How to Make a Succulent Shade Garden

Think succulents are only for full sun? Think again! Many will also thrive in the shade. Read on for everything you need to know

My succulent shade garden with a yucca tree at the center

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But did you know there are plenty of succulents that will grow in shady or partially sunny locations as well?

It’s true! I’ve grown succulents in the shade for years and figured out which will thrive and which won’t, the best type of soil, planting methods, and the difference in water needs from succulents grown in the sun.

Here’s everything you need to know about designing your own succulent shade garden.

What exactly is a succulent?

Knowing what makes a plant a succulent is key to understanding their needs. If you’re aware of this, it’s actually pretty easy to adapt them to a wide variety of growing conditions.

Succulents are a broad category of plants that have adapted to survive in arid conditions by developing thickened fleshy parts (leaves, stems, roots, etc.) that store water. The ability to store water, along with other adaptations like air roots, allows them to survive prolonged periods of drought that would kill most other plants.

There are more than 60 plant families of succulents scattered across the globe. Many of the ones we are familiar with are from southern Africa and the island of Madagascar. However, one group of succulents, the cactus, is native to the New World and can be found from Canada all the way down to the southern tip of South America.

Old World or New, succulents are most abundant between the arid “desert” latitudes of the globe, roughly between 10 and 40 degrees north and south.

As natives of these dry climates, they’ve adapted to thriving in dry, rocky or sandy soils most other plants can’t. While most a relatively compact and bushy to conserve water, some can get quite large. The American Agave can reach over 8 feet high and the flowers over 25 feet.

Succulents in a shade garden basics

This shade garden is home to a number of different succulents

When creating a succulent shade garden, there are a few things you want to keep in mind.

Climate & Temperature

Being mostly native to the desert latitudes, succulents will grow outdoors in USDA zones 6 – 11, though some are more cold-hardy than others. Some members of the cacti family can survive winters in the Canadian Rockies, but most succulents prefer a temperature range from lows in the 20s on up into the triple digits for the highs.

If you’re going to grow succulents outdoors in colder regions where temperatures regularly dip into the teens, I recommend growing them in pots so you can bring them indoors for the winter.

Soil Requirements

Succulents aren’t particularly picky about soil. As plants that have adapted to live in rocky or sandy conditions, they are capable of drawing nutrients from the air as well as the ground. (I have a colony of Aeoniums growing on nothing but rocks.) What’s most important is that the soil drains quickly. Water evaporates in the shade more slowly and succulents don’t like their roots to stay wet, so you need to make sure the soil doesn’t retain water for long.

Here in San Diego, our soil is primarily decomposed sandstone (quartz, feldspar and other mineral), so it’s naturally sandy and drains easily. If you live in an area where the soil is loamier or more claylike, make sure to add sand and other course minerals to help it drain better. You can also use “cactus mix” soil, which has a higher amount of sand than other commercial soil mixes.

Sunlight

Succulents generally need around 4 hours of sunlight per day, though it doesn’t need to be direct sunlight. Dappled shade, morning or afternoon sun, or reflected light from a building, water, etc. will work just fine. Succulents do not like deep shade, however, and will die off quickly if they don’t get a moderate amount of light.
My succulent shade garden receives an hour or two of direct sun in the early morning and dappled sun through midday, and the plants are very happy.

Water

As I mentioned above, succulents are adapted specifically for arid conditions, so their water needs are very low. In fact, too much water will kill them faster than most anything else. Water only when the soil is bone dry, and not at all if the soil is moist or damp. The “drench and drain” technique where you give them a lot of water once in a while, let it soak in and drain away to dry soil works best as most of these plants come from places where they get a lot of water all at once in the rainy season, and very little or none at all the rest of the year.

Personally, I water my succulents (both shade and full sun) once a month in the dry season (late mid-spring to fall), and not at all the rest of the year.

Fertilizer

As succulents have evolved to thrive in dry, rocky conditions, they are not heavy feeders and require little-to-no extra fertilizer beyond what they draw from the soil and air (including the dust and dirt that falls on them).

I have never used any fertilizer on my succulents in the 30+ years I’ve been growing them and they look great. However, I do know some folks who like to encourage faster growth by giving them a spritz of compost, manure tea, or a commercial cactus blend fertilizer twice a year. I don’t think it makes much of a difference, but that’s just me. Your mileage may vary.

If you are going to fertilize you should do it in the late spring and fall. The extra oomph in the late spring will help them stay healthy during the hot season when they’re using water reserves. The nutrition kicker in the late fall will help them when they start to flower in late winter and early spring.

Succulents that do well in partial shade

I have around 40 different succulent varieties here at the Acre so I’ve had the opportunity to test quite a few of them to see how they do in different locations. While nearly all do well in full sun, quite a few also do just fine in partial shade as well. Here is a list of the succulents with which I’ve had the most success in my shady areas:

Aeonium Kiwi — Aeonium_haworthii (kiwi)

A kiwi Aeonium in bloom in early spring

This is a low growing (less than 12 inches high) Aeonium that spreads easily and cares very little about the soil (I have some growing on rocks). In the shade the leaf rosettes aren’t as colorful as they are in the sun, but they’re still attractive.

Baby Aloe — Aloe juvenna

Aloe juvenna close-up

This is a compact little (6-8 inches tall) aloe that spreads slowly along leafy arms. If you want to keep it bushy and upright, keep it in a pot where it’ll trail over the sides rather than spreading out.

Barberton groundsel — Senecio barbertonicus

Barberton groundsel growing over a marnier’s kalanchoe

This South African native has flashy green, needle-shaped leaves. Mature bushes can grow up to 6 feet tall so they need more room than other succulents. In late winter and early spring they flower, producing small white or yellow flowers that butterflies really like.

