Amy Draiss
Is a drive through sugar maples in autumn on your bucket list? You aren’t alone! The fiery foliage provides stunning natural fireworks year after year, and people from all over the world head to the East Coast to admire it. But you can have a gorgeous fall display in your own garden, too – even in areas without direct sun. If you grow specific shade loving trees and shade shrubs with fall interest, you can enjoy dazzling late season color, via beautiful leaf tones.
Certain shade loving plants for the fall garden can offer autumn flowers, interesting seed pods and shiny berries. However, select fall color shrubs for shade will light up the yard with spectacular foliage in extraordinary russet, wine, bronze and gold hues. Meanwhile, the best fall color shade trees create dazzling displays in low levels of light. Deciduous trees and shrubs are both known for their bright colors in autumn. So if you’re looking for the most vivid tones in the fall garden, make some room for these stunning options with their sizzling seasonal foliage.
Shade Trees and Shade Shrubs with Fall Interest
When choosing trees and shrubs for shade-friendly fall displays, consider USDA hardiness region, as well as the amount of shade in the part of your garden where you want your fall spectacular to grow. Several of the options listed here can also grow in sun, but they are all happy in some shade. Keep in mind that few if any ornamental plants thrive in a site with permanent deep shade and, generally, a plant’s autumn display is more vibrant if it receives dappled or indirect sun.
It’s also important to judge the amount of space you have free in your shade-specific garden spot – and the eventual size and spread of the tree or shrub you want to grow. Give some thought to soil type, as well. It helps to check the soil before planting, and make amendments as necessary. Use a soil meter like the Raintrip 4-in-1 Soil Meter from Amazon to gauge pH and moisture levels, as well as nutrient load. Most trees and shrubs prefer well-draining soil, and some require acidic soil.
Sprinkle some mulch around trees (not touching the trunk) to help regulate moisture levels in the ground in the first few months after planting. You can buy Back To The Roots Organic Mulch from Amazon. With all these elements sorted, you can make the most of these dazzling tree and shrub selections. Think of your garden as a movie set. You are the director, and the trees and shrubs you select will play the starring roles. Many species may be considered for the top roles, but here are the best of the best of the bunch for the ultimate fall foliage in the shade.
1. Oakleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangeas are amongst the easiest plants to love. They are tolerant, low-maintenance, and capable of exceptional floral displays in summer. Oakleaf shrubs are the most shade-tolerant hydrangea varieties. In warmer areas, dappled shade is far better than a sunny location, since you want to avoid scorching their oak-like leaves. In all regions, oakleaf shrubs should be sheltered from afternoon sun. Be sure the soil drains well and add some organic compost before planting. When selecting hydrangeas by zone, oakleaf types thrive in USDA zones 5-9.
If you’re looking to grow the ultimate perennial shade garden, oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) provide spectacular fall leaf color. The leaves turn vibrant shades of red, burgundy, and purple colors in autumn. Pick ‘Ruby Slippers’ or one of the new Gatsby cultivars for fabulous deep crimson or burgundy color. Buy Proven Winners Broadleaf Hydrangea Gatsby Glow Ball from Fast Growing Trees.
2. Western Azalea
Western azaleas (native to California and Oregon) offer an entire season of beauty, starting with charming spring buds and wrapping up with glorious autumn color in every fiery shade you can imagine. Westerns (Rhododendron occidentale) are some of the most easygoing azalea varieties as they don’t need direct or full sun and are happy in a spot with partial or dappled shade. They thrive in USDA hardiness zones 5-10. You can buy Western Azaleas from the Woodbrook Native Plant Nursery.
The first act of this impressive plant comes in spring when the dazzling flowers appear on naked branches: a heavy load of flaring trumpet-shaped flowers. These blooms are bright white or pink, with a central spot in yellow or orange and an intoxicating fragrance. The shrub can grow to 12 feet (4m) tall with upright branching. The shiny green leaves are also scented with a spicy fragrance, and these leaves then turn dazzling shades of gold, orange and deep scarlet in late autumn. So these exquisite fall front yard plants have impressive multi-seasonal impact.
3. Sugar Maple 'Fall Fiesta'
‘Fall Fiesta’ sugar maple (Acer saccharum 'Bailsta' PP11,119) is a wonderful maple cultivar to consider for your landscape. If you have plenty of room to accommodate this beautiful big tree, it is one of the best shade trees with fall color. This picturesque sugar maple tree will become a focal point in your yard with its striking, rounded canopy. During fall, you can expect a stunning autumn display as these deeply lobed leaves blaze a brilliant orange and red.
These trees prefer USDA hardiness zones 3-8. Sugar maples, in general, are very tolerant of shade and can thrive even under a dense canopy. This is also true of ‘Fall Fiesta’, especially when the tree is young. But they grow most vigorously with some sun and require well-draining soil. Given their adult size – up to 40 feet (13m) tall – they aren’t suitable for small gardens. Buy Sugar Maples from Fast Growing Trees.
4. Dwarf Fothergilla
Moving from tall to small, let’s consider the dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii). You may not have heard of this smal flowering tree or shrub, but it’s high time to get acquainted. It’s a short specimen, usually under 3 feet (1m), but it has multi-season appeal. You can enjoy fragrant white bottlebrush blooms in spring, gorgeous blue-green leaves in summer, then a kaleidoscope of fiery color in fall. These make great small trees for front yards, and are fine in almost any exposure, from full sun to dappled sun to partial shade. They prefer USDA zones 5-8.
Also known as coastal witch-alder, the dwarf fothergilla is native to the coastal plains of the south. The flowers are interesting. They have no petals, but delight with their showy, aromatic stamens that appear before the leaves in spring, looking like bottlebrush flowers. The leaves are leathery and lovely, and the vibrant fall shades provide a knock-out panel of reds, oranges and yellows. You can buy DAS Farms’ Fothergilla Gardenii from Amazon as live pot plants.
5. Pagoda Dogwood
While all dogwoods are attractive trees, pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) is a small native tree that is particularly appealing. This is a low maintenance tree with real wow factor, offering four seasons of beauty. Its branching pattern is unique, horizontal but tiered, making it eye-catching in winter, especially after a snowfall. Spring brings the flat, creamy white dogwood flowers, followed by dark green foliage. In fall, the tree is again a stand-out with thrilling, burgundy-red foliage and blue-black berries, beloved by wild birds. You can buy Pagoda Dogwoods from Amazon as container-based shrubs.
This dogwood grows to 30 feet (10m) tall and is one of the best fall color shade trees. It is known for its tolerance of shady locations, and it flourishes in USDA zones 3-7. In the wild, it grows as an understory tree, so a dappled sun or partial shade location is perfect. Help it grow even faster with a fertilizer designed for ornamental trees. I recommend TPS Nutrients Arborvitae Tree Fertilizer for Evergreens, available from Amazon.
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