Ideas for damp, shaded corner of the lawn.

jacktrWtN1mP

Hi everyone, I’m a complete newbie to gardening. I have a new build house with a large south facing garden which, other than a patio we’ve had built, is basically one big lawn ready for making into a garden as and when I learn new skills and get some money for the odd purchase. 

We back on to lots of tall trees which is great because we get privacy and it looks great. However, in one corner of the garden because of these trees we have a shaded area which gets very little sunlight or wind and after 10 days or so of snow, Ice and mainly heavy rain we have a small bit of standing water at the moment, which I’m confident will go as quickly as it came. Normally it’s a bit damp but certainly dries out in the summer.

Below is a picture of the garden for context when we moved in 18 months ago, the problem area  is that too left corner. 

My main question is, would it be advisable to dig out this area and put some sort of flower bed in? Would this help with drainage? Are there any plants that could grow in an environment like this? I was thinking it would be nice to go right across the back fence with a bed. 

Pardon if my questions seem a bit novice, I’ve had nothing more than a house plant before! 

Thanks  

SueAtoo

A lovely blank canvas. What is the other side of the fence? Is your garden higher or lower? Whoever erected the fence should have put gravel boards or something at the bottom so the panels are not touching the ground as otherwise the panels are quickly going to rot. A bit more information will help us. A bed would be lovely, does it face N, S, E or W?

jacktrWtN1mP

Hi Sue, thanks very much! 

The garden is south facing so gets lots of sun, although this last metre of so where I’d like to put the bed actually gets very little due to the trees. On the other side of the fence is a metre of no man’s land, then another fence and another garden which has been there for years (they own the tall trees), it’s basically level with my garden. 

Fairygirl

Hi @jacktrWtN1mP - not a novice question at all. Far better to ask rather than spending money and seeing plants constantly failing.  The problem with a wet/damp area which dries out is that it can be quite difficult to plant up as opposed to an area that's always damp, even in summer. The only things likely to do well in that situation would be willow, which will actively grow in water and can adapt. Some people will say put bog plants in, but that won't work if the area dries out in summer. If those trees aren't soaking up the excess moisture, it looks like you'll always have a problem with drainage for anything.
Have you had a dig down to see what's underneath the grass? It's worth having a bit of a dig first to see what it's like.  Often, the ground is compacted simply because of the builders being in there, especially if it was wet when that happened, and that can be easier to deal with by adding organic matter to help with drainage.  It can be tricky with new builds too, as they can have rubble and all sorts chucked underneath grass.
As @SueAtoo says, it would have helped if the fence had been put on gravel boards, or similar, but developers just do the minimum and the homeowner has to deal with it all afterwards. If you were inclined, you could dig out a section and put some concrete in below the timber , or a concrete board to help with keeping that bit of fence clear of the ground, but that could be a bit of a pain to do easily. 
You can also build a raised bed in that corner with block or brick, or timber on a concrete base,  which means you can then add lots of organic matter to it - manure, compost etc, and that will be a better medium for growing. Plenty of plants are fine with consistently damp shade, from shrubs to perennials, but take a look at the condition of the ground first and see what's what. 

GardenerSuze

 I think I would give some thought to the garden as a whole rather than concentrating on that one area.  If you type in 'Finally My Own Garden' there is a lovely thread on how a new garden was developed. Don't be put off by the fab planting but look at the basic early lawn shape. You may just want to create a straight border along the back but there are other thoughts. It will be a cooler place to sit in hot weather.
With a lawn you can remove as much or as little as you want depending on budget.
It will be interesting to see if that area drys right out over the summer months. That may affect what you plant.

Busy-Lizzie

I think it could help to have a good dig in that area. I have a bed that got pretty soggy when it rained a lot. I dug and found that there was clay under the topsoil. I dug out a load of clay and replaced it with a load of compost and fine gravel and dug it all in and it seems to have worked. I have a garden that is big enough to have a dumping area where I could put the clay.

Then you could plant with plants that grow in shade, like brunnera, ferns, epimedium, hostas, some of the hardy geraniums, tiarella, which are all fairly tolerant of a bit of damp and a bit of dry.

Sounds as though that fence faces north so a bed there would be shady a lot of the time. Plants for shade are usually less colourful but often have attractive foliage.

Fairygirl

I would agree with you @GardenerSuze, re thinking of the whole area, but that could be a bridge too far at this stage for a new gardener, so even just sorting that corner and having a specimen tree or shrub would work initially, without compromising anything else added later.
I'd certainly go for something fairly large for the corner, and that wouldn't really impact any other planting at a later date as it would provide a backdrop to that, whether it's a straight border along the back, or a curved one etc, but exploring the site first is the way to proceed.
It's more than likely to be compacted clay, so there isn't a short cut other than a raised area, especially if @jacktrWtN1mP is in a consistently wet part of the country    

Loxley

jacktrWtN1mP said:

Hi Sue, thanks very much! 

The garden is south facing so gets lots of sun, although this last metre of so where I’d like to put the bed actually gets very little due to the trees. On the other side of the fence is a metre of no man’s land, then another fence and another garden which has been there for years (they own the tall trees), it’s basically level with my garden. 

Interesting - is the no-man's land excluded on your deeds? I would be tempted to remove the fence at the end and incorporate it into my garden, extending the side fences to the neighbour's boundary. Then you could plant shrubs and perhaps a couple of trees to create the illusion that the garden just sort of melted away into the existing trees.

Jenny_Aster

Just to add my tuppencehalfpenny worth... why fight nature? Maybe a pond and bog garden would work pretty well, though autumn might be a bind with leaves from the trees falling into the pond.

Wondering if there's a natural spring at that spot, or a place where the water table is shallow? We have had a pretty wet time of it lately. 

GardenerSuze

Sorry if I am moving a step too far, I apologise. Always difficult to judge as I am sure you understand and I decided it was worth the risk.

Having a plan of some sort can be helpful both financially and aesthetically Even a drawing of what you think you might like would help you, subject to some changes of course.  

It would be a mistake planting without seeing if the area completely dries out over summer. 

Nanny Beach

You may well find,in the summer if the garden is south facing,it will be dry at the end, plus those big trees will leech out moisture.