GQT Gardeners’ Question Time
Humaira Ikram
Humaira has worked as a garden designer for over 10 years and runs a garden design course.
Matthew Pottage
Matthew is the curator of RHS Garden Wisley, the flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society in Surrey.
Pippa Greenwood
Pippa is one of the foremost experts on pests and diseases. She gardens using organic methods.
Q How can I brighten up my very shaded stone trough?
Roy Harper, Cotswolds
A HUMAIRA SAYS I’d start with lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) for fragrant white flowers in spring. Then Corydalis ‘Korn’s Purple’ has deep purple droplet flowers in May to July. Disporum leucanthum with its bronze-toned leaves and creamy summer flowers will add another layer. These work well with ferns such as Dryopteris erythrosora and hostas such as ‘Devon Green’, which is a beauty with shiny leaves and lilac flowers in August.
Q&A TEAM ANSWER Plants for deep shade
Add grass and blue-flowered ‘Bill Wallis’. Drop in some martagon lilies for extra pizzazz, then repeat some ‘Celine’, which is a compact shrub with white, ‘Greenfinch’. This gives you a lovely palette of plants for colour from spring to late summer, with evergreens for winter too.
