I've got a longish fairly dry (my soil is very poor and free draining but I mulch)shady border and I've found that the following have done well for many years. Epimidiums, small dicentras, geranium oxianums, iris foetidus, amemone japonica 'September Charm' (be careful as good soil and moisture and it will run like Linford Christie!), any vincas, euonymus (these really light up a shady corner, are good under shrubs and totally care free),cyclamen neopolitanum (will spread like wildfire) and tiarella cordifolia. I also have big shrubs like ilex, viburnum tinus, mahonia aquifolium, osmanthus heterifolium, Kerria japonica and several rambling roses as well as a clematis Perle d'Azur right at the back that rarely sees water or food and is cut down to about 1 foot each spring yet every year it climbs through the kerria, osmanthus and into a crab apple 'Red Sentinel' and is covered with the most beautiful big lavender blue flowers for weeks. Breathtaking!!
I'm looking for plants to go under my holly trees. Currently I have periwinkle,snowdrops and cylamen towards the front of the border but back, in the dry gloom, I haven't yet found anything willing to establish itself. Any suggestions? It's thin gravelly soiled with some of my precious compost added each year.
I've never thought of ferns. I thought they like damp situations. I think they may work given there's only about 4feet of headroom before you hit the holly "ceiling".
Spurges like the soil around here so thanks for that idea..
Thank you for that information. We have a communal garden where nothing seems to grow apart from 3 huge acacias which take up all the light, the moisture and any nutrients still left in the clayey soil.
Until I can convince the other residents to have the acacias pruned regularly, what would you suggest trying to plant?
We have a few hostas, periwinkles and a clump of ivy but they're all struggling to survive.
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Sorry that should be osmanthus heterophilus (I think!)
I'm looking for plants to go under my holly trees. Currently I have periwinkle,snowdrops and cylamen towards the front of the border but back, in the dry gloom, I haven't yet found anything willing to establish itself. Any suggestions? It's thin gravelly soiled with some of my precious compost added each year.
Maybe Butcher's Broom [Ruscus aculeatus] would tolerate that situation or Spurge laurel [Daphne laureola].
Any ideas on which ferns will be OK in dry shade
The Dryopteris genus of ferns will do well in dry shade.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I've never thought of ferns. I thought they like damp situations. I think they may work given there's only about 4feet of headroom before you hit the holly "ceiling".
Spurges like the soil around here so thanks for that idea..
Until I can convince the other residents to have the acacias pruned regularly, what would you suggest trying to plant?
We have a few hostas, periwinkles and a clump of ivy but they're all struggling to survive.
Thank you