Bed with varying light conditions - how to use shaded area

Hi there guys

I have just moved into a new flat, and it has a lovely, big patio with a 4x1m stretch of soil at the back, so I am hoping to start my first fruit and veg garden. I found this soil does reach deeper than a spade, although it is extremely rocky. The soil quality is on the sandy side, but as I can't afford all the new soil + compost I'd need for proper raised beds, I've decided to strain as many rocks as I can out and use them to create borders so I can raise the beds just slightly, and improve the existing soil with however much compost I can get my hands on.

The problem is, the patio is west facing, and this bed runs along the west wall, so a third of it is sunny, a third is partially shady and a third is in full shade. Furthermore, the buildings all around it add to the problem. I'm fairly confident I could grow raspberries, cauliflower or some herbs in the sunny corner if I build the soil enough. In the partially shaded bit I am thinking of peas, beans, broccoli and maybe some lettuces. I am stumped though for what to do with the shaded bit. The soil is more waterlogged here, and I don't want to dump loads of compost into it if it has no chance of growing anything anyway. Will leafy greens grow in full shade, so I can have a little salad bar here? I also have a little gooseberry plant that I'm training at the moment, I heard gooseberry does well in full shade. If I keep that potted until it's bigger, and then plant it in the shady corner, would that be a solution?
Of course I am also using plenty of containers and vertical solutions on the sunny north and east walls, but I want to make the best use of all the earth I have here, any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Here are some pictures to illustrate the problem and show the soil quality.

 

Hi Eva and welcome to GC.

I'm sure others will be along with some helpful ideas soon, it's a friendly forum, although some of us are a bit mad.

Here's a few ideas from me to get things started.

Sandy soil is ok for growing veg, so long as you keep things well watered in dry weather, add all the compost you can lay your hands on and make sure the plants have plenty of nutrients, which you can do either by using a good rich compost to feed the soil before planting, or by giving the plants an occasional feed once they're in place.

You will probably be ok with quick growing salad plants towards the shady end of the plot, things like lettuce, radishes or rocket should grow there fairly well during the spring and summer months when there's plenty of daylight.

The sunny corner would be ideal for tomatoes or a courgette which both love a sunny, sheltered spot and should keep producing for 2 or 3 months if they're well fed and watered.

One more thing, the small green shoot emerging towards the bottom left corner of the fourth photo looks as if it could be mint. If it is, keep an eye on it, as mint can be quite invasive and will try to take over the whole plot!

If it does turn out to be mint, that would be an ideal plant to fill the narrow shady bed at the south end, as mint doesn't mind a bit of shade and it would be fairly easy to keep it confined to that area.

 

Thanks so much for your helpful tips! I was planning on using liquid seaweed fertiliser which everyone seems to rave about. It looks like it's good value and works on anything. I don't have a car so getting manure is tricky, I'll have to do it bit by bit or find someone to go on a manure haul with me, haha.

That's also good news about the salads in the shady corner. Maybe I'll make some small raised beds/planters in plastic crates or something so I can move the stuff out of the shady corner if it's really failing.

I did not think I could even grow a tomato outside here, so that's great news! The variety I got is 'Black Russian plum', I'm growing them from seed so they'll need quite a bit of time but the seller does advise that they can be acclimatised to outdoors. Tomatoes would be lovely right there. Otherwise I have a few interesting berries that might like such a spot.

About that shoot, it is indeed mint and I've been waging war against it all week. It's all over the half-shaded middle of the beds and its roots are ridiculous.



It doesn't seem to like the really shady corner at all though... different weeds I have yet to identify live in that bit.

 

Oh my gosh I've just had a crazy idea... what if I get a good old log and try starting a mushroom log in that corner? With oyster mushrooms or something? Is that too crazy? It's a damp, shady area, maybe I could have a whole mushroom patch.

 

I'm not a vegetable gardener Eva but I do know mint, if you don't get all the roots out it will continue to grow from whatever bits are left in the ground.

Seaweed fertiliser is good, but I've found the best thing to replace horse manure is chicken poo pellets, I buy mine from Wilko's in large tubs at a very reasonable price.

@Zigs is probably the one to ask about mushrooms.

 

Yes, I am working hard at eradicating that mint! And thank you for the tip about the chicken pellets, I have a Wilko relatively near me, hopefully they'll have them. The soil will probably end up being a crazy mix of what I can afford/carry home at the time, and anything I can get off freecycle.

 

The more you mix up the soil the better, sandy soil is hungry soil and it doesn't take long for anything you feed it with to disappear, the soil will improve with time. If you can get hold of some cheap compost that would help a great deal. Also look out for spent mushroom compost, it's cheap to buy and ideal for beds. Perhaps you can get a friend with a car to pick it up for you.

I've tagged Zigs for you in my previous post, so he will probably help you out tomorrow.

 

I'm currently bidding on some local mushroom compost on ebay... eager to get my hands on that black gold! Thank you for the tips I'm also going to go to the forest for some leaf mulch I can cover the beds in as it's likely to be at least another month before I plant anything.

 

Don't get caught in the forest, I'm not sure it's legal to remove leaf mulch or anything else.

 

Oh dear! Thank you for the heads up! Yeah I suppose it's not really the best forest etiquette...