Planting in heavy shade

Hi I have an area in the garden which is in the shadow of a hedge to the south & west & 2 damson plum trees, little grass will grow so I would like to plant shrubs / bushes to brighten up the area. Ideally plants with colourful berries, varigated leaves or flowers if possible. The ground is medium to heavy alkaline. aNY advise would be welcome

 

Hi peterjbrock.. someone will be along with advice soon, there good like that

 

Peter, go for woodland plants, such Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Hydrangeas and Honeysuckle. If you want groundcover, then the best plant is Pachysandra.

 

David that's just what I was going to suggest!

Peter basically look around the woodlands and see what grows well.

Some more plants to add to David's wonderful list would be Bluebells, Snowdrops, Primulas and Wild Garlic to mention just a few!
Helen.xxx.

 

Bluebells, definitely, BUT NOT THE SPANISH ONES. :D

 

Helibores, cyclamen

 

As the soli is alkaline, I would have thought that Azaleas and Rhododendrons would struggle.
I've found that Skimmia are very good in shade but they are single sex, so you can go for the males which carry flower heads over winter and then smell fabulous in the spring or a mix of both sexes which means you'll also get berries on the females.

Variegated ivy does well as ground cover as does the preriwinkle which also has variegated forms.

I also have a happy Viburnum in the shade which also carries its flower heads all winter.

 

You can get a male/female skimmia that has both flowers and berries, I'll nip out and read the label later and let you know.

 

Thank you all for your advice, Skimmia sounds ideal and I will mix them with some ferns and ivy

 

I've nipped into the garden and the hermaphrodite skimmia we have is Skimmia Japonica ssp Reevesiana

 

Tropaeolum speciosum - 'Scottish flame flower' might be worth a try Peter. If you can get one started growing through the hedge it would give you a brilliant display of flowers through much of the summer. The roots prefer shade, though the upper parts like sun.
Another suggestion - a climbing hydrangea, hydrangea anomola. These are usually grown against walls or fences and support themselves with aerial roots, though we have one that forms part of a mixed hedge with holly, cotoneaster and Tropaeolum spceciosum. Slow growing but a mass of big white, heady scented flowers in early summer.

 

I'm going to pass these suggestions on to my mum - she was lamenting how she can never grow anything underneath her copper beech - it's so dark under there in the summer, and so exposed in the winter. She gave up, terraced the slope, put stones on the steps and covered it all in gravel in the end, but she's getting sick of gravel everywhere.

 

Geraniums (the real ones, not pelargoniums) also do well in shade and busy lizzies can do a great job of brightening up dark corners.

 

Have had some success with Dicentra Spectabilis but it does tend to spread - ood colour in the Spring.......

 

Oh Chobart I do so love Bleeding Heart anyone know of the ones that don't die down after flowering? I'm sure there are some.
Helen.xxx.