Many of not most gardens have shady areas that are frequently neglected or just used to dump unwanted bits and pieces of garden rubbish or the compost heap and piles of leaves. This is a great shame and a waste of what can be one of the most beautiful parts of the garden. Just treat it like a woodland garden, get rid of brambles and pernicious weeds, make it uncluttered and easy to use, put down a layer of bark mulch or leaves in the autumn, use the boundaries for climbers and put a seat where you see it to its best advantage and you can sit and watch the birds. Like any other area of the garden, and it may well become your favourite spot on a hot summers day, or stroll on a spring morning!

Consider first the type of shade you have, dappled or deep, early, late or all year, as well as the soil conditions and what if anything you can do to lighten it if necessary.

Use plants with light, bright or variegate foliage to bring light and colour. Foliage colour can be particularly attractive in low light conditions, Heucheras, and Tiarellas, and Pulmonarias give colour and flower. It is not difficult to get a beautiful tapestry effect, of subtle and changing colour by using a mixture of ground cover, scrambling climbers, bulbs and shade tolerant plants. Shade areas come into their own in the winter with the marbled leaves of hardy cyclamen, and in spring the Primulas and violas are easy and reliable interspersed with other plants. Underplant with spring bulbs and snake's head Fritillery. Gaultheria with their red tinged evergreen foliage and red berries are excellent if you have acid soil

Many shrubs will do perfectly well in shade, and small shrubs such as Ruscus, and Ruscus racemosus, and Sarcococca which has small but highly scented flowers in the winter are particularly good. For bigger shrubs, the spotted Laurel and Rhodedendrons and Mahonias do well, the last being scented. Camelias, Viburnams especially the early flowering scented ones, as is Choisya. Berberris and Pyracantha are particularly valuable thorny, dense protective habitats for small birds, for food, and over wintering beneficial insects. They do equally well in sun or shade.

Bamboos ( take care not to get ones that are too invasive) Ferns and Hostas all look good in shade, and are particularly good in large pots if watering is not too much of a problem in the summer.

Epimediums make evergreen mounds of attractive sometimes patterned foliage from 6-8" to larger clumps about 18" . They flower in the early spring followed by new leaves, so if the foliage is cut down in late winter, the flowers which may be pink, white, apricot or yellow can be enjoyed before the new leaves grow. I do this every few years.

Consider when the shade is deepest, whether it is seasonal or evergreen, and match plants that get light when they most need it, e.g. in the winter and spring for bulbs or early flowering clematis (montanas). The light level may also change as the sun gets higher or lower through the seasons.

Evergreen, variegated ground cover plants are particularly useful as many are vigorous enough to grow well in the often poor soil that often goes with shade, as do climbers, most of which are by nature woodland plants. Although ideally they like their heads in the sun, many will also flower in the shade, and will often look better than in full sun where colour can get bleached out, and will give you variety, colour and scent.

There are gold and variegated ivies, of both large and small leaved varieties, all of which are tough, evergreen and attractive and form a natural background to other plants, underplanted bulbs and climbers such as clematis that will scramble over the ground and hang as well as they will climb. Honeysuckles will give flower and scent and there are plants that thrive in shade. Look for plants that are naturally woodland plants such as some Anemonies & Violas, Herchera & Tiarella. Other particularly good variegated evergreen ground cover plants are Pachysandra and the large leaved Vinca that has blue flowers in spring. Vinca Major Variegata

Maintaining plants in the shade - generally plants kept trimmed back while young make good dense ground cover even in deep shade, and prevents them from getting straggly as they may if neglected.

Hybrid hardy fuchsias prefer shade (NOT the magelenica types, these need dry sun)

Iris foetedus (Evergreen with red seed pods in winter)

Trilliums are choice shade plants if expensive, and there are some woodland varieties of lily if you can find them.

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