Guide · Light & placement
Container gardening in shade: 23 plants that thrive (and 7 that quietly die)
What “part shade” really means in hours, calibrated against a north-facing porch. Hostas, ferns, lettuce, and the herbs that cope.
- Sun
- 2–4 hours
- Morning sun beats the same hours in afternoon
- Container
- Any size
- Shade pots dry slower — size down, not up
- Water
- Less than you think
- Overwatering kills more shade pots than shade does
Almost nobody measures their light before buying plants, which is why “part shade” is the most expensive phrase in gardening. Go and count: full sun is six or more hours of direct light, part sun is four to six, part shade is two to four, and full shade is under two — dappled light under a tree, or a north-facing wall that only ever gets sky.
Two things change in the shade. Pots dry far more slowly, so the daily watering habit that keeps a sunny balcony alive will drown a shaded one; and leafy crops do better than fruiting ones, because leaves are cheap to build and fruit is not. Lettuce, chard, mint, parsley, hostas and ferns are all happier with three hours of morning sun than with eight hours of west-facing glare.
Full write-up coming: the 23 that work sorted by shade tier, the 7 that will quietly fail no matter what you do, and how to use a white wall to buy yourself an extra hour.
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About the author
Carsten
I grow food on a 4×6 balcony and write down what works. Not a master gardener, not sponsored. When a guide is wrong I fix it and note the date at the top. Questions, corrections and photos of your pots are welcome. say hello.