Best plants to have outdoors in Ireland

Kaldo

I have a balcony which I would love to have some plant pots out. Unfortunately there is not much light coming in so I would like advice about what are the best plants to have with leaves (if flowers too) all year around able to survive our weather (cold, lack of light, too much water due to raining, etc).

Thanks

looksee

Lack of light is the only one you really need to be concerned with.

Common garden plants in Ireland are mostly hardy, which means the cold will not usually affect them. Having said that, pots on an exposed balcony can occasionally freeze in very cold weather and this can damage roots (plants in the ground are more protected). You can solve this by swathing a piece of horticultural fleece around vulnerable pots when it is very cold. Generally though it is not necessary. Is your balcony recessed into the building or does it stick out from the building?

Provided the pots have drainage holes they are not going to be affected by too much rain, they are more likely to dry out in summer and you will probably need to stand the pot in a plant pot tray to preserve some moisture.

Finding plants that will survive with poor light is the biggest problem, especially flowering plants. The most obvious group is ferns, most are happy in shade but check before you buy as just a few need some sun. The main problem with ferns is keeping them watered in the summer, even then most of them are pretty tolerant of variations in watering. Some bulbs like bluebells and crocus will grow in shade and give you colour in spring.

Here is an article suggesting some shade tolerant plants for pots https://www.pyracantha.co.uk/shade-loving-plants-for-containers/

It does depend on the site and you may have to experiment a bit to see what will be happy, if your shady balcony is all the time in deep shade it may be difficult to get things going, if it has occasional sun you will have a better chance.

Some final points, choose the largest pots you can reasonably accommodate, and in fact plastic pots can be better on a balcony as they do not dry out so easily and have less weight. Use decent potting compost, preferable one that says 'with John Innes'. This has a soil content and is easier to keep watered. Also invest in some sort of mulch for the tops of your pots, this can be pebbles, gravel or wood chip/bark mulch, your plants will be much happier for it.

macraignil

Lots of good advice from Looksee. The ferns are nice plants for shade but do not have flowers. The one plant that comes to mind to me for tolerance to shade, having leaves throughout the year, tolerant of our weather and nice fragrant flowers is Mahonia but it does have prickly leaves that might make it less practical in a restricted space. Other suggestions for shrubs for shade can be found here and I have found the sarcococca they have listed on the linked web page has done well in the garden here and is evergreen and has nice fragrant flowers at the moment.

Happy gardening!

SnowyMuckish

Shady plants Ireland might be a good place for some inspiration.

getoutadodge

i use a mix of hebe, camelia, fatsia, lavender, laurel, azalea, rhododendrum, ceonothus etc

looksee

Do you get flowers on the hebe and lavender? They are not shrubs I would have associated with shade?

getoutadodge

Yes to both. I too was surprised.

MacDanger

Would herbs like rosemary, thyme, mint, parsley, lavender, etc. be suitable? You'd get some use out of them also

Kaldo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120234358#Comment_120234358

They're an option however don't survive the whole year AFAIK.

MacDanger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120238807#Comment_120238807

The mint will die off during winter but reappear in spring (it's almost impossible to kill); the rest will last all year round, parsley is probably the least hardy though and might need to be replanted from time to time. Sage is another that will last

DB83

Aldi had some lovely fatsia in the last week or so which was very reasonably priced - 7.99 I think. I already had the spidersweb version which looks great, lives in shade and is evergreen. So was delighted to add another to the garden!

LazyClouds

I have a small garden that gets absolutely no light but I have found many plants that work well. Most garden centres will have a whole section for shady plants.

Ferns are excellent for shade, and even though they don't have flowers the foliage is beautiful. A mix of different sizes and colours would look great on a balcony.

Cyclamen and primroses also do very well in shady containers and come in lots of different flower colours.

Hellebores and heuchera come in a variety of colours too.

Astilbe is also nice but it will need to be cut back to ground level every spring. Same for Japanese anemone.

Ivy will grow anywhere.

I just bought a fatsia japonica last year and it is doing amazing. No flowers but excellent foliage.

I also have daffodils that come up every year even though their leaves have never touched the sun.

Shady ornamental grasses are great too. Lily turf even has flowers.

Imo shady gardens can look even nicer than other gardens because you're forced to consider your options more carefully.