North facing area shaded by walls on 3 sides

Hi everyone hope ye are enjoying the weather. I'm looking for a few suggestions on planting for a very shaded spot.

We built an extension at the back of our house which left a kind of small alleyway to our back door.

At the minute it has become a bit of a hiding area for all kinds of junk and I am looking to spruce it up.

It is 6 foot wide and 12 foot long it is surrounded by walls on the south east and west sides and therefore faces north and gets no direct light.

Any suggestions on what I could grow in this spot. The area is paved so everything would have to be in planters. I would love to have some height in it and have a lush sort of feel to it.

Thanks
Tommy

 

Cheers Armandii.
Some great ideas there
What sort of palm is itthatbyou have ?

 

Cheers again. Lots to go on there. It's well out of the wind only the very occasional north wind catches that corner.
Tommy

 

I definitely will I'll put up some pics before during and after wish me luck

 

Well this is what I'm working with. The before.

A bit depressing looking

 

What a great little space!!!!

First thoughts/knee jerk ... get some gutter gardens going on that left hand wall: mint, lettuce, rocket, micro-greens swiss chard would all do well there ... this is what I did last year in my shady-never-gets-sun side of the patio with guttering. This year I have planted pea shoots and rocket.



I have an even shadier side than that and I have a Fatsia Japonica in a large tub, but, my plans are to use the wall to grow an evergreen clematis to clothe the wall in wonderful colour.

For your left hand wall you could use Clematis Winter Beauty (evergreen and container friendly) and let it grow up and around a gutter garden of edibles.

Am I right in thinking the right hand fence gets just a fraction more light? There I would be tempted to put one of the conifers Armandii suggested (one which would thrive in a pot). That would give some height; smaller pots with ferns and hostas would also make quite a lush looking shady spot.

 

Hi M thanks for all the ideas. your spot looks great.

Do the gutters need a lot of watering, there is an overhang from the roof above which would mean that the rain would never get to them, and I have a habit of occasionally forgetting to water pots, its easy to forget as it seems to continuously rain here in the west of Ireland!!

if anything the wall on the left of the wall receives slightly more light as it is facing west.as the fence is about 6'6'' the top half of the wall would receive good evening light. the fence would never receive any direct light as the wall is approx. 10' high.

 

I got some clearing and painting done today. A start anyway. A long way to go though

 

I also painted up some pots to hopefully look like concrete.

 

In a word?
Yes (they are shallow, so wouldn't keep moist for too long). But, being on the shady side, not half as much as a shallow trough in full sun

Looking so much better already!!! I'm hoping you can also see so much more of its potential now? Great job

Looking great! I can envisage the matching pedestal ones with a hosta in each (even a fern in each) flanking the area at the foremost points of the photo's "leading" the eye towards the door. Then, to the right of the drainpipe, I would be tempted by an ivy in a hanging basket. One which is green but with gold edging on the leaves.

 

Cheers M.

Yes it looks like there could be potential there, I have done the rest of the Garden this tear and had totally neglected that area, and treated it like a dumping ground.

The pipes are a bit of an eyesore. I was thinking of making a wooden box planter to sit on top of the boiler house and grow some climbers up the pipe to try and hide it. I would need something fast though and evergreen and fond of shade.... not asking a lot am I

 

I had thought of putting an arch in this area but the pots could also work. Thanks