For those of us fortunate enough
to have a garden, there will inevitably be an area which is in shade at some
point in the day. This could simply be created by a boundary wall/fence or by
trees and hedges, or given that the size of gardens are getting smaller as more
houses are being built, could simply be from the house itself. More often than
not, those of us that are faced with a shady area in the garden see them as
difficult and uninspiring, rather than an opportunity to grow a variety of plants
that would otherwise be overlooked.
In my own garden shade is created
in an area that receives sunlight for only a few hours a day, and is generally
an area of ground which is open to sunlight earlier in the year, but as summer
draws nearer and the hedge gains leaves the sunlight is blocked out. In this
instance it may be best to grow spring loving plants, which will take advantage
of light and moisture in the ground whilst it is available. When the border was
created it was found that the ground was full of roots, but you can get around
this by raising the soil level a few inches and then planting up the border. By
the time the roots of the trees have grown into the new space, the plants will
be established and will be able to survive through the months when the soil
would be much drier.
I recently read a book by Keith
Wiley, called “Shade, Ideas and inspiration for shady gardens”. The book
basically covers all different types of shade and the characteristics of shade
loving plants. He turns all the familiar preconceptions on their heads by
presenting garden shade in a positive light, showing how you can create
tapestries of colour using wild woodland flowers from around the world, as well
as modern varieties derived from them.
Keith Wiley’s passion for plants
is obvious throughout the book and it gave me the boost to sort out my own
shady border, which I had already made a start on. What I decided was to mimic
a woodland edge. All this basically meant was that rather than have a few large
clumps of the same plant, which would look unnatural for a woodland edge, I
would plant in a more singular fashion, but more frequent throughout the
border.
The border in question starts the
year off with Cyclamen and Primula Vulgaris (the native primrose). Then the Rhododendrons
come into flower early May followed by Aquilegias, Dicentra and Brunnera. These
are then joined by Astrantia, Violas, Clover and Foxgloves in June. The border
is generally looking its best at this time but will remain green over the
summer months until September/October when the Japanese anemones will come into
flower. So what was once a dry, root filled area is now full of plants and
interest for the majority of the year.
It just goes to show that if you
assess the conditions of your garden you could grow a larger range of plants
than you would ever have expected.
