Plants for wildlife area in shade?

[Lovemusic33]

A while ago I chopped down my jasmine and it doesn’t seem to be growing back, it’s growing up neighbours tree and over hangs my fence and garden. It usually provides a lot of shade/cover for the spot where I keep my hedgehog houses, now my hog houses are exposed as is the neighbours metal fence so neighbours can now see into my garden. It’s still a shady part of the garden because of neighbours tree but I would like something to grow around the hog houses to provide some cover. Any ideas what I can plant?

Dry or damp?

My garden is quite dry soil (clay) but this part of the garden is probably less dry due to the shade.

I have comfrey in a similar spot, it’s flowers are overrun by pollinators

And it’s really spread and provided some ground cover

Just need to protect it from slugs initially while it establishes, then you can forget about it. Sorry for the many messages

Anemones? Or if you wanted shrubs, a camellia.

This is the area. My neighbour keeps rabbits on the other side of the fence which I am allergic too so I rarely use this part of the garden. I want something that will block out the fence but it is shaded by trees.

I love comfrey, it does pop up around my garden as does lots of other wild plants.

I would plant something that will climb across the fence and screen that, plus something fluffy at the foot to provide cover around the hog houses.

As you have dry shade, I'd suggest that the climbing hydrangea would be a good bet. It's evergreen so all round cover, is self supporting and and has nice flowers as a bonus. A shady spot is usually more challenging as the trees causing the shade will also cause the area to be generally drier than out in the open. You will probably have to water any plant you put in there in dry spells, at least until autumn.

At the foot you could put in some heucheras and/or geraniums, which do quite well in dry shade and are loved by pollinators. You might have to dig in some compost and additional organic matter into the planting holes, as it looks like the area isn't currently cultivated.

Are you sure the jasmine is gone?

Thank you. I don’t think the jasmine has gone, I have cut it right back in the past and it has come back. I don’t expect to see too much growth this year but next year it will probably be everywhere again, last year it was massive and literally covered the whole area in the photo giving the hog houses loads of shelter.

Honeysuckle should grow there and climb the fence.

Honeysuckle is an option.

Ivy is another - very reliable for shade cover and provides a lot for wildlife.

I'd be tempted to add some big old hellebores for ground cover, too

Thinking - we also have an ornamental nettle that has grown well in shade and provided much needed nectar for polllinators very early in the spring. It was buzzing with bees.

There’s already a tiny bit of ivy there, I was wondering wether to get rid or encourage it to grow.

I love the sound of the nettle, we have loads of bees in the garden so I’m always looking for bee friendly plants.

I have honeysuckle growing somewhere else in the garden but it seems to be growing slowly in my soil. I might be best digging the ground and adding some compost/fertiliser before planting anything.