Christmas Cactus — Schlumbergera

Christ the Christmas Cactus blooming in December 2023

The Christmas cactus is one of the few cacti that grow naturally in the shade. Native to Brazil, they grow on tree and rocks in forests absorbing their nutrients and water from the air. Given time they will form a thick, woody stem and get as large as 4 feet tall.

Crowded Haworthia — Haworthiopsis coarctata

Crowded Haworthia poking out from fallen pine needles

Another compact succulent that’s got a fun look to it. A close cousin to another shade friendly Haworthia, the Zebra Haworthia, in the sun this one turns purple-red, but in the shade it stays bright green.

Elephant Bush — Portulacaria afra

This elephant bush trails out of the yucca tree

Elephant bush looks a lot like Jade plant (Crassula ovata), but the leaves are smaller and the plant has a trailing form that makes it an interesting plant in hanging form. I have a 20+ year-old plant that lives in my Yucca tree.

Jade Plant — Crassula ovata

This Jade grows mostly in the shade

Jade plant will thrive just about anywhere. It also stays relatively dense even in shade. Outdoors they can grow quite large so make sure they have plenty of room.

Marnier’s Kalanchoe — Kalanchoe marnieriana

A mature Marnier’s Kalachoe blooming in January

A shade-friendly kalanchoe with rounded blue-green leaves, it grows 12 – 18 inches tall and puts out showy pink, chandelier-like flowers in the early spring. I like to put it in front of the taller Barberton groundsel because the leaf shapes offer an interesting contrast.

Snake Plant — Sansevieria

Snake plant growing in the shade

These do well in moderate shade, but struggle in deep shade where they get limp and yellow. Interestingly, I’ve noticed the flower and fruit on these are more colorful in shady areas than they are in sunny ones.

Zebra Haworthia — Haworthiopsis attenuata

Zebra Haworthia in a small pot

This is a little (6 inches) plant that looks a lot like an aloe or agave, but with little stripes like a zebra’s on the outside of the leaves. It grows in clumps and can spread out quite a bit if allowed to do so. It flowers in early winter with tall (12 – 18 inches) stems that make it look a little “Dr Suess” in my opinion. In the shade it stays mostly green, but in partial sun will turn a reddish color.

One other succulent that does well in the shade but is really too small to be showy in the garden is the Alien Eggs plant — Haworthia Cooperi truncata. Alien eggs never gets more than an inch or two tall, but if allowed to will spread out several feet in every direction. They look like little glass marbles but get covered up by leaves and debris easily, so this one is better in a pot.

Succulents that don’t do well in shade

Here are a few of the succulents I’ve found that do not do well in shady areas:

Tree Aeonium – Aeonium arboreum

Tree Aeonium

Lots of Aeoniums do just fine in shady gardens, but the tree Aeonium isn’t one. Without enough sun they tend to etiolate (stretch out) and the leafy heads stay small and lack the color of those in the sun.

Aloes
With the exception of Aloe juvenna, most aloes generally don’t do well in the shade. They will survive, but they won’t thrive. A few hours of shade during the day is fine, but they really need lots of sun

Agaves
Agaves are well adapted for the rocky, treeless deserts of the American southwest. In the shade the get thin and limp and don’t look good at all.

Cacti
No surprise here. Like their Agave cousins, they are well adapted for dry, treeless areas. Without lots of sun they get soft, limp and often turn a sickly yellow. The one exception is the Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera), which is a cactus native to Brazilian forests where it lives on rocks and trees.

Common Questions

While growing succulents in the shade doesn’t differ much from growing them in the sun, here are a couple of tips to help your shady succulents stay healthy.

Test succulents for shade hardiness with pots
The best way to figure out whether a succulent will do well in a shady garden, is to keep them in pots rather than putting them in ground. They’re easier to move if they don’t do well. Plus, it’s easier to keep the soil dry and well-drained than in ground.

How to prevent etiolation (getting “leggy”)
Tall succulents tend to stretch out trying to reach more light (etiolate). The best way to avoid long, leggy plants is to use lower growing variants that will stay bushy and close to the ground. If you do want to include taller ones in your shade succulent garden, chose plants that have thick stems like Jade. Then even though they stretch out, they don’t look all skinny and leggy.

Don’t think just on the ground (elephant bush in tree)
You can add more visual interest to your succulent shade garden by elevating plants or hanging them. Many succulents including Kalanchoes, Aeoniums, and Schlumbergera are epiphytic (grows on trees) or epilithic (grows on rocks) and will draw water and nutrients from the air via roots along the stem. Others like Portulacarias trail long stems that give your garden a cool, “Jurrasic Park” look when hung overhead.

Shade-grown won’t color as intensely
Many succulents will turn colors like red, purple, orange or yellow when they’re in the full sun. This is a mechanism to limit water loss through photosynthesis. In shade, however, they tend to stay green or change color more subtly as conserving water in shade isn’t as difficult. If you want more dramatic color, move them to the sun for a couple days and then return them to the shadier spot (another advantage of keeping them in pots).

Water very sparingly!
If you see your shade succulents starting to droop or shed leaves, you’re watering too much. Succulents need very (very) little water to remain healthy. Excess water will result in the plant absorbing too much, overloading the leaves, stems and roots and it will literally drown itself. Water only when the soil is bone dry. Your succulents will love you for it.

Conclusion

So there you have it — succulents that thrive in the shade so you can design your own succulent garden. Don’t be afraid to try different plants beyond what I’ve detailed here. Succulents are pretty tough so they’ll survive most anything. As long as you don’t water them too much, you can create some really spectacular shady garden spaces with a minimum of hassle.