shade-loving plants?

[queen of the cobs]

One side of my garden is pernamently in shade due to the huge overhanging tree from next door. Any ideas (short of chopping down the tree!)

We've just moved in and there are only shrubs there - I'd like a bit of colour.

All suggestions welcomed.

thanks.

[FionaH]

Hostas, aqualegia, ferns, salad, ?

[Rhona]

Some camellias and Bizzies Lizzies should thrive. They do in our shaded bits under trees.

[Sweepster]

Hellebore, lily-of-the-valley, solomon's seal, foxgloves, epimedium, snowdrops, cyclamen, a shed

[shushkin!]

Hi Queen
The ground must be really dry as trees take up so much moisture and goodness
out of the soil. You will really have to beef the soil up with well rotted manure
and humous to retain some moisture.
I will add to the above lists - pretty variegated vinca (periwinkle) and lamiums (dead nettle)

You could always build up a raised bed there if possible of course and so
significantly improve growing conditions.

[Victoria26]

Just a thought - if their tree hangs over your property you can legally chop off the overhang. I did it with my neighbour.

Pfft wasn't having their manky tree shading and sheding all over my garden.

[Buttie]

If you are thinking of chopping branches from an overhanging tree please make sure first that it is not covered by a Tree Preservation Order ot you could be in for a big fine from the council.
We had 10 trees in our garden and they slapped a TPO on them soon after we moved in. We now have a very shaded garden.

[Eyren]

Some cranesbill ("true" geranium) varieties are OK in shade; also "bleeding heart". It's a topic I've been looking into lately, as I have a bit of shady north-facing wall under my kitchen window at the front of the house, so a bit of colour there would be very welcome!

[selfraising]

Bluebells perhaps?

[ckfe]

Just a thought - if their tree hangs over your property you can legally chop off the overhang. I did it with my neighbour.

Pfft wasn't having their manky tree shading and sheding all over my garden.

my mother in law checked it out and apparently you're allowed to chop off any branches that overhang into your property so long as you give the chopped off branches to the owner as they are their property (but as buttie says make sure they're not covered by a TPO)

[chrissie the chippy]

we always dispose of the branches if and when we prune neighbours trees, our neighbours at the bottom like to hack our trees to bits, then shove the branches back over crushing the plants under the trees

I don't mind them cutting them, but don't appriciate them being thrown over, no need for it really. They aren't invasive tree or ones that shade their garden

[IgglePiggle]

Get some Ferns! You can get loads of different one's and they look great once mixed together. I found 2 growing down the side of the house when I moved in, which I moved into a shady corner and they are doing really well! You don't really have to look after them either lol Also maybe some woodland Anemone with hosta's. Is there any room for a couple of holly bushes at the back so you get berries in the winter? Remember your need a male and female one to get the berries!

[kathsunn]

We had a shady garden(just moved house) and pulmonaria/lungwort did really well there. Nice foliage and pretty flowers in blue and pink spread everywhere. Being a shady garden, there were many slugs and snails -- lungwort and lamuim (as suggested by shushkin) seem to be untouched by them. Good luck!

[Incy]

We have a really shady part of our garden at the back where there is a row of mature trees against a 6ft brick wall. Bluebells and ferns seem to love it there. We have also just planted pyrocantha which seems to be doing well and have flowers in the summer and berries in the winter to provide extra colour. The areas which get a little sun at certain times of day have rhodedenrons and wild garlic thriving in them, also some wild rasberries which seem to do really well there and spread like wildfire.

[irisgirl]

Hi,
I made a woodland area on the heavily shaded side of my garden (overshadowed by a huge high and long privet hedge).

The area was previously a small veg garden that did quite well in the shade. The ground was well fertile and I re-planted a lot of plants I already had, oaks English and red, cherry pruner, acer, skimmia, hosta, dicentra, toad lily, a couple of last years parsnips gone to seed that look glorious, pulmonaria, ajuga, hellebore and violet.
From my nursery (staff discount yay!), I bought a white dicentra (amazing), the gorgeous black ligularia, fern, dark heuchera, black grass, lily of the valley, bluebells and to top of the nature encouraging theme, I added a frog pond and a beautiful english hawthorn tree.

I feed them well and they do great.

It's still establishing but here's a pic (complete with my chicken Ruby hiding in the undergrowth, just after she gulped down the flowers on my dicentra)