What will thrive in a dry patch?

[Chestnut]

I am looking for some ideas, please.

8’ x 4’ patch of our back garden, sandwiched between 6’ high fence and greenhouse, partly shaded by a large oak in mid afternoon, and fully shaded by the fence after that.
Soil is predictably very dry, despite 3 years worth of compost bins incorporated

What edibles can I grow here that won’t need watering?

I don’t mind providing a little bit of TLC for baby plants, but it’ll need to learn to fend for itself fairly quickly!

[veggiechicken]

Fruit bushes don't mind some shade and take less maintenance than veggies.

[nickdub]

I am looking for some ideas, please.

8’ x 4’ patch of our back garden, sandwiched between 6’ high fence and greenhouse, partly shaded by a large oak in mid afternoon, and fully shaded by the fence after that.
Soil is predictably very dry, despite 3 years worth of compost bins incorporated

What edibles can I grow here that won’t need watering?

I don’t mind providing a little bit of TLC for baby plants, but it’ll need to learn to fend for itself fairly quickly!

By definition really fruit and veg need a certain amount of water, because that's mostly what they are made of.

I can think of two possible approaches for you (short of cutting the tree down) - one would be to install some sort of automatic watering system to the area you describe, this doesn't have to be complicated, a soaker hose linked to a water butt for example. The other way round would be to leave the patch you describe to nature, and see if any of your neighbors has a more promising site where they'd like some help growing stuff.

[ameno]

Caucasian spinach is a clambering perennial that actively prefers shade. You use it like normal spinach: young leaves raw in salads, older leaves cooked. Not sure how well it would do in dry soil, though.

[annie8]

I have a shady spot underneath trees. Planted rhubarb and a gooseberry. Both doing well and the gooseberry is looking much better than it did in a sunnier bed.

[Nicos]

I'd go with thornless gooseberries too (you'll need to squeeze past without getting scratched)
Or rhubarb.
Or a combination...
Maybe 3different varieties/colours?
Well mulched and stick a hosepipe in there for a few minutes from time to time?

[Chestnut]

Unfortunately the oak is just the other side of the fence, so is not ours to cut down.House next door waiting for a buyer
I am liking the idea of fruit bushes, as I reckon anything with deepish roots should fend for itself eventually (there was a large leggy shrub there when we moved in, but it responded badly to hard pruning....)
Maybe a morello cherry or climber like kiwi which I could train to fence?

[bikermike]

Enjoy having a tree there!
Rhubarb is a good bet
I think anything perennial that doesn't have to put all it's efforts into fruiting would be good starting place.

Would asparagus grow there (i don't know, just asking the question)?
Comfrey for the benefit of the rest of the garden?

Use it for non-growing things? Could you move your shed there? Compost heap? Barbecue?

[bikermike]

Could you lower the fence? Or replace the top with trellis?

[Squingy]

I grow sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) in shade behind the wall of the house, and never water. They grow tall and get nice yellow sunflower like flowers on the top, makes great cut flowers. However mine do get water running off the roof if it rains. Once you have them you can't get rid of them too. Plus they give you gas if you're not accustomed to eating them!

[Chestnut]

Good thoughts.

Fence also doesn’t belong to us, and is wooden so I would be nervous of a barbecue there, not least because the substation the other side might make hosepipes ‘exciting’

I do rather like the oak tree too, even though it’s not ours - it’s beautifully positioned so I can watch the leaves moving in the breeze when I am lying in bed

We have 2 triffid rhubarb on the allotment (they’re offspring of a yorkshire rhubarb...), so will probably choose something different here. Asparagus and artichokes are definite possibilities- I have some asparagus seedlings on the go at the moment, all being well they should be ready to go to their final positions later this year.

[bikermike]

I'm glad I'm not the only person that calls rhubarb triffids...

[ameno]

I should mention, actually, that I have a rhubarb in fairly dry shade, and it's doing really well.
It's under a great big (16' high, 16' canopy, 14" trunk) cherry tree, only about four feet from the trunk, directly under the canopy and in the shade all day this time of year (there's a whitecurrant blocking light on the south side and a fence on the west side).
I only bought it in December 2017, as a fairly small plant in a 2L pot (it's one of those autumn cropping varieties), and it's huge now. It's probably doing better than my established plants.

Maybe you should consider an autumn rhubarb? They actually grow in spring the same as normal rhubarb, but then unlike normal rhubarb they don't start to go dormant in late summer. They start producing more stalks again when things start to cool off a bit, and will continue growing until the frosts come.
Even though you can pick it in the spring, it best not to, so that it can conserve it's energy for an autumn crop.