Guides · Exposure
What to plant in a north-facing garden
The house shades the near end all winter and the far end never. Nearly every mistake in a north-facing garden comes from sitting in the wrong half of it.
A north-facing garden in northern France or Belgium gets no direct sun on the ground within roughly one house-height of the back wall between November and February. In June it gets plenty — the sun rises north of east and sets north of west, so the two side edges and the far end are bright for hours. The garden is not dark. It is dark in a specific, predictable place.
So the terrace does not go against the house, which is where almost everyone puts it and where it will be cold and damp at six in the evening. It goes at the far end, or in the sunnier of the two side corners, and the space by the back door becomes the path, the store, the fern bed — the shade planting you look at from indoors.
The planting in real shade is not a compromise either: hydrangea, hellebore, hardy geranium, Hakonechloa, Polystichum and viburnum are better in shade than they are in sun, and dry shade under a wall is the only genuinely difficult condition. There, mulch heavily and plant small.
The four rules
- 01Put the terrace where the evening sun lands, not against the house.
- 02Measure once in winter: stand out at midday in January and mark where the shadow line falls.
- 03Silver and grey foliage means sun. In shade it is a slow death, not a slow start.
- 04Dry shade at the base of a wall needs a plant that is chosen for it and a 7 cm mulch, every year.
What we plant in shade and part shade
Our database offers 16 species for shade or part shade — 2 trees, 2 hedging species, 3 shrubs, 3 grasses, 3 perennials, 3 edibles. Prices are French retail nursery prices per plant, 2026.
| Species | Type | Height | Spacing | Price | Why it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field mapleAcer campestre · Érable champêtre | tree | 8,00 m | 6,00 m | 165 € | The reliable small native canopy for heavy ground; takes clay and wind without sulking. |
| Snowy mespilusAmelanchier lamarckii · Amélanchier | tree | 5,00 m | 4,00 m | 145 € | Three seasons out of one small tree: white blossom, edible fruit, red autumn. |
| HornbeamCarpinus betulus · Charme | hedge | 2,00 m | 0,33 m | 6 € | Holds its brown leaf through winter and is the cheapest good hedge on clay. |
| SilverberryElaeagnus × ebbingei · Chalef | hedge | 2,50 m | 0,60 m | 15 € | Evergreen, salt- and wind-proof: the hedge for an exposed or coastal boundary. |
| Japanese hollyIlex crenata 'Dark Green' · Houx crénelé | shrub | 0,60 m | 0,50 m | 14 € | Used instead of box: same clipped form, and box moth does not touch it. |
| LaurustinusViburnum tinus · Laurier-tin | shrub | 2,50 m | 1,20 m | 16 € | Evergreen screen that flowers in January, which is when you need it. |
| Panicled hydrangeaHydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' · Hortensia paniculé | shrub | 2,00 m | 1,20 m | 18 € | The one hydrangea that takes real sun in the north and heavy soil everywhere. |
| Autumn moor grassSesleria autumnalis · Seslérie d'automne | grass | 0,50 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Plant in blocks as a low matrix: it closes the ground and stops weeding. |
| Japanese forest grassHakonechloa macra · Herbe du Japon | grass | 0,40 m | 0,40 m | 12 € | The best grass for shade, and it never seeds itself where you did not want it. |
| Purple moor grassMolinia caerulea 'Transparent' · Molinie | grass | 1,40 m | 0,70 m | 11 € | One of the few good grasses for heavy, damp ground. |
| Hardy geraniumGeranium × oxonianum 'Claridge Druce' · Géranium vivace | perennial | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 6 € | Covers ground under shrubs on heavy soil and asks for one cut a year. |
| Lenten roseHelleborus × hybridus · Hellébore | perennial | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 14 € | Flowers in February under the canopy, when nothing else does. |
| Soft shield fernPolystichum setiferum · Polystic à soies | perennial | 0,70 m | 0,60 m | 11 € | Evergreen fern, unfazed by dry shade once its second year is past. |
| Autumn raspberryRubus idaeus 'Zeva' · Framboisier remontant | edible | 1,60 m | 0,50 m | 7 € | An autumn variety is cut to the ground each February: no canes to tie in. |
| BlackcurrantRibes nigrum 'Andega' · Cassis | edible | 1,50 m | 1,50 m | 12 € | Fruits on last year's wood: take a third of the oldest stems out every winter. |
| Garden mintMentha spicata · Menthe verte | edible | 0,60 m | 0,40 m | 5 € | Only ever planted in a sunken pot. In open ground it takes the bed. |
The Preview draws the shadow line of your own house across your own dimensions, from your postcode's latitude and the orientation you give. It is the fastest way to find out where your terrace should be.