Start With the Shade You Actually Have

Before you buy a single plant, spend a day or two watching the border. "Shade" covers a lot of ground. A north-facing wall gives cool, even light all day; the strip beneath a mature tree is dry shade, where roots steal every drop of moisture; and a border that catches two hours of morning sun before the house blocks it is really a partially shaded site with a bright start. The plants that thrive in each are subtly different, and knowing which you have saves a fortune in replacements.

Dig in plenty of organic matter — leaf mould, garden compost or spent mushroom compost — before planting. In dry shade this matters more than anything else you will do. Aim to improve the top 20–30cm, and if you are planting under a tree, choose smaller specimens and water them well for the first two summers.

Hellebores: The Backbone of the Border

If you plant only one thing, make it a hellebore. Helleborus × hybridus (often sold as H. orientalis) flowers from January into April in whites, soft pinks, plums and near-blacks, and its leathery evergreen foliage gives the border shape for the rest of the year. The flowers nod, so plant them where you will see them from above — on a slope, at the front of a raised bed, or beside a path.

Cut back last year's leaves in late winter, just as the buds break, to show the flowers and reduce leaf spot. Established clumps seed themselves gently around the parent, which is a gift rather than a nuisance — lift the seedlings while small and pot them on. Add Helleborus foetidus for its finely cut evergreen leaves and lime-green bells, and Helleborus niger, the Christmas rose, for a low, early-flowering clump at the very front.

Ferns and Woodland Perennials for Texture

Shade is where foliage earns its keep. Ferns bring movement and a softness that flowers alone cannot manage, and most are untroubled by slugs. Try Dryopteris erythrosora for coppery new fronds, Polystichum setiferum for a reliable evergreen shuttlecock, and Athyrium niponicum var. pictum for silver and burgundy variegation. In limey soils, hart's tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium) looks superb against a wall.

Around them, build a matrix of plants that will spread quietly:

• Epimedium — delicate spring flowers above bronze-tinted leaves that colour again in autumn.
• Brunnera macrophylla — forget-me-not flowers and heart-shaped leaves, brightest in 'Jack Frost'.
• Tiarella and Heuchera — low mounds for the front edge, in green, caramel or deep purple.
• Pulmonaria — early nectar for bees, and spotted foliage afterwards.
• Geranium macrorrhizum and G. phaeum — tough, weed-suppressing ground cover that copes with dry shade.

Plant in groups of three or five rather than singly, and repeat the same plant at intervals along the border. Repetition is what makes a shaded planting look designed rather than accidental.

Bulbs: The Layer That Carries the Year

Bulbs let you have flowers in a shady border for eight months of the year without adding bulk. They sit below the perennials, use the light while the canopy is bare, then disappear. Plant them in autumn in generous drifts rather than single lines, and mark where they are so you do not spear them later.

• Snowdrops — plant in the green in spring if you can; they settle far better than dry bulbs.
• Cyclamen hederifolium — pink or white flowers in autumn, marbled leaves all winter.
• Anemone blanda — daisy-like blue flowers in March, ideal for naturalising under shrubs.
• Narcissus — choose small varieties such as 'Tête-à-Tête' or the dainty cyclamineus types.
• Erythronium — dog's tooth violets, for damper shade and a touch of something special.

Two or three kinds, repeated, is plenty. A border studded with a dozen different bulbs looks busy rather than abundant.

Planting, Mulching and Looking After It

Autumn and early spring are the best planting times, while the soil is warm and moisture is reliable. Water new plants for their first two growing seasons, especially in dry shade, then ease off as they establish.

Mulch every spring with leaf mould or compost, laid 5cm thick but kept clear of stems and crowns. Leave seedheads and faded fern fronds standing through winter — they hold structure, shelter insects and catch frost beautifully. Cut back only when new growth is clearly on its way. Lift and divide congested hellebores, ferns and epimediums every few years in early spring, and you will find the border asks less and less of you with every season.