Advice for wooded area

[FinallyGettingFree]

i have a small patch of land at the bottom of my garden which is lined with trees, making it very overcast. At the moment the ground is just earth with an occasional shrub, but I’d love to plant something there to brighten it up a bit. However, I have three criteria:

1. Easy to maintain (I am not a natural gardener AT ALL)
2. Super cheap
3. Preferably providing cover all year round

Does anyone have any ideas or tips, please?

If you Google woodland planting and shade planting in the UK you'll find loads of suggestions- think bulbs like snowdrop and bluebell, primrose & crocus for spring, cyclamen and also hellobores for winter. Then hostas, ferns, foxgloves, wood anenemone etc

I absolutely love sweet woodruff for under trees, it's fantastic in shade, has pretty white flowers, smells wonderful if disturbed (like sweet hay), covers ground really well and easily, it's edible (if you fancy it).

I think ferns could be a good choice too but I don't have any to have any advice.

Wild garlic does well in shady areas too and smells amazing in season

Honestly, if you are going for minimalistic you could do worse than periwinkles. Vinca major can be very invasive, but vinca minor can make a wonderful forest floor and is virtually zero maintenance (there's a lovely example of this in the Jardin de l'alchimiste, if you happen to be wandering around Provence).

There are also variegated forms which can really brighten up darker areas.

I forgot about periwinkle - the bees love it in my garden

Epimedium are very pretty in both foliage and flower, evergreen and provide good ground cover. There are so many wonderful groundcover plants for shade, agree with prev posters who mentioned sweet woodruff and vinca. Foxgloves are easy and you can get a groundcover comfrey that is pretty and suppresses weeds. Another one is pachyphragma macrophyllum with lovely white flowers.

Hakonechloa macra and melica uniflora are lovely grasses that grow well under trees too.

Brunnera?

https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/the-best-shade-loving-plants/

https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/woodland-plants-to-grow/

Oh these are all brilliant ideas - thank you! Love the idea of ferns with maybe some periwinkles. Had no idea there would be so many options!

We have this, there’s a lot of bluebells at the moment, and a lot of it is covered with an ivy ‘floor’. To keep it tidy but looking natural we just prune the hedges, keep the medium sized trees in check, let the giant oks do their thing and leave it be a lot of the time. Foxes, badgers and birds love it - and it’s a great buffer between us and neighbouring properties.

Bright Pig Faces look nice under trees if there is a little light.
Herbs can thrive - Mint, Chives.
Baby Tears Fern, established, with Lily of the Valley planted under it has been successful in shady spots me..
Low Fuchsias also love shade.
Nasturtiums, Rhubarb and Alpine Strawberries give you something to nibble..

London Pride - Saxifraga x Urbium.

Evergreen; very easy to grow and flowers for several months in late spring/summer.