Dark Garden

[StepIntoMyOffice]

Our garden is WSW facing but there is one corner that, because of the garage, doesn't get any sun at all and I don't know what to do with it. Can anything grow without direct sunlight? Plants or fruit/veg? If not, any other ideas to utilise the space? The area I'm talking about is approx. 3m x 4m.

There are definitely shrubs that will grow in shady areas, not sure which ones though as I'm not very green fingered!

Could you have a seating area to escape the sun when it's really hot? Also, mirrors work well in dark areas. I'd love a garden mirror, but don't have any shade so always worry about the fire risk. Would definitely have 1 in the right area though. They obviously bounce light around and if positioned right, they reflect an area of greenery so can make a boring wall look pretty. I love the ones that look like windows ❤

Thanks @CellophaneFlower I hadn't considered a mirror! Only issue would be that I have 2 toddlers who are very excitable and heavy handed so I'd worry that they would throw/kick something at it and smash it 🫣 it'd be nice to put something in that corner for them but I'm not sure what?! Maybe a big chalk board against the fence and couple of toadstool seats to sit on (yes, i've been scrolling Pinterest lol). I have no imagination when it comes to design. I'd like to have a veg patch for them but maybe I'd be better putting a planter in the sunny part for that.

Ferns are your friends. Get some logs, pile them up and grown ferns. They will be completely child proof.
A non shatter garden mirror will multiply the plants and make the area look lush. Some ideas on Pinterest.

Ferns would be good, as mentioned earlier, we had a north facing garden once and planted loads of ferns alongside the house, they really were beautiful ❤️

Yes, you can definitely get non glass mirrors. Something for the kids would be lovely and encourage them out of the sun.

Could you post a pic of the area? Might make it easier for us to suggest more ideas.

Skimmia likes shade.
Fern, ivy, there's plenty of plants.

If you have a young children I would consider mud kitchen,with some chalk board, bug hotel etc.
I wouldn't put up mirrors with young kids as it can be dangerous.

I had the same issue in my south facing garden; so I had a pergola built in that corner. It's a nice place to sit in the shade when it's too hot

Thank you all for your suggestions.

We've not long moved in and the garden needs a lot of work so a picture of the current area probably wouldn't help as there are 2 sheds there that we intend to take down. I've attached a drawing of the garden if that helps. It's the area circled in red that I'm referring to. It's not all in darkness but by removing the sheds and paving slabs it would free up the whole area to do something with. Don't want to just turf it all as it seems a waste.

We have honeysuckle and jasmine, they thrive in our shady spot that gets virtually zero sun.

Also ferns as others have said, hydrangea, viburnum

Geranium johnsons blue is a great perennial for shade. The colour is fab too.

I wouldn’t rush to pull the slabs up. Google images of Abigail Ahern’s garden and make the most of a shady spot like she does.

We have an area in our garden next to the fence which gets virtually no sunlight so it’s where we store our bins and shed but in our last house we had a huge garden but one side hardly ever got sunlight and always seemed damp. We had ferns which grew in abundance there and hydrangeas which did well, we also had some trailing honeysuckle and some small evergreen shrubs I think they were called Dionysus which always seemed to do well

Climbing hydrangia are self clinging and grow in pretty deep shade. They are great for birds once they get established.

How about making a shady adventure garden? Take up the slabs . Plant ferns, tree ferns, bergenia (elephants ears), hostas and lots of bulbs underneath for spring. These plants all love damp, cool, shady places Add some big old logs to get mossy, a bug hotel and your little mushroom seats and then cover the earth with bark chips. I'm going down a leafy lane now but you could add a fairy garden or some dinosaurs to make it the most fun place.

Hydrangea petiolaris will grow up a wall in the shade and is very pretty.

Grass is one of the hardest things to grow in deep shade so I definitely wouldn't put turf down. You need your vegetables in a sunny patch.

Thank you for all of your suggestions and recommendations, I will be looking into all of them. I love the woody, adventure garden idea alongside some low maintenance greenery!

I wouldn't be too hasty in removing all the slabs - at your kids' ages, I'd want to put in a cute wooden play house, something like this maybe? Some games and cushions inside, bit of bunting...