Planting a Dry, Shady Garden
/Shaded gardens are often dark and uninspiring but by selecting the correct plants we can bring colour and life back into the garden. Although shade does limit our choice of planting there is still a vast range of plants that can tolerate little to no direct sunlight so long as they have sufficient nutrition in the soil. It is usually to choose plants suitable for a woodland or woodland edge even if it is not trees that are causing the shade as these plants are naturally adapted to shady conditions.
This garden has many large trees which give dappled light and remove nutrients and water from the soil resulting in poor hard soil. The solution was to create slightly raised beds between the trees using composted green waste and fresh topsoil into a which a mix of shade tolerant plants were planted. Plants with bright variegated foliage were used to lighten the shade and provide interest throughout the year such as Epimediums, Hellebores and Tiarellas.
