London North facing front garden

[cannonball8726]

Hello! We have a Victorian house in London with a small paved front garden. It's North facing and currently totally empty apart from our bins. I'm not sure what to do with the space. I'd be keen to go with plants that can tolerate shade and was keen to go with pots with Fatsia, Acuba japonica, ferns, skimmia etc. But nervous about pots being stolen so not sure if this is the best approach. Any suggestions would be most welcome! Thank you.

You could put in large pots, big square ones, that once filled with compost would be very difficult to move or steal or kick over. Depends on budget but b&q have large square or rectangular wooden and plastic planters. Just make sure they have holes for drainage or drill some (easy).

Bigger the better for containers in any case! Put some John innes compost in with multiple purpose, it’s heavier and better for plants that are perennials.

If it gets little to know sun then hostas and ferns are your friends too. If it gets some for part of the day then put some flowery annuals in too. I had a flowering cherry tree in a container for a long time.

I put a few bricks in the bottom of large planters out front to make them heavier and harder to move.

I used to have lots of pots in my London front garden and only ever had one stolen - and they were all easily liftable. I may have been lucky, and it may depend on the area you're in. If you use wooden planters you could screw a big eye at the back, out f sight, and another into the ground and chain them down.