Most herbs prefer a sunny location in the garden, because they only develop their rich aromas with light and warmth. However, there is also a whole range of species that can also arrange themselves very well with partially shaded or even shady places.
Parsley also does well in shady locations
Herb garden in the semi-shade
The selection for a half-shady herb garden is still very large, whereby you can mainly fall back on native species. But some varieties of Mediterranean herbs also tolerate a light penumbra - so it can be worth taking a look at the variety label. However, we particularly recommend these herbs for cultivation in the light penumbra:
- Various mints (e.g. peppermint, orange mint, brook mint, spearmint…)
- local kitchen herbs such as parsley, chives, chervil, meadowsweet, lovage and dill
- Wild herbs such as burnet, cuckoo flower, wild garlic or woodruff
- as well as marigolds and sweet violets
Herb garden in the shade
There is also a small selection of herbs for the deep shade, which mainly grow in forests and are therefore naturally dependent on rather little light. These include, for example, watercress, sorrel, wild garlic, garlic mustard and horsetail. The lush green and up to 80 centimeters high peppermint also thrives well in the shade. But be careful: the species listed tend to spread too quickly and must therefore be prevented from expanding. By the way: A location is considered a shady spot if it is exposed to the sun for less than four hours a day.
soil requirements
Herbs that thrive in semi-shade or shade make some demands on the supply of nutrients. Before planting, mix the garden soil (which should also be as humic or loamy as possible) with plenty of compost. This serves as a nutrient supply and at the same time improves the water retention capacity of the substrate. Give your herbs a good shovelful of compost as fertilizer twice a year. Alternatively, you can also use horn shavings (€32.93) or other fertilizers that flow more slowly. In addition, make sure that the soil is always slightly moist.
tips
Wherever a fragrant green area is to be created in a shady spot instead of a lawn, you can fall back on carpet-forming mints. Carpet pennyroyal, for example, is very suitable and even tolerates kicks. The Corsican mint can also be used for this purpose, but is not always completely hardy in our country.