What can I do with this corner? which plant?

[Pigleychez]

This is the path leading to the entrance to my house. Its on the side of the house. Ive tried numerous plants but its quite sheltered and shady so nothing seems to survive. I forget to water it too
I need something to make it more inviting.. either some kind of super hardy, shady loving plant or something completely different?? Some decorative panel of some description?

Anyone share any thoughts?

I shall be watching this with great interest as have something a bit similar .
Off the top of my head ( and I'm very new to the gardening game ) I can only think of growing some sort of climber over the wooden fence - there are varieagated ivies
www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/45202/Hedera-helix-Glacier-%28v%29/Details
or some other climber ?
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=467

Ferns can be quite happy in dry shade. I've got a spot like that and I have ferns and a skimmia. The skimmia is a bit leggy but the ferns are loving it. A Holly Fern would be lovely but they do have a spread of around 1m.
My neighbour has a Mahonia which is doing well. They are spiky leaved plants with orange berries. Very nice, and evergreen!

How wide is the pathway? Is there room for a tub? The fence panel on the left, is that yours? If so can you hang something over it. You can get hanging bags, bit like compost bags but long and thin that you slit holes in and grow trailing plants out of them.

Yes the fences on the left are ours.
The path at the top is about 3ft wide. One thought was a tall narrow pot with something in it but not sure what. DH isnt keen on Ivy as our last house was covered in it.

Dont be kind about it.. its awful and needs 'something' . I will be replacing the outside lights too when DH and I can agree on some!

It's a bit narrow to plant much, let alone shrubs like skimmia.
Can you hang baskets high on the right hand wall (and water them!) filled with trailing plants and climbers trailing down?
Not an easy area op.
To be honest I'm not sure I would have plants, most will struggle; could you attach interesting mosaics or something to the fence?

With the lack of light also space I can't see what you can plant to help. Have you thought about artificial plants?

I normally wouldn't consider them, but it would brighten it up. Maybe a pot by the door?

I think it's too narrow. Won't pots get in the way if you have bags etc?

Had another look. Is your door on the right? If the panel directly in front is yours and not a door as I first thought, maybe you can use that to hang something over. I have a Montana, it is in a dark shady place. Might take a while to hang over but you could plant it behind the panel.

I would attach 3 arches between the fence and the wall and plant climbers in pots.
I'd try and get pots like tall window boxes.

Or attach window boxes to the wall high up, so they'd get sun, and plant something that would climb the arches and trail down the wall.

Yes front door to the right. This pic is from the front door.

Looked at artificial plants but worry about them looking too fake ifyswim

www.bloomingartificial.co.uk/artificial-oriental-bamboo?gclid=Cj0KEQjw4_DABRC1tuPSpqXjxZwBEiQAhMIp66J4zXA0E3itANl65IlJtNU_JXA_3UWj6bhY7TcUGfAaAuOB8P8HAQ a couple of fake bamboo in a rectangular planter might look nice. You could possibly add a couple of uplighters too.

Not plants, and not in the UK, but the cut metal screens might be good. I'm sure something like this is sold in the UK. Uplighter's would work well.

www.bunnings.com.au/our-range/garden/landscaping/garden-screen/panels

You need a shade loving plant in a BIG pot and you need to feed and water it

Some great ideas here .

Particularly liking Bewitched's ,maybe with some type of reflective panels/mirrors thrown in .

I've been looking at these ..
www.thompson-morgan.com/flowers/all-other-seeds-and-plants/climbing-seeds-and-plants/trachelospermum-asiaticum-variegata/t71386TM

www.thompson-morgan.com/flowers/flower-plants/perennial-and-biennial-plants/heucherella-trailing/t47575TM

I'm afraid the Trachelospermum needs sun. Especially the variegated one .

Maybe something like this only using shade loving ferns

That is a really, really challenging space to plant. You will need some things that are very specialised for both dry and really quite deep shade. A lot of the suggestions so far may tolerate partial shade, but not really dark conditions.

I think one thing you could do immediately that would improve it is to paint the fence a lighter colour. This will bounce more light around, and look just way better. It doesn't have to be an expensive job - you can get decent fence paint in Wilkos. Cuprinol 'garden shades' has some great colours if you can stretch to it. I would go for something really quite light if you want to grow things. You could think about non-organic additions to the fence to give interest - outdoor mirrors, for instance.

I think I'd then be tempted to try an optical illusion - which is putting planting right at the end of the passage to draw the eye. You could go for a long, narrow, deep planter with a dry shade fern, dry shade geranium and a feature plant like a mahonia. Look for a specialist shade nursery like Long Acre Plants and for dry shade things. Cyclamen hederifolium may give you a splash of colour.

I'd do all of the above.

Paint all the fence white or other light colour.
Put mirror on the section of wall between fence and door.
Can you paint the bricks white too ?
Get a large pot ( half barrel size) and fill with soil based compost ( it will be too heavy to move once filled )
Plant with a dramatic evergreen , like a Fatsia. Underplant with something small and undemanding , like ferns or grasses that tolerate shade . If the fatsia gets leggy, you chop off the top to make it branch out .

I'd also have smaller pots with shade loving climbers, like pyracantha ( at the end because it's jaggy ) and climbing hydrangea . And a variegated ivy ( ignore your DH) .

You must have BIG pots and you MUST feed and water . That way you can have plants that can cope with shade only, not dry shade . Don't wait until the plant is half dead, water regularly ( less often in winter )

A yew tree in a big pot? You can get tall columnar ones, they don't mind shade, or dryness at the roots if you forget to water them, and are slow-growing.

Yew is beautiful. The fastigate gold one is lovely.

But I wouldn't use it if you have young children. All parts of it are extremely poisonous, except the berries surrounding the very poisonsous seeds, which are very tempting to little ones . Even the dried leaves and the bark can kill.

Heaps of ordinary garden plants are toxic though aren't they?

Yes they are . But most can irritate your skin or give you a tummy upset , few kill as effectively as yew. There are often no symptoms and then you die a few hours later .

And one plant in a pot in a confined area like this is a lot more attractive to a small child than one of many plants in a large garden .

www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/atoz/taxus_baccata.htm

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-26089688

Of course the OP should use it if she wants to . everyone has their own ideas about risk . I have one in my garden , but it it's one of about 40 trees and not in a busy area, it's against a side wall. And my youngest child is 10.