Conifer Tree

Hi! I've just bought a Stipa gigantea, giant feather grass. It'll grow to about 2.5m, spread 1.2m. It is perfect for your spot as it has a low nutrient need and is exposure and draught tolerant. It needs full sun and free draining to dry soil. It has lovely oat like flowers in June to August, a gold colour, turning to golden brown in autumn. Apparently, it shimmers in the breeze! Can't wait for mine to grow!!! That's one choice for you anyway!

I did the same thing a couple of years ago Tcgirl and I've been experimenting to see what will grow there. I've mainly got bulbs under there at the mo and a couple of roses - they all seem to be doing ok. The problem with conifers is that the leaves they drop take an age to rot down into teh soil. To help things along, improve the soil and increase it's moisture content, I would recommend you rake away the layer of dead old conifer leaves and replace it with a layer of an organic matter such as manure or compost and fork that in. Then do a google for 'shade loving plants' and that should give you some ideas :-)

Try some real toughies like Euphorbia robbiae, variegated ivies, Arum italicum marmoratum, Geranium endressi, ferns (ones that can tolerate dry conditions such as Dryopteris or Polystichum). You could also put some plants in pots and keep them watered to overcome the dryness. Suitable plants would be Hostas, other ferns, Hellebores, bulbs etc. And don't forget some snowdrops, buy them now, in the green and they should multipy over time.