Plants for dry shade under trees

[Turkeyhen]

Could anyone suggest low maintenance ideas for planting under Himalayan birch trees in dry shade? Made worse by sandy soil. The area is fairly small (2m square). It looks nice in spring but gets manky by late summer.

I'm thinking:

Epimedium (vigorous ones)
Bergenia?
Vinca?
Euphorbia amygdaloides

Small shrubs?

Already have ferns (looking manky), hellebore, and foxgloves but Japanese anemones and wood aster failed to establish 😞

Many thanks for any ideas

I have exactly the same problem! A large Himalayan Birch, so soil is full of roots and not easy to plant anything. Spring is fine, with Bluebells (but the dreadful hybrids) forget-me-nots and a few pulmonaria, some wood Anemones, but looks dreadful in summer.

i wanted something that would give good ground cover in summer, and saw recommendations on this board for Sweet Woodruff (Asperula odorata). I ordered 6 plants from Norfolk Herbs (cheapest I could find) a couple of weeks ago, which arrived last week, and planted them last Saturday. Hopefully they will spread and give some greenness all summer, with white flowers from May to July.

They were beautifully packed and very healthy, so maybe an idea for you?

Link: https://www.norfolkherbs.co.uk

I have same issues.
Berberis seems to grow well under my trees
I like Pernettya and have ordered one but no idea how it will grow under the trees .
What about a Japonica? They do well in shade

Just planted a Gaultheria procumbens so hoping it will take as flowers and berries are lovely.

Came here to say sweet woodruff but someone has beaten me to it! I have it under some steps so pretty dry, also sandy soil

Thank you all so much, some great ideas I hadn't thought of at all.

@NanTheWiser Norfolk Herbs is a great company, I have bought from them before and in fact was looking on their website today so I will check out the sweet woodruff. Thank you too @Butterbeanbutterbo for seconding the suggestion. It looks like a lovely plant.

@Justasmallgless I will have to do some research into berberis, I like the idea of planting a small shrub there very much. I have a huge fatsia growing in complete shade and I love it, but I think it would be too big for this spot under the birch trees. Japonica is a nice idea as a free standing shrub rather than wall trained, I hadn't thought of that. I've never heard of pernettya and can't remember what gaultheria procumbens look like so I'll check those out too.

Brilliant, thank you for some fab suggestions

Another thought, mahonia "Soft Caress"?

Maybe fatshedera lizei would work (as an alternative to fatsia)?

Maybe I could plant fatsia there and prune it to keep it from getting too big?

Oh yes I remember seeing this as it doesn't prickle does it.

Not tried it myself but it does seem hardy

The oxymoronic phrase "moist but well drained soil" should be banned. So frustrating trying to find plants for dry shade and seeing that damn phrase!

Another suggestion although hard to come by: Pachyphragma macrophyllum

www.bethchatto.co.uk/conditions/plants-for-shade-conditions/pachyphragma-macrophyllum.htm

I hate it too! Well drained with any sun means dry, so that rules out quite a lot.

I was just looking for a photo on my phone and found I’d taken this handy picture from the rhs magazine for future reference!!

I've just bought plants for my dry shade border, again, very sandy soil. Bought from Shire Plants- they have a whole section on the website for dry shade!
The three geraniums i bought from there last year for the same spot seem to be doing well (one got slightly trampled by children and investigated by chicken though )
Worth a look @Turkeyhen

Thanks for the tips I've just managed to spend a small fortune at Shire plants too @NorthernChinchilla !

Have also planted a load of new bulbs as the bluebells have taken over under the trees and wanted something a bit different.

Ballyrobertgardens has it in stock. I've bought from them several times and always been very happy with the plants and their very quick delivery times.

I've just ordered several ferns and some astilbe from them for my dry but very humus rich shady corner. I already have some sweet woodruff elsewhere so I'll move some of that and pop some bulbs in once I've planted the ferns and astilbe.

@Skybyrd thank you for that tip, I will have a look now

I ordered some plants from Cowell's Garden Centre and I was most impressed that they were delivered two days later, packaged carefully with minimal plastic, handled carefully by the courier, and all the plants are fantastic healthy specimens. Highly recommended.

I bought hakonechloa macra (x 3), hellebore "Anna's Red" (I already have one of these and it's my favourite hellebore), and epimedium "Totnes Turbo" (apparently even better adapted for dry shade conditions than normal epimediums).

I've just remembered a few more herby ground cover candidates:

alpine strawberries (grow in deep shade in my garden)
pennyroyal
ajuga (bonus for being super easy to propagate)

Also wild garlic, I bought a couple of small potted ones a couple of seasons ago and they haven't died in deep shade under a tree. It probably prefers moist soil though.

Ajuga likes moist soil.

Tellima grows in deep shade

Lots of good suggestions. As a previous poster said, you could try hardy geraniums as they will grow anywhere. There's a huge range of colours and leaf shapes and the bees love them.

I put in a variegated Fatsia Japonica in this kind of spot which has done really well. Got the inspiration from the Botanic Gardens in Birmingham which had some under large conifers. More surprisingly I also have Choisya - just the plain leaved one which is also growing well despite being under a large deciduous tree.

Thanks for so many great ideas

@MereDintofPandiculation Ajuga grows well in my sandy soil (although less vigorously than it might in moister conditions). Tellima also grows well here and I love it, but it basically disappears from view by July.

That’s interesting - my Tellima is visible (though not in flower) all the year round.

My purchases from shire plants have arrived and really pleased with them. All look healthy so can recommend

@Justasmallgless that's great to know, thanks for the recommendation