Hi would Karl forster grow in heavy clay soil in shade? Many thanks.

James Denvir

last year

Jd77

Courtyard in Ealing · More Info

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Comments (4)

PRO
Breeze Garden Design
last year
Hi James, the grass is OK in part shade, rather than deep shade. Most of the nursery sites, say free draining soil, but one of them (Hoffman Nursery) said it tolerates clay. They like a bit of moisture, so you would need to avoid sites that just bake dry in summer, which is often a problem with clay soils.
James Denvir
Original Author
last year
Yeah struggling to fill an area along back of fence where it casts shade maybe only gets an hour or so sun in late afternoon time, quite sheltered, soil is heavy clay but is quite damp area and is a raised bed approx 450mm from ground level so was thinking the grass maybe mixed in with foxgloves might look OK?
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Hi James. Don’t worry. Myself, and I’m sure there’s plenty of other people, have planted things which failed to survive. Always a good idea to check labels or info online about a plants requirements such as sun, shade, water, soil and it’s eventual height and spread. Some plants will like a slightly acidic soil ph such as rhododendrons etc. so you could get a soil testing kit to see what ph your soil is or have a look round your neighbourhood to see what plants grow well. A lot of gardeners use the mantra of “right plant, right place,” for a good reason. Improving the the soil with lots of muck (manure) and organic matter will help no end and you can use ericaceous compost for acidic loving plants. I usually use a mixture of manure/ topsoil/ compost/ grit because of my heavy clay. However today I dug up some coal 😄. I like the eriobotrya Japonica, very nice. Other plants that I can think of which are evergreen, easy to look after and grow bushy (just common names) are: Fatsia japonica Pieris japonica Daphne Choisya Laurels Escallonia Viburnum Pittosporum There plenty of varieties with the above and there’s plenty of other choices as well. Against the wall I think it will probably receive less rainfall so drought tolerant plants might be good here such as rosemary or lavender. I find this site invaluable and the plant finder tool is very useful https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-form Also try asking for advice at your local garden centre or nursery as they should know what plants may be suitable for your area and may even help with a planting plan. My boy is enjoying smashing up the cement rubble I dug up. He calls it Kabashing! 🤣 Kids heh! All the best.
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PRO
Breeze Garden Design
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some of the Deschampsia grasses are OK in shade but not as tall as Calamagrostis. Foxgloves prefer sunny spots to shady ones. Depending on width of the bed, some small hydangeas might work. Or check out the crocus.co.uk website -as you can search by light levels, and see if there is anything else you like the look of. Good luck!
James Denvir
Original Author
last year
Great thanks for your help

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Hi would Karl forster grow in heavy clay soil in shade? Many thanks.

Comments (4)

Breeze Garden Design

James DenvirOriginal Author

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Original Author