Sun and Shade Gardening

About Sun and Shade Gardening

Half of a Somerville yard is deep shade and half is glare, sometimes within the same six feet, and late May is when that becomes everyone's problem. Sun and Shade Gardening reads those pockets around the Powder House and the hill above it, where old maples throw shadow over one side of a lawn while the other bakes against a brick wall. The work is mowing to suit each half, weeding and tending the beds, trimming what has reached over the path, and clearing out what does not belong. Getting grass to hold in the dim corners takes patience rather than force, and the beds under the trees often want plants more than turf anyway. Done thoughtfully, a shaded city yard turns into the coolest, greenest room in the house.