tree fruit? A tree would be competitive with the neighbors' trees and could make some height and remain in the running for sunlight. Or, it was blueberry bushes - right? I imagine they should be okay but don't really know much of anything about blueberries.

What do you think about strawberries in containers or a raised bed along the fence? Strawberries can have mildew problems but I've found that they are one fruit that can take quite a bit of shade and still produce.

Planting melons and training them up the fence might work, also. They can also have mildew problems and there may not be quite enuf sunlight during mid-day there. I'm also somewhat fixated on melon, right now .

Cucumbers are a little more shade-tolerant than some things . . . I mean, they ARE fruits .

Whatever the case, you certainly have some sun for leafy greens!

What a superb way to use google!

Steve

 

[1iora]

Thanks Steve All those suggestions sound fantastic, especially the strawberries. Yum! I'll have to keep any mildew-susceptible things further away from the fence, which I'm sure gets a little soggy.

New challenge: finding appropriate lumber for a raised bed without driving all the way to Annapolis.

 

[vfem]

Ooooh... I want to throw in my 2 cents since Steve was so thourough!

If you wanna go fruit tree without competition, I've been dying to try Espalier with some apple trees: http://growingwithstarkbros.com/?p=1016

I think these would be great for shade as a filler against the house and away from your production space: http://parkseed.com/caladium-red-ruffles/p/07224-PK-5/

Use that fence to its best! Try something like this: http://www.shelterness.com/diy-colorful-vertical-garden-on-a-fence/

or this: http://www.micasarevista.com/guia/manualidades/manualidades154/manualidad.shtml

or this: http://www.birdsandblooms.com/Backyard-Projects/Small-Garden-Projects/Tipsy-Pots-Project

or some fun panels: http://floragrubb.com/florasblog/?cat=25

I spend way too much time searching for fun ideas!!!

 

[1iora]

Great ideas, thanks! I like the idea of putting pots on the fence... and an espalier tree would be fantastic (I just came across these myself using stumbleupon, which it turns out is actually kind of fantastic), but since this is a co-op and I don't own the place/am not sure I'm going to be here for a long time I don't want to invest in something I won't see the fruits of. (ha!).

And I found the public compost heap! And I found $6/1x6x6 untreated cedar boards (granted, I have to drive 30 miles to get them, but whatever)! Raised bed getting done this week so I can start my peas next, then I need to get a move on with this patio (but those potted plants on the wall will probably get done first, considering we've been living here since mid November and haven't even put up blinds yet...)

 

[1iora]

Today's project

Cedar raised bed, one foot high (11 inches?), three feet wide, 7 feet long. If you compare it with the above satellite picture, it's not even as deep as that white splotch in my yard previously... and the neighbors have a lower roofline and they have light on their fence already, so I should get light soon!

 

[digitS']

:bee

Yay!!

:coolsun

Steve