Help to create Victorian cottage garden border - shady

[vikkib]

Well, I've filled the two sunny borders in my back garden and my eye is roaming for more spaces I can fill with flowers!

We've got a small front garden which is elevated and measure approx 12ft x 4ft which is currently covered with weed suppressant and purple chippings.

We're on a main road and get plenty of people walking past and we sometimes get bits of little chucked in the front so I'd like to make it look nicer in the hopes that will deter people from littering it but also not make it too flash in case the any passing yobs wandering down the take away mile decide to ruin my hard work!

I've decided I'd really like to have a run of a small (15"-18" high) white picket fence along the front with about a foot in front of it. In front of the fence I'd like to grow a dwarf lavender like Lavenite petite or Thumbelina Leigh.

Then at the back, against the house I'd like a small bed that runs the width of the front garden and approx. 12" - 18" deep.

The front of our house gets a few hours sunshine in the morning before the sun disappears over the top of the house.

Any thoughts on what plants (ideally perennials!) I can plant along the bed in front of the house that won't mind (quite) a bit of shade?

I'm thinking creams/whites and dusty pinks, things like Digitalis and Astrantia...



Please excuse my shabby paint skills and mis-spelling of the word picket!

[veggiechicken]

I'm a fan of hardy geraniums - good ground cover, lots of flowers over a long period, loved by bees and butterflies, and come in all colours!!
Sweet rocket is good too - especially if you plant it under your window.

[vikkib]

I'm a fan of hardy geraniums - good ground cover, lots of flowers over a long period, loved by bees and butterflies, and come in all colours!!
Sweet rocket is good too - especially if you plant it under your window.

Ooooh! Loving both of those ideas!

They're going on the list! =D

[veggiechicken]

Just been for a wander - the sweet rocket has gone now and the geraniums could do with a trim - then they'll flower again later this year. Here are a few - complete with a ragged winged Green veined butterfly

[veggiechicken]

Aquilegia are good too and phlox.........

[vikkib]

Aquilegia are good too and phlox.........

Will they cope with just a few hours sunshine a day?

I love phlox and I've got some seeds from a very pretty semi aquilegia I got from Chelsea this year!

[vikkib]

Just been for a wander - the sweet rocket has gone now and the geraniums could do with a trim - then they'll flower again later this year. Here are a few - complete with a ragged winged Green veined butterfly
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Very pretty! Lovely photos! Thanks!

[Scarlet]

Aquilegia flowers with no problem in my shaded front garden, hellebores, sedum and hypericum also do very well.

[Martin H]

You could try the rose "Iceberg". It's one of the most shade tolerant of roses and it's really disease-resistant. I've got one underneath my north-facing lounge window where it survives and flowers acceptably with just a couple of hours of early morning sunshine in summer.

[vikkib]

Fantastic! Thanks for the suggestions! Really looking forward to getting my new project underway! : )

[chris]

Another rose that is a good climber and shade tolerant is Mme Alfred Carriere - it'll grow large if you let it, and had a lovely delicate scent too. It's white though... but with a tinge of pink around the outside.

What about a hydrangea? You'd need to keep on top of it mind.

Geums do well in my north facing front garden (shaded by house), as well as lavendar, a couple different types of roses (that do require sun, but are doing fine in my garden (Gertrude Jekyll for example - a short climber - I have that growing up a lamppost). Then there's autumn stuff like Michaelmas Daisy - more purple though.. That can get quite big.

[vikkib]

Another rose that is a good climber and shade tolerant is Mme Alfred Carriere - it'll grow large if you let it, and had a lovely delicate scent too. It's white though... but with a tinge of pink around the outside.

What about a hydrangea? You'd need to keep on top of it mind.

Geums do well in my north facing front garden (shaded by house), as well as lavendar, a couple different types of roses (that do require sun, but are doing fine in my garden (Gertrude Jekyll for example - a short climber - I have that growing up a lamppost). Then there's autumn stuff like Michaelmas Daisy - more purple though.. That can get quite big.

Ooooh! I do love geums.

Not all that keen on hydrgangeas but will definitely look at the roses! : )

Could potentially put something a bit bigger on the right hand side of the front garden as that's just the boundary between our house and next doors!

[veggiechicken]

I know you've mentioned lavender for the front but you can get white and pink flowered lavenders that could fit in with your colour scheme for the other side!

[vikkib]

I know you've mentioned lavender for the front but you can get white and pink flowered lavenders that could fit in with your colour scheme for the other side!

Good batting thinkman! I could get a larger variety for the back, love the idea of a white!

[veggiechicken]

In the other garden I have 3 or 4 different ones all planted together (mistake - as one grew tall and floppy and hides the smaller ones). There's a delicate pinky one, that forms a neat clump - May be there soon so I'll see whether there's a label anywhere!!