Help me brighten a dark and dingy courtyard

[cathyandclare]

Help me please! We have a dark north facing courtyard garden (25 by 16 feet) . It’s mostly in the shadow of a tall house, but one end gets some sun, especially in summer.

There’s a separate sunny lawn area but this courtyard is totally private and by the kitchen door, so I would just like to make it a bit prettier and more appealing. Frankly it’s depressing at the moment!

Grass won’t grow but we’ve laid gravel and thought of adding pots- but will everything die? Budget small, I’m afraid but have access to plants at trade prices.

Pots and planters with some shade loving plants will definitely help brighten - can you get any garden mirrors for the walls to bounce light around? Festoon lighting / a self contained fountain could be nice too!

It depends if there is any light at all but Have a look for shade plants and see if there are any that you like. Hostas are nice though they disappear in winter, camellias don’t need much sun and will grow fairly large depending on the pot and give you good structure. You could have a look at ferns etc.

Paint the walls white n a funky colour -
add some trellis and put some jam jars with candles in and small shiny objects that reflect the light.
Buy some secondhand furniture and paint that in different colours.

Add a fire pit for warmth -

Id love and enclosed yard like this so I could escape the house

I would put some fairy lights all around the courtyard walls or festoon lighting overhead. Paint the walls if they need it too.

Then, look at shade loving plants in pots. Fatsia Japonica is good in a large pot and is evergreen so you have something to look at in the winter. Same with camellias with the added bonus of flowers. You could look at ferns too.

Thanks so much for the advice. I will definitely paint and great recommendations for plants, Fatsia Japonica, camellia, ferns she hostas on the list. Festoon lights and a fire pit a great call too.

A tree fern would be gorgeous provided it's very sheltered. Fatsia Japonica grows in almost complete shade as will Mahonia then you've got spotted laurel for evergreen structure. You could add a climbing hydrangea for height , lovely white flowers in early summer plus it's self clinging. Clematis Nelly Moser grows in shad too so you could have that . Quite a few roses grow in fairly shady conditions too . Nice furniture. Maybe a hammock across a corner ?

Paint the walls. Add some shade-loving structural plants like big ferns and hydrangea in pots. You can add a water feature or anything else that isn't dependent on sunlight.

Our garden is so shady. It came into its element during the heat wave. I could sit out in it all day, even when it was 40 degrees elsewhere on the street.

Herbs in pots ? Some are a bit thuggish like mint so best contained . Beautiful smell from them and fresh herbs for cooking .

Painting the walls white makes a massive difference

Our hydrangea pots come back year after year.

Sarcococca
Hellebores
Acers
Astrantia
Bergenia
Liriope
Heuchera.

Paint your walls and hang fairy lights as a base.

White

Fatsia Japonica for sure - developers use it all the time as a bomb-proof plant for shady bits in between blocks of flats, etc. I really like our north facing shady patio, and I think as climate change continues people will value them more and more.