Forum home Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Shallow planting area circa 4 inches deep

We moved to a new house last summer, just starting to do things with some of the beds.  I dug up a Sedum Autumn Joy to discover that part of the bed is basically on what seems to be an area of concrete hard standing.

The Sedum seemed happy enough on this shallow area.  It is quite shady so I was planning to plant hostas, hellebore and some dicentra alba.  I'm unsure now whether to plant them there and would love some ideas for shady plants that don't need a lot of root space and I would imagine poorish drainage......

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    You can’t grow hellebores and hostas in only 4” of soil depth. Sounds ideal for sedums  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    edited January 2019
    Depending on the drainage, any of the plants recommended for a 'green roof' should be OK.  Personally, I'd investigate further and consider have a border elsewhere if it does turn out to be buried hard standing - you seem to have a lot of space there. :)
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Sign In or Register to comment.