North Borders

This being the quiet season in the garden, I'm thinking about the next borders.

One particular area is a north border, about 10 metres or so long, and perhaps 2 metres deep. Its in shade all of the day.

Any ideas as to what could be planted other than grass? Dont say moss!

 

That is a large shady area Sandy are you looking for a mixture of shrubs ,perennials and annuals ?

 

I'm completely open to suggestions. I'll sift through all that are made.

Having said that, the shade is caused by thuja, and some plants do tend to damage them if they are too close.

 

Siberian Iris
Hemoracallis (Day Lily)
Primroses
Cowslips
Snowdrops
Ferns
Callicarpa (Beauty Berry)
Iris Pseudacorus

Will add to the list when I think of other plants.Do you want plants/bulbs for this area or do you want to put shrubs and trees in the border?

 

I'm thinking bulbs/plants rather than shrubs and trees in the border. Thats purely for practical reasons. The thuja need trimming a couple of times a year, so I need somewhere to put the ladders. Here is a photo that shows the area in which the border will be.



The photo was taken at exactly 11:42 on a sunny day. As can be seen its in shade even at that time of day.

 

What sort of plants did you use in the north border? Similar to the suggestion @Kandy made?

 

Stumpery, perhaps? You could always have log cut slices to act as "stepping stones" in front of the Thuja and behind the stumpery to give you access for trimming purposes.

Here's couple, or three, of photo's from the Stumpery at RHS Wisley that I took on a visit earlier this year:

 

I do like Stumperys . I would think some skill is needed to build them correctly . I imagine mine would look like a new compost heap !

@ARMANDII , very impressive list Could you possibly list your top 5 from these ? I also have a shadey border for replanting this year.

 

@Sandy Ground , just been on the Crocus site looking for shrub ideas . They have a very good selection feature for plant types . Where you can select your conditons etc etc . To narrow your choices down from 1040 types !
Perennial Plants by Crocus

 

From the answers so far, I am beginning to get the beginnings of an idea for the border in question.

I do know some mentioned wont work in the area. Most will though. Thanks to these answers, I'm getting an excellent starting point. As soon as the snow clears, I'll be out looking how possible things are. In the meantime, keep the suggestions flowing.

 

Pachysandra is good, it is low growing, evergreen and flowering.

 

Looks good