What to do with a shady fence corner that gets little rain

[Maskrosen]

Over shadowed by trees , sadly think I’ll have to give up on covering the fence with a climber but need some interest.

There’s a climbing hydrangea thats good for shady spots. And I’d look at hydrangeas, fatsia japonica, and dog wood.

Variegated ivy. Ferns.

It’s the lack of rain that gets to the spot. It’s a corner of two fences with trees overlooking it. I have a climbing hydrangea on one side that just about survives. But in the other side suspect I’m going to have to give up, unless I try ivy. Do have Fatsia in pots I could transplant, they seem to put up with anything.

Failing that I could try a bird bath or something I guess. It’s a cottage type garden so don’t like too much showy stuff although I do like Upcycling.

Do you specifically want height?

A little pond or wet spot if you dont want a deep one, dig down a bit, doesn't have to be too deep, add some pond liner to hold the water in, you can add some nice Peebles like Scottish pebbles which come in great colours. Lots of critters just like a shallow spot of water and drying out isnt a huge issue as long as you don't get newts and tadpoles.

Alternatively if you have a water butt you can top it up with instead of plants add aquatic soil over the pond liner do it can be a big garden with marginals like iries which gave height.

Or look for a specific woodland mix of wild flowers

Got a pond in a more damp spot. Seems to be thriving, amazed at how much so.😍

I built a large bug house from waste materials in a corner where it would be hard to grow anything. But is perfect for invertebrates.

Christmas box (Sarcococa) seems to do ok in dry shade although not the most exciting looking plant it does smell gorgeous. Ferns will do well of course and you could try some woodland bulbs like Aconite, Snowdrops and Cyclamen Hederifolium. The ones that do well tend to flower in the spring before the trees come into leaf and Rob them of the sun and moisture. For climbers I think you would have to choose ivy if you want something to perform in dry shade. A variegated one would look prettier and be less rampant.

Yes thinking of glacier ivy. How drought tolerant do they go?

Got a few of those, pallet planters too. Always open to more insect hotels only thing is this is quite a focal spot. Has a pergola in front of it too. Don’t want to chop the trees down behind because of the wildlife they support. A prune would help I guess.

are the trees deciduous or evergreen? if deciduous, you can do a spring bulb display and have some dry shade plants covering it for the rest of the year: https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/20-plants-for-dry-shade/

evergreen trees can be a bit trickier as some make the soil acidic, and they really restrict the light, so the search criteria is tighter.

I have some growing under yew trees along the ground, which is a very dry spot. As with anything watering every week for the first few months will make sure it gets established and puts its roots down. I do this for anything new I plant unless it’s had a lot of rain ( which it won’t in dry shade).

This is a place for ferns that like dry conditions, inter planted with pink Japanese anenome, anamenthone lessononia

I'd use it for a resting corner where I could sit and look out at the rest of the garden. Something like this.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rowlinson-PERBAL-Balmoral-Corner-Arbour/dp/B00432NIRI?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&gQT=1

A chicken coop....

We put bunnies in our shady corner.

aforementioned bunnies. They don’t particularly like sunlight. Chickens do.

Add shade-tolerant plants (ferns, hostas).
Use decorative fence art or mirrors.
Try potted shade plants (begonias, impatiens).
Add mulch or groundcovers like ivy.
Include a bench or birdbath for interest.

Ahhhhh love them.