What on earth am I going to do with this?!

[BooseysMom]

Hi,
We have a horrible small area at the north corner of our house which gets no sun on the ground all year and just a slither of sun light higher up in the summer. The soil is very heavy clay based and in the two years we have lived here the grass has mostly died and seeds haven't germinated.
(See attached photo).
So what would you do with this area? I feel it should be paved over and use pots which can be moved around to follow the sun.
Any ideas much appreciated.
Thanks

I think I'd agree with you and go for paving and pots. The grass looks very sad and unlikely to do much if it's so shady there. If there is some sunshine higher up then you could try getting something to climb up the fence, either planted in the ground there or in a pot. Good luck with it - great time of year to be sorting that out!

You could build a rockery.
Ajuga, Aquilegia, Brunnera, Campanula, Cyclamen, Epimedium, hardy ferns, Lysimachia, Omphalodes, Pulmonaria, Soldanella, Tellima, Tiarella, Vinca and Viola are just some of the shade tolerant alpine plants and rockery plants that you can grow

Would you consider planting an acer? There are some which hate direct sunlight and wind.

Plus there are some lighter heucheras which love shady consitions.

Something like this?

www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/acer-palmatum-sango-kaku/classid.2000033783/

The website says full sun or partial shade but the actual description says shade and shelter from the wind.

This is my shady bit of garden - only gets a bit of sun in the middle of the day in summer - still enough to make the yellow acer’s leave get crispy though.

How about a Fatsia japonica? We have one against a very shady north-facing wall near the house. Fatsias have huge, jungley leaves, love heavy clay soils and will live quite happily with almost no attention from you. There is a variegated kind but the all-green variety is the hardiest.

Like this

Another option: Elaeagnus pungens, an evergreen shrub that produces tiny but very fragrant flowers in the autumn. There are plain green and green/gold varieties.

I always think pots are much higher maintenance than plants in the ground. They can look great, but any hint of neglect or poor choices in the pots and it’s a mess..an acer/ shade lovers corner is a great idea, may become your favourite bit.

Oh - please have a go with the shade-lovers Lots to choose from and they're just as nice as the sun-seekers . There's a lovely thread here about them - 'shady characters'. I can't make a link, but I'll find it and bump it up.

Wow! Thank you all so much ..some terrific ideas. I hadn't considered a rockery or an Acer..I really love those. Also the Fatsia and Elaeagnus pungens. Thank you @theconstantinoplegardener
@Dontsweatthelittlestuff.. Thank you for listing the plants for a rockery
@CruCru.. that shady garden looks lovely
I've got a lot to go on there so thank you to you all x

You can get ideas from the ready made borders on Crocus; choose from the drop down list for 'Aspect'. Some examples below. You can get the plants elsewhere, don't have to buy from Crocus.

www.crocus.co.uk/ready-made-borders/

Looks like the space you have is smaller than the ones calculated for the Crocus borders. What you can do is try using fewer plants or omitting large ones (like the magnolia in one of the examples below) for your corner.

@HippyHobbitHumper.. thank you for the idea. Yes it's a tiny corner of the house next to where the patio area ends. It looks all rubbish and neglected. I just thought I'd have to slab it over but might plant a tree like the Acer mentioned above. Just hope it survives as they're not cheap

I’d grow climbing roses up the fence and wall. look on David Austin website for roses that thrive on shade. All roses love heavy clay soil.

There are even thornless roses.

Prune in winter ( it’s all on the website and really easy) feed on summer. 40 years of beauty and scent for about £15 each. £ 5 for some wire for them to grow up. I’d put two on that spot.

@Dontsweatthelittlestuff - some gorgeous stuff in your list .
I'm now desperate for this one cappadocica. 'Starry Eyes

@CruCru what is the plant in the middle of your bed at the front with divided ,ferny leaves ?

Raised bed, rockery or dig put a shallow channel, use weed-membrane then gravel and put pots or troughs along. You could have climbers against the fence or use grow bags for tomatoes etc

@Ohyesiam.. Roses are a lovely idea thanks. I have a £5 voucher for a rose at our local garden centre so that will help. I didn't realise they like clay ..they'll love it here then!

@LIZS.. great ideas thanks. Not sure about tomatoes as it doesn't get sun there but a raised bed or rockery might work

Another vote for a fatsia, I absolutely love them.

www.plantsforshade.co.uk/

My go to are always Acer, hellebore under and sweet woodruff under that; in fact I have exactly this in my shady bit of the garden. We just drag out the woodruff if it oversteps the mark on the edges.

Thank you userxx and sackrifice. I was looking at Acers today at our garden centre and they're £50 so I'm worried if it dies it's alot of money wasted.
I'm not familiar with Fatsia so will have a look at those

BooseysMom if you’re near an Aldi, they have acers on Special Buy this Thursday (£10.99 each.)

I bought 3 from there a few years back, have done absolutely nothing with them and they look amazing - they are my favourite thing in my garden now!

@MrsKipling16.. how fantastic! Thank you. There's an Aldi not too far away. For that price I could get two or three!