What would you plant here

I bought a Betula utilis jacquemontii Multi Stem Tree today and it will be delivered on Tuesday. Back home, I prepared the bed with x6 to brake the clay, where it will be planted. It’s not ideal but I can’t make the garden bigger than it is. Since the neighbour took down all trees on his side, we are desperate for dappled shade. The lilac tree still doesn’t meet my expectations.


I’m still working on OH to take out the wisteria .

The area gets sunshine in the morning from mid March on up to October and is shady from around 1:00.
I thought about Heleborus in sales as a bargain, but I wonder what they look like all year round.
There is a shrub already, a spirea which can’t bear all day sunshine. That’s why I planted it close to the fence next to the compost 2 years ago.

Thanks in advance
Simone

 

It sounds like a good spot for hardy geraniums, Liriope, perhaps Epimedium? They're all slug and snail-proof. As long as the leaves of hellebores aren't blighted by blackspot disease, they're quite handsome and the flowers would certainly provide interest when the tree is bare.

 

Many thanks, @noisette47. By chance, I bought hardy geranium seeds.
Will look tomorrow for the other options you mentioned.

 

I’d go for something evergreen in that area @simone_in_wiltshire for winter interest. Fatsia japonica and Mahonia are both happy in clay soil and shade, if you like them . Also, as @noisette47 suggested, every garden needs at least one hardy geranium!

 

We used to have a fatsia but it died being baked in the sun coming from the west side. I have 9 hardy geraniums in the garden, but will definitely use the one or other in that bed. I love them.
I will look for Mahonia tomorrow morning. I still have a garden centre gift card with some money left on it

 

Mahonia x media Winter Sun has the biggest flowers @simone_in_wiltshire and M. x media Charity is also widely available. There’s also Mahonia eurybracteata Soft Caress without the spiny leaves but it’s more compact.

 

@Plantminded You overestimate the space I have. Your Mahonia suggestions are each 4 x 4 meter. I know that you planted yours next to the Acer and I trust your experience to get it cut to an acceptable size, but I try to avoid such maintenance work. I'm very poor in cutting shrubs!

I found this link which gave me the idea of ferns.
Plant guide: White Himalayan birch — Victoria Wade

I will try Hardy Geranium and smaller fern. Liriope spreads too much and needs water. I would try Epimedium but they don't agree with clay from what I saw. But very good suggestion by @noisette47 . I like the look of the leaves.

I wanted to finish the planting within the first weeks after planting the Betula to have little disturbance later on.
Let's hope we get rain at some point and not a 2022 drought.....

 

Mahonia Soft Caress is much smaller about 1x1m

 

Bergenias, Gillenia trifoliata & Tellima grandiflora should do OK in that type of setting and soil. Plants less fussy with conditions like Tradescantia andersoniana may also be fine there too.

 

Pulmonaria might work well there. There are cultivars with different leaf markings, they do well in dry shade and the bees love them.

 

Mahonias are slow growing @simone_in_wiltshire and I'm going to keep mine quite slim to fit the space but I can understand your preference to avoid pruning .

I was also going to recommend ferns but was unsure about the drainage of your clay soil. Near my tree fern I grow Polystichum setiferum (evergreen in my garden) and Dryopteris erythrosora (very attractive bronzed new fronds).

You could also consider block planting the Japanese grass, Hakonechloa macra aureola if you can improve drainage. I have this under my Acer.

 

I went to a garden centre this morning and bought 2 ferns.
Back home I continued the preparation.
I moved the Euphorbia to a much better place, took out one of my Gaura which was less developed last year and this time, and adjusted the main bed to have it equal to my old bed. So much better now as this allows me to give the Betula more space.
After planting the ferns, I took out 2 Hardy Geraniums from my old bed which were too much there.
So god helps, they will settle in. If not, I look for alternatives as mentioned here today. Thanks to @Thevictorian , @The Eden and @Butterfly6.
Names of the ferns are given later. I’m too tired and too hungry now.
That I replanted the Euphobia had also a lesson for me: with that peat-free rubbish they use nowadays, the root was bone dry. This is a reminder to water the root now every 2 days.

The hole is waiting for tomorrow



Rather than being at end of a path, it works now with the Geum.

 

Ferns are Japanese Lace and Copper Shield.
I have high hopes that they will work out with the copper colour and the Japanese fern also looks different from usual ferns

@Plantminded Hakonechloa macra aureola sounds good. Let’s see if the garden centre has got it.

 

Looking forward to seeing your new tree @simone_in_wiltshire, a good choice .

 

@Plantminded The Betula was delivered at half past 9 this morning. The member of staff (he is a gardener and manager at the family run company) was surprised when he saw my garden. "I haven't expected that. A lot of hard work", he said. I was so proud. I told him that I showed him the garden so that he can see what customers do with their plants and trees which they care so much about.

The sun was awful today, white gloomy light, but the impression is there: the path is free :-)
The decking chair in the back is not for sitting lazy around, but I'm re"designing" that part which was neglected all the years. The chair has got space and I can have my coffee on the wall I made from our still plenty of bricks.
Where the brick wall is, there ends the concrete underneath. There seems to be a water drainage pipe underneath and one of the previous owners had a huge greenhouse made of bricks.