Advice for this small area

MacDanger

Hi

The attached photo is of a small area outside our front door - the house in the photo is south and the wall is west so the area is very shaded. I had planned to dig out a bit of the gravel and put 15-20cm of soil in (I'd deal with the height of the drainage pipe also) to plant something in. However, considering the aspect of this plot, would it be a waste of time? I had planned to put heather in here but after reading up on it, I don't think it would be suitable. Anything else I could plant or best to leave it?

looksee

I have a narrow raised bed beside a wall that faces north east, it gets no sun. I have a pink 'flowered' climbing hydrangea (needs a bit of support to start but quickly attachs itself to the wall without doing serious damage), a couple of large ferns, a couple of heucheras and a Brunnera Macrophylla, all are doing really well.

standardg60

Brunnera, Pulmonaria, Bergenia, Hosta, Geranium 'rozanne' = sorted.

MacDanger

Have nearly finished prepping this space, it's ~ 17m2. Roughly how many of the plants mentioned above do I need to get?

jaffa20

3 of each dotted around, I would also add some early spring flowering bulbs for added interest. How about skimmia japonica also?

macraignil

A low growing ground cover plant like Ajuga could also be useful to fill the gaps between the other plants you choose.

Happy gardening!