Shady spot - need to replace a dying Italian Jasmine

Hello!

It seems all I do is take take take from this forum. But I do appreciate your help with all of my calamities.

I have another spot in my garden where conditions have evolved over the last two decades. There was this, I think, Italian Jasmine bush, which stopped flowering a couple of years ago. Over the years a cherry tree, apple tree, and scots pine type tree next door have created a very deep patch of shade. It gets dappled shade in the morning when I took these photos, and maybe a little dapped later on in the PM in the summer when the sun is high.

As a result, I think the bush is now dead - it seems to be dying right back and had next to no leaves this year.

I have been thinking about suitable replacements for this spot which is sandy soil - though surprisingly not too dry given its in tree shade. Its relatively sheltered from winds too by the fences.

Some thoughts I had was Fatsia Japonica in the background, and hellebores in the foreground - but are there any other good shrubs that could sit in that picture. Ideally not too expensive..

thanks all again. I do appreciate it!

 

A Fatsia japonica would do well in that location @Nickoslesteros but choose the plain green one, not one of the variegated varieties which are slower growing and less hardy. A Mahonia would also suit, try one of the winter flowering varieties like Winter Sun or Charity. They are evergreen, like the Fatsia. A Phormium would also grow there quite happily, I have several in shady borders.

 

Winter sun is a lovely big mahonia, amazing in winter but im not sure how shade tolerant it is. Ours is pretty big, maybe 4m wide 3m high. Amazing display in december.
For hellebores the native green and stinking (doesnt actually smell) ones are tough cookies that can tolerate shade well, and intense drought too.


february 2025 display

Violets and ground ivy flower well in intense shade. Violets are also the only food plants of fritillary butterflies so are great to include in big patches. Butterflies and bees like them. Wood anenome and wood sorrel also flower well, though careful not to get the invasive oxalis species. You want oxalis acetosella.

And then spring bulbs are good. If the area is damper you could try snake fritillaries, otherwise british bluebells which can spread wonderfully. There are some areas along the basingstoke canal here that in late spring become huge fields of blue and white. Not sure what the white stuff is though.


Shrubs idk so much. The UK doesnt have too many woodland shrubs that flower beyond holly and elder, and elder doesnt really like it there. There are probably many american ones as their woodlands are very different to ours.

 

Winter sun prefers full shade or partial shade @Adam I but will also tolerate sun. I have two in a shady border and my neighbour has one in full sun. They can easily be pruned to a suitable size. Mine are still young but multistemmed with the lower stems exposed to give the impression of a small tree. A welcome sight in the dead of winter .

 

The Mahonias all work well here in sun or shade, but 'sun' is always relative. All day, full on sun in a hotter, drier area, would probably bleach the foliage, whereas here where I am, it's not a problem as it's simply not as hot/sunny long term. I have W. Sun in a quite exposed site where one side is south west facing, and the other is north east. Both sides are fine!
I don't have sandy soil - the opposite, but you could look at things like Cotinus to see how well they'd manage your soil. I like the foliage but not the colour of the flowers [pale pink] but that's a personal preference. Sambucus also come in a golden colour, not just the more usual dark purply/red, so that could be useful for the site, to give some brighter colour.
If the soil's not alkaline, there are plenty of flowering shrubs like Rhodos, Azaleas and Pieris, but it would just depend on how decent the soil is, and how well you get them established initially. They like moisture, but can adapt reasonably well once their roots are down, and they don't like being waterlogged, so that could work.
Even things like Pyracantha are fine in shade. I've had them in sites which get absolutely no sun to speak of. They still flower and fruit well.
It's surprising just how many shrubs that supposedly like sun will cope well in shadier spots. Something with golden or variegated foliage will always be useful for that sort of site.

 

Agree about the pyracanthas. I have a taller than usual house and had a huge one against the north facing wall of it for years, in the corner where it meets a 6ft high wall. That spot is never touched by sun.

 

I have a young Physocarpus doing well in dappled shade. I'm also a fan of the Mahonias mentioned and I have one underneath trees on a north facing slope.

 

That's the same sort of site I had in the garden round the corner from here @Escarpment . I occasionally walk past the house, and I don't think it's been pruned since I left - it's huge!

 

In the years when I wasn't doing any gardening (neighbour issues) mine was untouched and sprawled out over a huge area. Finally a few years ago I cut it right back to the ground and it didn't recover, but it was at least 50 years old by that stage. I still have two of its babies in the garden, one of which grows directly under a silver birch and is covered in berries. The other is right up against a high laurel hedge and only gets a bit of sun from the west in the evening. It's still young and hasn't flowered yet, but it's growing really tall and looks happy.

 

Mahonias are tough and will be fine in that shady area, also content with sandy soil. Cotinus will cope well with sandy soil too but their young stems can be quite brittle in windy locations. The dark leaved ones like Grace will have better colour in sun, the lime green one might be better in shade. Another shrub I grow in shade is Griselinia, both green and variegated varieties, also evergreen and commonly grown in coastal areas. They prefer sun but just grow more slowly in shade.

 

I'm wondering just how moist the soil actually is with all the nearby trees and the soil type @Nickoslesteros . This is why it really helps if you add a rough location to your info/avatar. There are huge differences with climate around the country. We can easily plant shrubs near things like Scots pines here [very common trees for us!] and not bother much with giving them any attention once established, but if you're in a much drier part of the country, it's worth looking at how much watering anything woody will need.
Water is becoming a very precious resource, so if you don't have water butts, or have metered water, it's worth thinking about whether a shrubby plant is really better than having more ground covering planting like the hellebores and a few other easy perennials. There are plenty of shade loving, pale coloured/white plants of varying heights that would work well for you

 

The location is in the signature line @fairygirl, not far from me! Similar soil and conditions, but a bit more wind .

 

Sorry I may be dim @Plantminded but I don't see a signature line on the posts (on Android phone). I normally click on the name to see their profile pic and other info like location. How do you see where @Nickoslesteros is apart from that?

 

I’m not sure about on phones @CarolineL but on my desktop and iPad there’s a dotted line across the bottom of each post and a space below where some members have entered a quote, photo, saying or whatever. You can do this as a signature in the box where you enter your contact details, choose your avatar etc. Putting your location in your personal details section is the norm though .

 

This is weird @Plantminded . I was sure @Nickoslesteros had mentioned, or shown, his location before, but when I posted, I checked back and there was nothing there - avatar or signature strip.
I didn't think anything was wrong with my laptop [I don't use a modern phone] so it didn't occur to me that the signature strips weren't showing, hence my post. Today - it's all fine! Must have been a glitch somewhere.
Bl**dy technology....