Cheap and low maintenance ideas for shady rectangle front garden *photos*

[AuntyClockWise]

Have just tackled cutting the grass for the first time this year. The garden just looks blah. Dd's trampoline and our garden table round the back in the larger garden as it gets more sun. What can I do to this space to make it a bit nicer?

It's in the shade

Soil is solid!

I am renting this house so don't want to spend a lot nor can I do anything drastic

I don't have a lot of time for gardening so needs to be low maintenance

Precious tenants planted those random daffodils in the middle

Any ideas most welcome!

Make it a wildflower meadow and mow wiggly paths and areas in it. If you have a bench, tuck it into a corner.

It's the time of year to seed wildflowers so buy a wildflower grass seed mix and throw it everywhere. Water ideally.

Oh that sounds perfect! Thank you!

Roses don't mind shade. A rambler would go all along the fence within a few years or a bush in the middle would add colour.

David Austin has some suggestions for shade tolerant roses, but they are the more expensive brand. A garden centre own brand would do too.

Otherwise patio fruit trees give blossom and fruit. Apples and pears are ok in shade. If you keep them in pots, you can take them with you to the next house. Plonk them around the lawn as features.

Little fruit trees mixed with wild flowers would make it look like a proper romantic orchard!

I love the open outlook and general rural feel. So the garden probably doesn't lend itself to something formal. I love the idea of a wildflower meadow too but be warned, they aren't all that easy to get going, do a bit of research, and you may need to lay some netting to stop the birds from eating the seeds.

Thank you all for the replies. Have just heard back from my LL and I've not to do anything irreversible and not keen for me to be digging up the grass, killing it off etc for wild flowers. Looks like it's going tohave to be lots of potted plants and maybe some raised beds? Love the idea of some potted fruit trees.

You could sow wild flower seeds on top of the existing grass and if you only mow the grass at certain times of year wildflowers will come on their own. Regular mowing is what keeps lawns as ‘grass only’.
I would also plant a few trees, maybe fruit to break up the space.

I have one word for you... Euonymus!

I don't like gardening, but I have a garden and like it to look nice. So I researched which plants are very low-maintenance, can tolerate shade, can be grown in pots or in the ground, are hardy, can survive if you go on holiday and don't water them for a while, are not vulnerable to pests and diseases, etc etc.

Basically the answer is Euonymus. It ticks all the boxes. You can plant it anywhere (including pots) and neglect it and it will do fine. It's fine in the shade. I have tested it out and the only easier option afaik is actually buying artificial plants.

The other good news is that it comes in lots of different varieties which look quite different from each other. So you don't need to have a load of plants which all look the same (unless you want to).

I have some other plants (including a rosebush) which have been given to me as presents and they are a PITA by comparison. I'm always having to spray the rosebush, for example, because they attract loads of pests and parasites. But no such problems with the Euonymus. I water them every now and then when the weather is hot, and that's it. They thrive on it.

Oh and in terms of cost... our local garden centre has smallish Euonymus plants for £6. Enough for a 30cm pot or similar. I got lots of them. I did get a bigger one for £24, too, but that is really more like a small tree.