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Pollinator planting for shady and dry bed

BeckySThumpBeckySThump Posts: 7
in Problem solving
I'm looking for a bit of help planning a new bed for pollinators, as most of the plants I'd usually go to tend to prefer sunny or partial shade as opposed to full shade, hollyhocks, foxgloves and lavender etc. The bed itself is about 2.5 m x 2.5 m, and is overshadowed by a Scots pine, which also takes a lot of moisture from the soil, and there's also a 6 ft fence on the other side. I'd also like to keep to native plants if possible so butterflies can lay eggs.

Any recommendations?
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Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited August 2020
    Most pollinators like sunny conditions to be honest, is this the best place for a 'pollinator bed'? But you do have options. In terms of natives, foxgloves and Jack-by-the-hedge can tolerate dry shade quite well. Hedera helix 'Arborescens' would be worth tracking down; it's a version of native ivy that has the mature type leaves, doesn't really climb, and has really valuable late flowers that pollinators go mad for. Geranium nodosum and Pulmonaria are handy non-natives. If you can get some Cotoneaster going, it is a great pollinator plant, although I expect it flowers best in sun.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • BeckySThumpBeckySThump Posts: 7
    Thank you for the suggestions. I know it's not the best position really but it's the only bed that I've got room to do something with, the others are all closer to the house and would block of view of the garden if built up.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    First of all spread on and fork in a good thick layer of well-rotted manure to provide nutrients and help with moisture retention.

    Hardy geraniums such as phaeum and macrorrhizum will do well and there is a range of forms available to give you different flower colours.   Plants in the lamium/dead nettle family should also do well and, if you want a bit of height, have a look at digitalis ferruginea and parviflora "milk chocolate".
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited August 2020
    Geranium phaeum is a really good one, it might be the most bee-attracting geranium I've grown; maybe because it flowers early? There are lots of low growing and mat forming pollinators for sunnier areas, if height / blocking views of the garden is an issue!
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • BeckySThumpBeckySThump Posts: 7
    Thank you both. I wouldn't normally worry about blocking the view but my son is a clumsy so and so, and generally requires at least some supervision when outside, if I block the view from the house/patio to the lawn who knows what trouble he'll get into!

    I will put some lower level pollinators in there but was looking to do a more structured bed in the other area and get a bit of height in, so digitalis will be good. I was also thinking a buddleja, which I know isn't native, but they at least can grow anywhere.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited August 2020
    Believe it or not I have a buddleia that's struggling.

    It's in poor soil and has a canopy of mixed ash, hawthorn and wild plum to the south of it so not full sun all day but clearly too much competition for water.   I currently need to give it a good 10 to 15 litres of water a day despite having removed half of its branches and all the spent flowers or it wilts.  

    I shall move it somewhere richer this autumn as it's not the bog standard purple but a pinkier version.  Summer Beauty I think.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Cotoneaster will grow there. I think you'll have to widen your horizons a bit as far as native planting is concerned. Insects enjoy what suits them - they aren't bothered where the plants come from  ;)
    Heucheras are fantastic, and once established, will cope well enough. In addition to the lamiums/pulmonarias etc- Epimediums are very good too, and Aquilegias. Native primulas will also do well, despite the usual recommendation of damper ground. Almost any hardy geranium is good. 
    Early plants like wood anemones, and bulbs like crocus are also very useful, so make sure you have plenty of those. Having a succession is more important than having loads of plants which flower in summer. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • BeckySThumpBeckySThump Posts: 7
    Thank you, the advice on succession is definitely worth thinking about.

    My concern with the non-native plants was that the butterflies wouldn't lay eggs on them as they tend to prefer only certain specific species of plants that are usually native to their environment, and whilst I obviously want to attract pollinators with the flowers, I also want to try to offer an all round habitat. I think if I can get a good mix between native and non-native I should be ok.
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Is it pollinators you want, or to support butterflies?  Look up Butterfly Conservation.
    You could have a successful, though perhaps not ever so decorative patch, of docks, nettles, ivy and holly, with a broom bush, some honesty and garlic mustard and a few grasses and offer caterpillar food to no less than 14 of our native butterflies. And they would all grow in shade!
  • BeckySThumpBeckySThump Posts: 7
    Buttercupdays said:
    Is it pollinators you want, or to support butterflies?  Look up Butterfly Conservation.
    You could have a successful, though perhaps not ever so decorative patch, of docks, nettles, ivy and holly, with a broom bush, some honesty and garlic mustard and a few grasses and offer caterpillar food to no less than 14 of our native butterflies. And they would all grow in shade!
    Ooh, I'd forgotten broom! I've had a few lovely ones in the past and really should have remembered that. I'm aiming for all pollinators really, but can easily incorporate a few of those as well as some of the more decorative suggestions as well. I just wanted to make sure I was supporting the whole lifecycle rather than just the butterflies, as pretty as they are.
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