North facing border!

[ritzbiscuits]

Please share your ideas for good plants for a north facing border. It's relatively narrow in width and a path/decking runs alongside part of it, so I need plants that won't spread too far out of their place.

I'm going to get a new hebe as I had a lovely pink one that did really well in that space then died (due to dead leaves around the root - ooops!)

Any other suggestions really welcomed, I don't really know too much about plants.

How narrow are we talking?

And is there anything on the other side - fence, wall, lawn etc?

Depends what kind of look you're after. Plants that do well in my north facing (also very shady, cold and dry) garden are - ferns, aquilegia, poppies, London Pride, primulas but also some rock plants, annuals such as geraniums and parsley! Comfrey, nasturtiums and ivy.

@GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat sorry some more detail would help. I think about 50cm wide border with railway sleepers, running along a fence.

That's the right side of my garden, the left side, again has sleeper border (also south facing and therefore everything grows fabulously there!)

Bergenias do very well north facing. I'd have to have a scented rose, David Austin's 'Claire Austin' would be prefect. www.davidaustinroses.com/eu/claire-austin-climbing-rose

Settle on a small number of plants and use multiples of each. Odd numbers works best.

No problem! Some great suggestions here 🙂 I'd definitely get some climbers in to soften the fence and draw the eye upwards. Climbing hydrangea does well in shade and there are some reliable north-facing roses.

How long is the border? 50cm is a decent width. Ferns are fantastic as are hostas. I have no luck with the latter, they get well and truly slug-munched in my borders.
I have brunnera and fuchsias in my shady border. Hellibores, heuchera, foxgloves, ajuga and hydrangea. Skimmia, euonymous and fatsia japonica give my shade border some evergreen structure. Fatsia grows quite large and jungly but you can remove leaves. I take off the lower leaves on mine and underplant. Begonias do well in shade if you want some summer colour at the front.

I have a dogwood in my north facing border, and a Hydrangea. They do fairly well. There's a crab apple tree too that does wonderfully!

I'll be trying a few of the suggested plants though, the dogwood is taking over!

Thanks all, really appreciate your tips. We're having fences replaced in a few weeks, so I think I'll hold off and aim for a mix of climbing and non climbing.

Oh, actually the borders are about 35cm! I must have been dreaming of wider spaces last night!