By Blackheath based garden designer Catherine Clancy MSGD.This long thin West London garden had lots of lovely mature trees providing a good structure, but a lot shade.
A light deprived lawn was replaced with reclaimed flag paving, and trees were pruned. The planting scheme in this shady garden is split into two distinct areas, cottage planting nearest the house and a green jungle in the second half, to compliment the existing mature trees and shrubs.
Evergreen structure is provided in the cottage planting area by large Box Balls and Pittosporum Tom Thumb. These shrubs are surrounded by a mix of geranium, grasses suitable for shade, epimedium, nicotiana, anemone, and thalictrum planted in blocks, which will provide all year round colour in pink’s, white and blue.
Red autumn colour is provided by the Euonymus ailanthus, and some of the geraniums. Tree ferns (dicksonia), Fatsia, Pseudopanax and Gunnera provide the jungle feel in the 2nd half of the garden, underplanted with more ferns, hosta, lilies and hellebores.
A mass of flowering bulbs will be planted throughout the cottage area to provide accent colour throughout the year.
Plant list