Do you want a low maintenance garden? Or would you like to focus your gardening efforts elsewhere and just have something pleasantly green covering that dry shady spot?
I once saw a shady brick pathway lined with ferns at Sandhill Farm House, the garden of Rosemary Alexander of the English Gardening School. It was so smart and stylish. Perhaps I could go for a block of ferns, neatly planted in a chunk? It would be contemporary and easy care.
But I am not a neat gardener. Plants self-seed here. And I love that unexpected side of gardening. A smart, stylish effect like this needs to be kept smart and neat. That doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of work. But it does mean editing out any other plants or weeds as soon as you see them.
You are either someone who will do that or you are not. I am not. Therefore this is not the effect for me. But you might be. And it could work with bergenia as well as ferns.
Generally, shady borders and areas are easy to look after as weeds and plants don’t grow so fast. See more about why shady borders can be the best part of your garden here.
Look at what’s there already (or see a neighbour’s garden)
Look at any dark shady corners you have. What’s doing well? I’ve got a harts tongue fern colonising the corner of a wall, so it should do well.
Garden designer Posy Gentles gave me a clump of astrantias when she was dividing them. They’re next to a north facing wall and doing well. So although ‘astrantia’ isn’t in all the lists of plants for dry shade, it may be worth trying where you are.
And when I look through photos or friends’ gardens, I sometimes see plants in dry shade – and they’re doing well, even if they technically shouldn’t be. So it’s worth experimenting a bit.