Dealing with a dry shaded border
lukeredpath
Posts: 7
Hello everyone, first post here, please be gentle!
Since buying our first house a few years ago I've really started to get into gardening. I'm a complete beginner, though I am starting to learn.
We have got big plans for our back garden this year and have engaged a designer to completely redesign our existing garden into something more family friendly. I'm looking forward to also having some raised beds for growing some fruit and veg.
In the meantime we have been gradually making the effort to tidy up the rest of the outside. As well as the back garden, we have a fair bit of planting space in our front garden and along side our driveway which runs down the side of our house we have a long row of conifers - a mix of leylandii and I think some lawson's cypress. My current mission is to tidy this border up as it has become quite a mess after a few years neglect.
First job was getting the conifers pruned and cut back, which has been done. I have now made a start on tidying up the ground beneath it. Soil and decomposed conifer leaves have made a perfect environment for weeds and groundcover plants to start growing onto the driveway I've been gradually trimming everything along the edge to get a nice neat border and removing as much debris as possible. I've also pulled out several old leggy and woody lavenders that were past their best.
I would like to try and get some new plants in there to give it a bit more colour and was hoping to get some recommendations. As you can imagine the soil is very dry and crumbly. There's unidentified ground cover plants, a few clumps of daffodils, some irises, an elephants ear and a few other plants I've not identified. Plenty of ivy too growing up the walls and some trunks, which I'm not a big fan of.
Also, as you can probably see in the foreground there is a gap in the row of conifers - I'd love to get some ideas for an interesting shrub to fill this gap. It's opposite our kitchen window so would be nice to have something to hide the ugly fence.
Any tips on preparing and improving the soil would be helpful too.
Here's a photo I took before I started the clean up operation.
Edit: forgot to say this border is south west facing, it's pretty shaded by the house until around midday then gets the sun until around 3pm in Summer.
Last edited: 19 March 2017 18:50:05
Posts
For soil improvement manure (you can often get some for free at local stables like I do) & compost forked in alongside Fish, Blood & Bone (fairly cheap at wilko at the moment) for the planting hole. Even pelleted chicken manure or growmore will help. What about aubrietia to carpet? more early spring bulbs? half shade tolerant hardy geraniums? There's lots of planting options but large clumps will look better from a distance e.g. the kitchen window, however, the leylandii will continue to drain moisture and nutrients from the soil, so it will be an on going battle. I've had Geranium macrorrhizum (shade & drought tolerant) & spring bulbs growing successfully beneath mine.
Last edited: 19 March 2017 19:18:05
Hi there lukeredpath. I'm sure you will receive plenty of ideas, advice and inspiration on this site.
You probably won't find many conifer/leylandii fans on here but I can champion the privacy they can afford you - in fact, your row is quite smart and I like the trunks. The soil beneath is likely to be on the acidic side and dry so you will need to enrich it. A contender for the gap is a Rhodadendron, which will like the acid soil. I will have a think about the under-planting but Hostas, ferns and woodland plants seem like a good bet.
Ps. posted after I saw yours Mark: agree and geraniums would be good cover.
Last edited: 19 March 2017 19:20:54
Agree with geraniums - tough as old boots.
I have always found that not many plants will really thrive under conifers - particularly Cypress, unless they are extremely tough and can tolerate the conditions all the needles/leaves dropping there, create.
Have a look in your typical pine forest and you'll see that very little else grows underneath.
Last edited: 19 March 2017 21:32:48
I successfully grew vinca major under mine. although vinca minor would be better. Alchemilla mollis and hady geraniums spring to mind.
Thanks for all of your replies so far.
AuntyRach - I'm not a big fan of them either but I do think they look a lot better than the ugly fence they are hiding. It's just a case of keeping them neat and tidy I guess - I need to invest in a good pole trimmer.
Lots of good suggestions so far, it looks like Vinca Minor is a good option for ground cover. Looking at it right now, the area isn't actually that shaded and gets plenty of sun from around midday to 4pm though I guess that doesn't help with the dryness in the Summer.
Our driveway actually leads to a pair of bungalows to the rear of my property and one of our neighbours has a similar, smaller row of leylandii which you can just see in the background of my photo. His are a little bit more compact but he has a lovely burst of colour under his right now with lots of clumps of healthy looking daffodils and grape hyacinths so I wonder if these might be a good option too.
I also like the idea of some hardy geraniums and I might rip out the Bergenia we've got and replace it with some more attractive varieties.
I still need to have a think about that gap though.
There's a white flowered form of Vinca minor that would lighten up the space and there are white flowered geranium phaeum which would do well there. They have deep purple blotches on their leaves and you can cut them back after flowering to encourage this to regenerate and stay fresh looking. Geranium macrorhizum comes in pale, medium and deep pink flowered forms and has scented foliage that turns red in winter.
If you can enrich the soil you may find foxgloves do well. Hardy forms of cyclamen should be fine too and will extend your flowering season. If you want to go for grasses, Milium effusum 'Aureum' Bowles's golden grass should be fine. You could also try the Japanese painted fern.
The best time to add a deep mulch of compost is in autumn when most things are dormant and you can just shovel it on but you could also try it around plants you wish to encourage as long as you water well first and clear their foliage afterwards.