Photography courtesy of Susanna Grant.
Susanna Grant’s post on Instagram stopped us in our scroll. So, we asked Susanna to tell us more about her shady East London corridor garden.
Susanna started designing gardens part time in 2018 and as she recalls I had just planted a friend s tiny backyard that got no direct light Everything was in pots and flourishing Pollinators...
...were everywhere We were amazed at the transformation as it was such a tough site Her friend lived near a Sunday flower market so Susanna hatched a plot for a pop up plant shop
The view from Susanna’s kitchen to her corridor garden between buildings. Susanna is well-acquainted with gardening in deep shade in the city.
Here, Susanna has made the most of the “side return,” a common feature in Victorian houses that were originally the path from the back door to the garden (and the outdoor loo).
False spirea does well in partial shade. Susanna’s side return only gets two to three hours of light per day, and she says the very bottom doesn’t get any light at all.
1. Don’t be daunted by deep shade.
2. Shop only for shade-loving plants.
Solomon’s seal is a reliable shade garden plant.
Susanna has also found Euphorbia robbiaea to be a very useful evergreen with a good lime green flower in early spring Solomon s seal Lamium maculatum spotted dead nettle...
...Thalictrums meadow rues and Japanese anemones are tough and good for pollinators Luzula nivea is a very tough shade tolerant grass which is useful to give movement and texture
2. Thing big pots—and lots of them.
A trough-like container allows you to plant multiple plants, like a mini-garden.
“Go for a few really big planters or pots; the bigger the better as you can plant big plants and make more of an impact,” says Susanna, who has a couple that are around 1.2m long and 60cm high and 35cm wide (approximately 4’ long and 2’ high and 1’ wide).
3. Design with lots of layers.
A mix of textures, heights, and foliage types more than make up for a shade garden’s lack of color. There are mainly ferns (including those mentioned above) at the bottom of the steps where it’s darkest.
Papaver cambrica (Welsh poppy) ready to unfurl. With this many pots, you’ll definitely want a hose that can comfortably reach your alley or side return.
4. Make a plan for watering.
5. Aim for four-season interest.
“Think about winter, I don’t have lots of evergreen but I do have enough that, along with the grasses and ferns means it still looks nice over that season,” says Susanna, who has a couple of tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica), which she says “give a great canopy.”
6. Keep experimenting.
Astilbe offers some color in a shade garden. Move things around, go for different heights and textures, and don’t get discouraged if a plant fails to thrive.