Plants for Dry Shade

One of the most difficult areas in the garden to find plants for. There are plenty of plants that grow well in dry conditions but they tend to be sun lovers, and there are quite a few that can put up with shade if there's a lot of moisture available. For dry shade though, in the lee and shadow of a wall or fence or beneath a tree or hedge there are far less options.

Firstly be realistic. If your dry shade is beneath a large evergreen such as yew, then virtually nothing is going to grow there. It will be shady all year round and as well as the branches and leaves intercepting the rain and channelling it to the trunk, there will be strongly competitive roots just below the soil surface to contend with. It's therefore a question of trial and error to some degree.

If you can't get plants to grow as close to the area that you would like (up against a hedge bottom for instance), then try coming just a little bit further away. If the area has proven particularly difficult in the past try just one or two plants at different distances rather than consigning lots of them to certain death early on. If things still don't grow, then it may be time to withdraw gracefully - as a rule of thumb if grass or weeds won't grow very well in a particular area, then something prettier and more ornamental almost certainly won't!

Another approach could be to grow taller plants a little further away from the wall, tree, hedge etc. so that you don't see the bare area behind them so easily.

However, lets not give up before we've started, these are some plants that have more than a sporting chance. You can help them along by enriching the soil at planting time with plenty of organic matter for moisture retention, and applying a mulch later on when they're growing well.

Aucuba japonica - spotted laurel S

Evergreen shrub, with glossy leaves to 8" long spotted yellow. Plants are either male or female, females have bright red berries in autumn. Tolerant of quite deep shade and indeed requires some shade to be really happy. Will grow in difficult situations and tolerant of dry soil. To about 10ft high and wide but easily controlled. Frequently sold as three or four rooted cuttings in a pot, separate them and you instantly have more plants!
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Iris foetidissima - Stinking gladwyn P

What does a plant do to deserve such horrible names? A member of the iris family, though the flowers are easily overlooked. It produces very attractive bright orange seeds in large number that shine in the autumn when the pods split open, and it is very tolerant of dry shade.
Buy Iris foetidissima | Buy Iris foetidissima 2

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae - Wood Spurge P

A natural woodland plant, so one that is used to shaded and dry conditions. Dark green leaves and tall clusters of long lasting, almost luminous lime-green flowers in spring. Can become invasive if ignored and allowed to be, but easy to control as long as you don't forget about it.
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Lamium - cultivated dead-nettles P

A group that spans very pretty plants with lovely variegated foliage to ones that are not far short of looking like weeds. Difficult to give recommendations, because difficult conditions often make good looking plants appear weedy, the best bet is to try one and see if still looks good when up against the odds. The darker the green of the plant, the more chlorophyll and so the more likely it is to withstand shade, don't bother trying the almost completely white types in anything but full sun.
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Polypodium vulgare - Common Polypody Fern P

We think of ferns generally as plants for damp places, and so many are, but some groups, in particular, the polypodies are resistant to drought conditions. This one can be grown on the ground or even naturalised in trees or walls to give a tropical look to the garden. Like many plants for dry shade, it will spread if allowed to and so needs to be kept in check if it's very happy where you plant it.
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Mentha - Mint P

As in the herb. Mint is a notoriously vigorous plant and if it didn't have its flavour as a saving grace, I'm sure that it would be considered as a weed. This vigour makes it an ideal plant for difficult conditions which also serve to calm it down somewhat. I've grown mint in the shade of a Lleylandii hedge within about 18" of the trunks, so it's tough and keeps going! Pink to purple flowers that the bees love and flavouring for new potatoes and lamb chops.
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Vinca major - Periwinkle S/P

Variegated ground cover plant with blue spring / summer flowers. To about 20" tall, spread indefinite, roots as it goes. Very tough once established, and tolerates sun or shade. Vinca minor is equally unfazed by novice gardeners or shade, will confine itself to about 8" and a much reduced spread.
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Epimedium x rubrum - Bishop's Hat P

A very useful ground cover plant with unusual leaves tinted with bronze-red when they open and turning a beautiful shade of reddish-brown in autumn. Tiny flowers are suspended on thin wiry stem above the leaves in the spring. Spreads, but does so slowly and copes well in the dry shade underneath tree and shrubs.
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Wild Strawberry P

I have grown these in and amongst mint in the least promising of all conditions and they have performed admirably. The leaves are a fresh green and the plants produce tiny white flowers and tiny strawberries. Don't think that these will get you through Wimbledon week in traditional style however, difficult conditions mean that there's little energy to spare for such fripperies. Wild strawberries also have the advantage that they root as they go by runners so they find their own preferred place if you plant them a bit too close (or even too far away) to the gruesome places.