Growing Nicely

gardening, sustainability, growing food, plants and flowers.

  • Home
  • About
  • Garden Writing
  • Garden Services
    • A Garden Consultation to Reveal the Beauty of your Garden.
  • The Blog
    • Sustainable Gardening
    • Growing Food
    • Gardening & Plants
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Visits
  • Contact Me

Top three plants for dry, shady gardens

January 8, 2013 By Jill Anderson 2 Comments

It’s a pretty dull day here today, but very mild and there’s that feeling in the air that things are starting to stir in the garden. Undoubtedly there’ll be a cold snap and we’ll be plunged back into proper winter and the garden will be still again. Meanwhile until we’re sure that spring is really on the way it’s a perfect time to plan how you want your garden to look and what plants you’d like.

So let’s take on what many people tell me is the most challenging aspect of planting …… what to grow in dry, shady areas.

The first step is to prepare the soil, this takes a lot of will-power because you just want to improve the area by getting the plants in place.

It feels a bit like having to do all the preparation before you decorate a room, but please don’t skip this stage.  Plants in this situation need a rich, welcoming soil, especially in the early stages while they becom established and produce a good network of roots.

So get hold of plenty of soil improver, this could be your own compost, well-rotted horse manure or compost, usually labelled soil improver, from the garden centre.

Dig generous amounts into each planting hole and lay a nice thick mulch 4 in/10cm deep of the same compost over the area between the plants. This will help the soil to hold onto valuable moisture when needed and drain away any excess moisture.

Now for the plants:

Shrubs:

These are both real stalwarts of dry shady areas of the garden.

Mahonia aquifoleum ‘Apollo’

An evergreen shrub with glossy dark green leaves, it has bunches of yellow flowers in spring.

 www.andersonlandscapedesign.co.uk/blog

 

Aucuba japonica ‘Rozannie’

Light reflecting, shiny evergreen leaves that have splotches of cream on them, they also have red berries.

1 x 1m

 

Perennials:

Epimedium peralchium Froenleiten

Heart shaped leaves, new ones have tints of amber, it forms a mound shape eventually reaching 80cm wide, but just 30cm high. It has small yellow flowers on wiry stems in early spring. One of my favourites, pretty and reliable

 

www.andersonlandscapedesign.co.uk/blog

 

Nurture you’re new plants until they’re established making sure the soil doesn’t dry out in spring and summer, this may take a couple of years. Keep them happy and healthy with a generous layer of mulch in spring and again in autumn.

By using the right plants, not only will your garden look much better, you’ll be doing your bit to garden sustainably by not using up valuable resources replacing plants.

 Jill

 

images: Jill Anderson

Related posts:

Woodland planting – plants for cool, shady gardens A simple garden task that’ll make a huge difference to your garden. 10 beautiful plants for shade 6 top tips for a lovely garden this summer.

Related posts:

Woodland planting – plants for cool, shady gardens A simple garden task that’ll make a huge difference to your garden. 10 beautiful plants for shade 6 top tips for a lovely garden this summer.
Filed Under: Blog, Plants, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: Epimedium, Mahonia, mulch, plants for shade, sustanability

Never Miss A Post

Subscribe for updates to be delivered straight to your inbox.

Comments

  1. Greenhouse Warehouse says

    March 12, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    Shady gardens are a real problem for a lot of gardeners, as everyone knows that plants need sunlight. Then of course getting it wrong can lead to dead plants, which no one wants. I’d go with ferns, ivy or impatiens.

    Reply
    • Jill Anderson says

      March 21, 2013 at 11:56 am

      It is a problem for lots of gardeners… not impossible though, just limited! Thanks for your comment.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

plants-gardens-growing-eating

Jill-profile image

Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
This is where you’ll find good, solid information about gardening, growing fruit & vegetables and how to keep it all looking good.
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
The healing, calming power of nature in one photo. The healing, calming power of nature in one photo.
These wonderful autumn colours won’t be around for much longer. But that’s ok, because now is what matters, & their fleeting beauty makes them even more precious.
It’s easy to see how being among trees & nature is so beneficial for our health & wellbeing. 
Have a great Sunday.
Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it lo Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it look spectacular with this bold front door.
Today has been hard work, after a lovely time last week in Norfolk. The north coast there is spectacular. Realising these last few months, that there are so many beautiful places here. 
Have a nice evening.
Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Vis Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Visiting to see the Anish Kapoor sculptures, which are amazing, but unprepared for the beauty of the grounds & garden. 
Such a treat, worth coming to Norfolk for this alone!
Hope you’re keeping well, & managing to smile some of the time. x
P.S. more of Houghton Hall & Anish Kapoor on my stories
We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberrie We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberries, after coffee & cake, sitting in the churchyard - the cafe was full, & the churchyard is a quiet, peaceful spot..... as you’d expect.
-
One little advantage of lockdown is walking so much more, rather than using the car. Though it shouldn’t have taken something as momentous as this, for me to change bad habits 🙁
Hope you’re weekend is going well.
My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from a random clump of hazel on the garden. Now looking much better covered in winter squash plants, so you can’t see just how ramshackle it is. I like to think it has a certain home-spun charm .

Great for small space gardening, imagine how much room you need to grow these without vertical supports.

I’ve got 2 Uchiki kuri, lovely nutty flavour.
1 Turks turban, for its flamboyant shape & colours, though it also tastes good.
One unknown, grown by my grandsons in their homeschooled science lesson.
Close-ups of the squash over on my stories.
Stay cool my friends x
I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium reg I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium regale) which is flowering right outside our bedroom window. 
It gets sun for about 4 hours only, you can order the bulbs now for planting in September. It’ll reappear every year & waft delicious scent around your garden, or through your windows.
Have a very happy Monday x
It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be said for fabulous seasonal flowers that haven’t travelled thousands of miles ...... & are wonderful for biodiversity
A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-s A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-summer!) & it’s, mostly, all growing nicely.

Spinach, courgettes & garlic in shot here. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x
Hope is a decision I’ve thought long & hard abou Hope is a decision
I’ve thought long & hard about how to view the tumult in the world we’re living in now. 
The only thing that works for me, is to choose hope.

It’s a tall order, but avoiding mainstream news & speculation helps avoid the anxiety, that’s often waiting in the wings.

One day soon there’ll be grandchildren clambering over this again.
Follow on Instagram

Don't miss any posts!

Enter your email address and receive notifications of new posts.

Archive

Copyright © 2021 Growing Nicely | Privacy Policy

Please note this website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent for cookies to be used. For further information on use of cookies please refer to our privacy policy Find out more.