No Sun? No Problem! Grow These Shade-Loving Herbs

If you have a ton of shade in your yard or on your balcony/porch/patio and you still want to garden, then this is for you. Some of my favorite herbs can actually grow with very little sunlight.

I've been testing out which plants grow in part sun, part shade, and full shade for years. My first kitchen garden clients lived in the inner city and had small yards surrounded by neighboring homes that blocked almost all the sun from their space. I had to figure out a way to give them a successful garden in the shade, or my business would be done. So I quickly learned which plants I could guarantee would still grow with just 4 hours of sun.

Most of those plants are things we grow for their leaves. Leaves have the least demands in the garden. They don't need as much space, as much sunlight, or as much care from the gardener. Think about this: if you're walking through a forest, what type of plants grow in the dappled light under the huge tree canopy overhead? It's not flowers. It's not fruits and nuts. It's small leafy plants.

That's why herbs are the ideal plants to grow in shade. Let's look at the best herbs for shady areas.

Cilantro, Dill, & Parsley

Let's start with herbs from the Apiaceae family, AKA the carrot family. Cilantro, dill, and parsley are three of my favorite herbs from the garden to use in the kitchen.

This trio shares similar growth habits. First, they love cooler weather. They thrive when the temps range from 35 to 65°F. They also love it when it's not too sunny and bright. If you've ever had cilantro or dill go straight to flower, it was likely too hot and sunny for their liking.

With that in mind, if you've got a completely covered patio or shady balcony, cilantro, dill, and parsley could be your new best friends. They don't mind the shade one bit. My two back raised beds are completely shaded by the woods behind my house at this time of year, and my parsley, dill, and cilantro plants growing there are popping, especially the parsley, which came back from the winter.

If you haven't grown any of these herbs before, picture a carrot with its long taproot and tall spray of leaves. These herbs grow very similar. They send down a little taproot and grow more vertically than horizontally. That means you can grow 4 to 6 Apiaceae herbs in 1 square foot of space.

These herbs are easy to grow from seed. Cilantro and dill will last one season, while parsley can spend several seasons in your garden.

Summary: You can grow cilantro, dill and parsley in the shade, I promise. 

Mint, Thyme, & Sage

The next group of herbs comes from the Lamiaceae, or mint plant family. I'd say about 95% of the herbs we use in the kitchen come from this one family, including oregano, rosemary, basil, sage, thyme, marjoram, lemon balm, and of course, mint.

These herbs also share similar needs and preferences with each other, though some tolerate shade more than others.

The first shade-loving herb in this family is mint. Mint actually prefers partial shade to full sun. The mint plants I tried to grow in tons of sunlight just would not thrive. For this reason, mint makes excellent ground cover around trees. You can also put it in planters tucked up under your porch, out of direct sunlight.

Thyme is the next herb that grows in very low-light areas. Thyme is a creeping herb that can be grown as ground cover, and it looks beautiful cascading over the side of a pot or raised bed. It's so easy to grow. It really doesn't need much sun or water. Pretty much the definition of low maintenance.

Then we have beautiful sage, which does okay in shade or full sun, though it'll flower sooner with more sun.

All three of these herbs grow in temps ranging from 35 to 95°F. I recommend buying plants from the nursery instead of trying to start mint, thyme, or sage from seed since they're very slow to take off. You'll absolutely get your money's worth after just a couple of harvests. You can also root cuttings in water or sand.

Two more herbs from this family that will grow in shade are winter savory and marjoram. They're less well known but equally easy to grow in sun or shade.

Chives, Green Onions, & Shallots

The next group of herbs comes from the Amaryllidaceae family, or the onion plant family. Now, you don't want to try to grow bulbs underground with less than 6 hours of sun, but the green tops grow great in shade.

Garlic and onion chives both work so well along the border of a raised bed. They come back year after year and will give you so many delicious harvests. Chives are such a no-brainer because they're ridiculously easy to grow and thrive in sun or shade. The same goes for green onions and scallions when you grow them for their leaves.

Rather than start these by seed, you can buy little baby plants from your local nursery or plant out bulbs.

Chamomile & Calendula

The final group of herbs comes from the Asteraceae family, or daisy plant family. Chamomile and calendula both do great in the shade, even though they're flowering herbs. They'll just grow slower in shade than they would if they had more sunshine.

Chamomile, of course, can be used to make chamomile tea, and you can use calendula for salves, tinctures, and tea. I love having calendula in the garden for pest control. It's what we call a trap crop, so it distracts pests that would otherwise go for your leafy greens like lettuce and kale.

Herbs That Should Be Planted in Full Sun

These are the herbs I would not put in shade:

• Basil
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Bay laurel (which is a bush or small tree)
• Flowering herbs besides chamomile and calendula (echinacea, rudbeckia, etc.)

Time to Plant Your Favorite Herbs in Shady Spots

Keep in mind that your herbs will grow slower in the shade, but you should still be able to enjoy so many delicious leaves (and flowers) from your plants. Slower-growing herbs are still a thousand times better than no herbs, am I right?

I'm on a mission to get rid of grocery store herbs. By 2030, I hope every single household has a little herb garden right outside their back door. So maybe this post helps make that more possible, now that you know you can grow herbs even without a ton of sun!