Plants for shady gardens

[sparrowhouse]

Hi there
I have a kind of patio area outside my back door which gets minimal sun so wondering what I can do to pretty it up.
It's mostly concrete so am looking at potted plants really
I'm in the UK, north east also
Any suggestions?

There are so many.
But ive had good success with astilbe. Astrantia. And Fushias. Try a website from Long Acre Plants. plantsforshade.co.uk
Their prices are really good and their website is full of great info about plants just for shade and difficult locations. The plants are very healthy on arrival.
I have a north facing wall at the back overshadowed by my neighbours awful 20ft fir trees and now have a lovely border bursting with flowering shade loving plants with the help of this site. Happy plant shopping.

Im in south west Scotland if that helps too.

Great, I shall take a look, thanks!
This is a picture from the back door showing it's sorry state!

Many plants known as “houseplants” might do very well there (until winter).

Yeah I second that website, I used it to plant my shady border in the last house. We had vinca for ground cover, astilbe, hardy geraniums, heuchera, aquilegia. Also for larger plants mahonia and fatsia I think can deal with shade. I've also got a shady back garden now which needs some attention! I'll be going mainly for white and pale flowers, and maybe pale foliage to brighten it up a bit.

Oh, and sweet box which smells amazing in the winter!

Thanks for all the ideas, it's going to be my mission next year to get it looking better.

Hostas and ferns.

We had a bay leaf bush grow beautifully in a shaded spot in the garden

I think there are some Rose's and clematis that do ok in shade. Does it get any sun at all?

Fatsia japonica. Nice and jungle-y looking, hardy especially in a sheltered spot such as a patio, good value evergreen

Begonias and fuchsias do well in shade if you're looking for summer colour to punctuate greenery.

To add to my last post - skimmia and pieris do well in shade as do hydrangeas.

I'd concentrate on having some larger evergreen shrubs in pots for year-round structure. The beauty of pots is that they can be moved around if you want to change the layout. The poundshops and budget ranges often sell pot movers with wheels for very little.

My current faves are large glazed pots in blue/ pale green/ grey. Check whatever you buy is frost resistant. I prefer larger (or at least tall) pots for the patio for visual impact, root capacity and water retention (I'm in the hotter south )

If the pots are big enough you mind find you can underplant the shrubs with trailing begonias and fuchsias from May onwards.

Or simply add more pots to make groups with seasonal planting

Thanks for all the ideas!
We get a little sun there in the morning but then it's moves round.
Pots are what I'm after as it only has a little bit of soil against the wall, we put wildflower seeds and a nasturtium in there!

There's a long-standing thread on this topic:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2441728-Shady-characters-a-permanent-home-for-shade-garden-suggestions?pg=2

It is a long and useful thread but I may have posted a link to my latest Place marker - oops.