New fence/new garden
Well joy of joys we now have all new fencing. On the downside after a week of putting the fencing up in the rain and a particularly well attended weekend party in the summerhouse the garden is trashed and it looked so lovely in summer too.
We also got someone in to dig up the gigantic bay tree as it was completely overpowering the garden and causing deep shade everywhere all year round which made planting very hard, so we now have a sun planting bed at the top and shade at the bottom.
I'm going to take this opportunity to completely remodel and replant the whole garden. I'd like to plant a proper evergreen base structure, put decking in around the summerhouse and directly behind the house and expand all the beds quite substantially especially in the shade areas as grass doesn't grow well there. I was thinking big evergreen ferns. The few ferns I have are lovely all winter.
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Brilliant Lou!
A blank canvas (or near enough!) is good fun. Did the neighbour have a nosey about it all?
It'll soon start to get back in shape - I think it looks excellent considering you've just had fencing done. There's loads of other things you can put into your shady spaces too. I use a lot of evergreens - it really helps lift the garden in winter.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks Fairygirl, actually the neighbour didn't intefere at all, it was too wet.
I like green and yellow variegated evergreens, they really brighten everything up.
Apparently there was once a glass factory on this spot which is why I keep digging up tons of glass all the time. I'm hoping things will grow better now that the main source of shade has gone. Before nothing matured very quickly.
It's often the way Lou - we get used to a shady area but don't quite realise the extent until we take the source of the shade away!
I use lots of green and gold here - I have a shady border along the back fence which is visible from the kitchen windows and I also pass it every day going to out to the car.
It looks like this all year round - with the addition of some summer flowering perennials like Astilbes and Jap Anemones, and loads of crocus, daffs and native primulas for spring. There's a Pachysandra at the end too. It's very narrow but it's surprising what you can fit in!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
That's amazing Fairygirl, it really looks lovely. Lots of plants and variety. I feel a plant catalogue binge coming along
There's a nursery which specialises in plants for shade Lou - Long Acre I think. I've never used them but I believe they have a very good reputation.Have a look at their online catalogue though
Patsy - I reckon shade gets a bad name sometimes. Easy to think nothing grows in it, but it's not really true. Osmanthus burkwoodii is brilliant and has lovely little scented flowers.
I have a ( predominantly white) border on another boundary which faces east, so it has a lot of shade lovers too like Dicentra, Geraniums, Acteas, Spireas and Hydrangeas. Bulbs, ferns and foliage plants as well.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...