Native Plants that Need Shade
Many Pacific Northwest favorites need shade to establish.
Some of these shady fellows can tolerate more sun once they are developed and healthy, but they must initially be installed in full to part shade conditions.
This article discusses the special plants that need a little extra shelter to get started right. It is part of our Species Selection Guide where we share select collections of plants based on their ecosystem services, site condition needs, or material type.
Which Plants Need Shade?
Many Pacific Northwest landscapes are covered by dense forest with multi-layered canopies. The plants that grow in the understory are specialized for these environments. Think about the understory sections, shady corners, and northern-facing sides of the land you steward when considering these plants.
This article seeks not to dissuade you from installing these beauties in your landscape, only to better prepare you for facilitating their success!
A Note on Salal and Sword Fern
The salal and sword fern that you see growing in clear cuts were originally growing under tree cover. Only with a mature root system do they flourish in full sun. If you are determined to put these species out in the open, expect losses and give them special care such as mulching with wood chips and irrigation during the summer drought.
Unless otherwise stated, all plant information comes from our Species Descriptions, where we invite you to read about more plants native to our Pacific Northwest.
Shady Plant List
Plant lists are organized by layer. It is important to consider all layers in any project.
Tree Layer
Thuja plicata
Exposure: Partial shade to deep shade
Soil moisture: Wet to moist, tolerates seasonal flooding
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: Low
Transplanting success: Medium
Growth rate: Moderate
Form: Coniferous evergreen tree to 200 feet with buttressed base; shallow, widely spreading root system
Tsuga heterophylla
Exposure: Partial shade to deep shade
Soil moisture: Wet to moist
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: Low
Transplanting success: Medium
Growth rate: Moderate
Form: Coniferous evergreen tree to 200 feet; shallow, slow-growing roots becoming wide-spread
Comments: Plant on the northeast side of a shading plant or use shade screen
You can deep dive into western hemlock in our Plant of the Month Archive!
Shrub Layer
Gaultheria shallon
Exposure: Partial shade to deep shade
Soil moisture: Moist to dry
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: High
Transplanting success: Medium to high if shaded, low if not
Growth rate: Slow until established
Form: Evergreen shrub 2-5 feet, sometimes more; very shallow and fibrous root system, spreads vigorously by underground stems once well established
Comments: Slow grower
Mahonia nervosa
Exposure: Shade
Soil moisture: Moist to dry
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: High
Transplanting success: Medium
Growth rate: Slow
Form: Evergreen shrub to 2 feet; taproot, spreads by underground stems
Comments: Very sun sensitive and difficult to establish. We advise mulch and irrigation
Oemleria cerasiformis
Exposure: Partial shade to shade
Soil moisture: Moist to dry
Salinity tolerance: Low
Fire tolerance: Unknown
Transplanting success: High
Growth rate: Moderate to rapid
Form: Deciduous small tree to 15 feet; branching, fibrous, shallow root system
You can deep dive into osoberry in our Plant of the Month Archive!
Rhododendron macrophyllum
Exposure: Partial shade to shade
Soil moisture: Moderately moist to dry
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: Medium
Transplanting success: Low to medium
Growth rate: Slow
Form: Evergreen shrub to 20 feet; fibrous, massive, and shallow roots
Comments: Mulch; shade; irrigate; be patient for it to grow
Ribes divaricatum
Exposure: Partial shade to shade
Soil moisture: Wet to moist
Salinity tolerance: Unknown
Fire tolerance: Unknown
Transplanting success: Medium
Growth rate: Moderate
Form: Thorny, deciduous shrub to 8 feet; branching root system
Rosa gymnocarpa
Exposure: Partial shade to shade
Soil moisture: Moist to dry
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: Medium
Transplanting success: Medium
Growth rate: Moderate
Form: Deciduous shrub to 6 feet; spreads by suckers
Rubus spectabilis
Exposure: Partial shade to shade
Soil moisture: Wet to moist
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: High
Transplanting success: Medium to high
Growth rate: Moderate to rapid
Form: Deciduous shrub to 12 feet; fibrous shallow roots, spreads by suckers
Comments: Needs wet soils and likes shade. Stems are thin, pithy, and spiky, making live stakes difficult to install. Be gentle!
You can deep dive into salmonberry in our Plant of the Month Archive!
Vaccinium ovatum
Exposure: Partial shade to shade
Soil moisture: Moist to dry
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: Medium
Transplanting success: Medium
Growth rate: Slow until established
Form: Evergreen shrub to 12 feet; fibrous, shallow root system
You can deep dive into our PNW Hucks on our blog post, Huckleberries as Specimen Shrub Candy for your Eyes and Tongue!
Vaccinium parvifolium
Exposure: Shade to deep shade
Soil moisture: Moist to dry
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: High
Transplanting success: Low to medium
Growth rate: Slow until established
Form: Deciduous shrub to 12 feet; deep and spreading, woody roots
Comments: Very sun sensitive and difficult to establish; mulch with wood chips; irrigate but don't over-water
You can deep dive into our PNW Hucks on our blog post Huckleberries as Specimen Shrub Candy for your Eyes and Tongue!
Floor Layer
Many popular Pacific Northwest herbaceous groundcovers need shade. Beauties such as bunchberry, bleeding heart, twinflower (shown in image), and piggyback plant require a full canopy to shelter them from the sun. Most need mature soil, rich in organic matter.
These are a delicate variety of plants, but given the proper conditions they will flourish marvelously, creating lush carpets.
If you are curious about groundcover options, we invite you to deep dive with our article, Groundcovers: the Quick, the Evergreen, the Sunny & the Shady.
Most of our Pacific Northwest ferns need shade to flourish. Sword fern (shown in image) can tolerate sun with extra care. Others, such as maidenhair fern, deer fern, and lady fern are very shade dependent.
Given the right conditions, all of our native ferns can spread quickly and add gorgeous texture to your landscape. They can bolster a variety of habitats along a moisture gradient ranging from dry to wet soils.
Some ferns are evergreen and some are perennial; some are hardy and deer-resistant and some are delicate. No matter what your shady planting site requires, there is likely a fern that can fill that niche.
Carex leptopoda
Exposure: Partial to full shade
Soil moisture: Moist
Salinity tolerance: None
Fire tolerance: High
Transplanting success: High
Growth rate: Rapid
Form: Loose tufts to 26 inches, no rhizomes
Comments: Slender-foot sedge is one of our only shady-sedges, which makes it a very special plant!
