Shade-loving plants & balcony gardening

Know your shade first

“Shade” covers four very different conditions, and most plant failures in shady gardens come from confusing them. Dappled shade, under a light canopy such as birch, is the easiest of all. Part shade means three to six hours of direct sun, ideally in the morning. Full shade, beside a north wall, receives little direct sun but often plenty of reflected light. Dry shade, under mature trees or beside fences where rain rarely reaches, combines low light with root competition and is the real test. Watch your space for one full day in June and note the hours of direct sun before you buy.

Shade-loving plants, ranked

1. Geranium macrorrhizum — 9.0. Aromatic, semi-evergreen ground cover that thrives in dry shade and smothers weeds. Pink or white flowers in late spring.
2. Epimedium (barrenwort) — 8.8. Delicate spring flowers over tough, heart-shaped leaves; one of few plants happy among tree roots. Cut old leaves in February.
3. Hakonechloa macra (Japanese forest grass) — 8.6. Cascading golden or green blades that brighten dark corners. Slow but trouble-free.
4. Dryopteris filix-mas (male fern) — 8.5. A native fern that tolerates dry shade once established. Pure texture, zero fuss.
5. Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ — 8.3. Silver-veined leaves and forget-me-not flowers in spring; prefers moist shade.
6. Heuchera — 7.9. Foliage in caramel, plum and lime. Watch for vine weevil, especially in pots.
7. Hosta — 7.4. Magnificent leaves, but a favourite of slugs and snails. Thick-leaved types such as ‘Sum and Substance’ resist better.

Light-coloured and variegated foliage glows in shade, while dark leaves vanish. Combine textures — the fine blades of Hakonechloa against bold Brunnera leaves — rather than relying on flowers, which are fewer in low light.

Balcony gardening: three checks before you start

Weight. Wet compost is heavy — a 60-litre trough can weigh more than 70 kg after rain. Check with your landlord or building manager about load limits, place the heaviest containers near load-bearing walls, and consider lightweight fibreglass pots with a mix of compost and perlite.

Wind. Higher floors face stronger and more drying winds than ground-level gardens. Wind scorches leaves and topples tall plants. Choose low, flexible plants, secure pots to railings with proper brackets fixed on the inside, and never hang containers on the outside of a railing above a public area.

Water. Containers dry out fast, and balconies are often sheltered from rain by the floor above. Self-watering pots with a reservoir, or a simple drip system on a timer, turn daily summer watering into a weekly refill. Make sure run-off won't drip onto neighbours below.

Best balcony plants

• Sunny balconies: rosemary, thyme, oregano, Pelargonium, dwarf tomato ‘Tumbling Tom’, Erigeron karvinskianus and sedums.
• Shady balconies: ferns, Heuchera, Hakonechloa, fuchsias, mint, parsley and impatiens.
• Windy balconies: low grasses such as Festuca glauca, lavender, compact hebes and creeping thyme.
• Year-round structure: a single dwarf conifer, box alternative such as Ilex crenata, or a small Japanese maple in a sheltered spot.

Use peat-free compost suited to containers, add slow-release fertiliser in spring, and refresh the top few centimetres every year. A balcony of five well-chosen, generous pots looks far better — and is easier to care for — than twenty small ones.