Where do I begin

[MellowMarshmallow]

I know nothing at all about gardening. I live in a cul de sac of houses all with lovely front gardens and all I've got is a patch of damp grass.

The lawn is shaded most of the day. How do I make it pretty with low maintenance plants. I am totally clueless. Are there any blogs for the uninitiated?

If it's in shade a lot grass probably won't do too well.

I suggest you look up RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) or BBC Gardeners World sites and see what they suggest for small shady gardens

There are plenty of plants/shrubs suitable for shade or semi-shade. Bulbs are easy; we have hundreds of snowdrops at moment, and they can be divided every couple of years; may self-seed if they feel happy! Crocus in many shades, daffs and narcissus, small ones if small garden. Hellebores quite easy and can be very colourful in a subdued way, also heuchera, and pulmonaria (lungwort - hairy leaves can irritate skin) are all happy in shade. Cyclamen are pretty, the small 'wild' sort and I think there are spring, autumn and winter flowering varieties. Don't bury them, just plant ON SURFACE of soil; corms may be expensive, but spread easily. After flowering they make seed capsules (like small Maltesers) which open when ripe, and the sticky little seeds can be scattered around and you'll have hundreds in a few years! Hostas as versatile, but slugs LOVE them!

(I am not recommending the following sites, but they are just a selection that came up to show what the flowers look like. The Sarah Raven cyclamen is Indoor, but she has an interesting site and knows her stuff!)

www.wildflowershop.co.uk/Bulbs%20In%20the%20Green/cyclamen.htm

www.sarahraven.com/how-to/growing-flowers/2/indoor-cyclamen

www.ashwoodnurseries.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=12

apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/searchbynameresults?nm=heuchera&op=0

www.plantsforshade.co.uk/acatalog/Pulmonaria.html

www.bowdenhostas.com/categories/Hostas/

thanks for all the info. sorry only just noticed it. definitely my project for this year.

If it's heavy shade you might as well forget about having a lovely lawn,the amount of effort it would take ain't worth it,consider gravel or bark with mixed planting & a nice feature stone something.

it's a lawn already and nothing else. looks scruffy all the time though. needs brightening up.