Shrub for shady, chalky spot

[surabayajenny]

Hi Mumsnetters
I’m looking for a shrub to plant in chalky soil in a part of my garden somewhat overshadowed by a large sycamore. We’ve been looking at fatsias which I’m not over keen on, though there may be some interesting varieties I don’t know about?? Ideally I’d like something evergreen with a bit of interest from flowers/berries. Any suggestions?

Epimedium; dwarf comfrey; brunnera; primula candelabra; hellebore; acer; viola are currently in my shaded area.

Variegated hollies. I have exactly this situation!

Thanks for these ideas which are very helpful. @Heronatemygoldfish do you have recommendations for specific varieties of variegated holly? Something less dense and with softer leaves than traditional holly? @nachtvlinder I’m going to look at all these and especially love hellebores.

Have you seen the variegated fatsia? I'm not overly keen on the others either, but I love variegated foliage and I'm planning on getting one of these when I move into my new house (my NEW GARDEN! Mega-excited to be getting a new garden...😁)
Fatsia Japonica Spider's Web C2 - JParkers

Hellebores are having their moment right now; you'll find allsorts of wonderful colours. Some places are dearer than others, so it varies. The cheapest I've seen for a 2l pot is £12 from B&Q, In GCs they charge a lot more generally. I've noticed one of two FB Marketplace has cheaper hellebore sales from private individuals in my area, so maybe try your local one.

I have a shady, very chalky garden. My ceanothus is so happy there. It has lovely blue flowers in summer and some black berries plus is evergreen.

I'll have to go look at mine and see if I've lost the tag!

Thanks @Heronatemygoldfish. I’m planning to go to a huge nursery near me with very reasonable prices, so will follow up all suggestions. I also wondered about viburnums?

Argh, just typed loads and it got lost when I tried to add an image!

Best recommendations are Silver Queen (paradoxically male and sometimes relabelled Silver King) and Argentea Marginata (meaning silver margin) which is female. There are gold-edged ones too. To get berries you need both - my first holly was bird-sown which I didn't know was female for about 8-9 years until a bird-sown male got to flowering stage... and then the female lit up with berries.

My dad ordered a lot of Silver Queen for hedging as the males grow faster (less energy in berries) and guess what they sent! To be fair they now look absolutely spectacular (pic from last October) but did take a year or three longer to get to the right size and by the time we realised, they'd been planted for over a year and couldn't really be sent back.

@Heronatemygoldfish Thanks so much for the picture and all the info. I’m off to the nursery this afternoon so will see what I find. Also, did a heron really eat your goldfish?

Cotoneaster has a liking for chalky soils and there is a variegated one. It is called Cotoneaster horizontalis variegata (surprisingly enough lol).

@surabayajenny yes it did. I went away for a weekend leaving the place to dh and ds and the cats. I came back to no fish in the pond. Cats would have left evidence or not caught all of them. They were all gone though so a heron is likeliest. The pesky things are everywhere here as are egrets. I told the cats they were fired.