NEW! The ONLY book on this difficult garden problem! From world-acclaimed plantsman and garden writer, Graham Rice, here are the solutions for the worst spot in your garden, Dry Shade. Planting The Dry Shade Garden fearlessly tackles the most difficult gardening situation, the place that makes gardeners despair and want to move house, or give up gardening and take up bridge - that dry and shady place where you think nothing will grow. Well, think again. Don't assume it's no better than the ideal site for the shed. Graham Rice has put together a whole book full of plants that will do well in dry shade and bring beauty to your garden.

"Graham Rice will take your dry-shade garden from ho-hum to hip-hip-hooray!"
Tracy Di-Sabato Aust, best-selling garden author

“A wonderful book…. you'll find lots of solutions.”
Sharon Lovejoy, award-winning garden writer

“A valuable garden tool that I’ve needed for a long time."
Kylee Baumlee, Book Review Editor for Horticulture magazine

Publishers Weekly review: "Award-winning author Rice tackles the garden's heart of darkness: dry shade, the space under trees or overhangs where plants go to die from lack of light and water.... He goes into detail that helps gardeners better understand the situation and possible solutions: not all shade is the same; some mulches are better than others. The heart of the book profiles more than 130 plants that are made in the shade. Little is written on this common and trying garden condition, as his reading list indicates, so Rice fills a need. Owners of shaded gardens, rejoice. Includes 125 color photos."

Read more reviews

Radio interviews
Listen to two of Graham's radio interviews about solving the problems of Dry Shade.

Interview with Adrianne Picciano of WJFF's Farm & Country

Interview with Ken Druse for his Real Dirt syndicated radio show

Planting the Dry Shade Garden gives some simple guidance on how to make dry shade both less dry and less shady. These are basic things you can do to expand the range of plants you can grow in dry shade, from shrubs, climbers, perennials, ground covers, bulbs and annuals, foliage plants and, yes, even lots of flowers.

By combining simple steps to improve the situation with a smart choice of plants, dry shade stops being a problem and becomes another area of your garden that you can make beautiful. Planting The Dry Shade Garden explains how.

The photography in the book is mainly the work of award-winning photographer judywhite, so not only is the book packed with good advice, but the pictures reveal the beauty of the plants you can grow.

More reviews:

“I am nodding in agreement with most of his choices, because I have been dealing with the phenomenon for 17 years.” Adrian Higgins, Washington Post. Read the whole Washington Post review.

“The book also gives me good ideas of how to fix the horrible spots a bit better so things will survive. Pictures are very nice too, with at least a full page for each of the plants, and how-tos in the front. Easy to read, but obviously this writer knows what he's talking about." amazon.com customer review
Read the whole amazon.com review.

"I like the section of the book where he rates trees – from those with the most dense cover and shallow moisture-sucking roots to those that do not have those characteristics. I think it is the first time anyone has approached dry shade from the angle of developing a garden spot designed to have filtered light.”
Ken Druse, Real Dirt blog. Read the whole Ken Druse blog post

"Dry shade. Those two words are enough to frustrate any gardener. The culprit could be a wall, an overhanging roof, a fence, a hedge, or a towering tree, but the result is usually the same — dusty soil and lack of direct sunlight — two growing conditions that make life difficult for many plants. Graham Rice intends to change that." Nina A. Koziol, Chicago Tribune. Read the whole Chicago Tribune review

"Award-winning gardening writer Rice offers this useful guide to gardening in dry, shaded spaces. The challenges of gardening in these types of spaces are obvious; plants need sunlight and water to survive. Rice provides expert advice on transforming dry shade spaces into inhabitable gardens." Vancouver Public Library Read the whole Vancouver Public Library review.

“...this book is wonderful. We are now getting plants to grow in both our front and back yard under the trees.”
Amzanon.com customer Read the whole amazon.com customer review

"It is a wonderful book and for those of you faced with the problem of dry shade gardening. You'll find lots of solutions in Graham's book." Sharon Lovejoy, from her Sunflower House and a Little Green Island blog. Read the whole blog post.

“Gardening in shade is difficult enough, but dry shade is even more challenging. Nothing seems to grow there! If you have this problem, you’ll want to check out this new book. [Dry shade] is one of the toughest garden situations. It's good to have advice from an expert!”
Garden Gate magazine

"Readers will enjoy reading this very attractive, engaging book cover-to-cover or selectively browsing for descriptions of particular plants of interest."
Julienne L. Wood, American Reference Books Annual

Read Graham's Gardening Blog