If you’re anything like I was when I first started gardening, and if you’re lucky enough to have the odd tree or two in your garden, then you may have decided that a few plants growing beneath the tree would look really nice.

You may even have tried planting a few plants or shrubs there, and you may even have checked to make sure you were buying plants that like to grow in shady areas or areas with reduced light. However, they may not have flourished and you’re left scratching your head and wondering where you went wrong.

The answer is not in the amount of light that the plant needs to grow, the answer is actually in the type of soil it can survive in. The soil beneath trees is notoriously dry and poor and has a lack of nutrients. The nutrients that are in the soil have to be split between the shrubs and the tree, and invariably that big ol’ tree is gonna win.

Sometimes the soil is that dry that it’s difficult to even dig the hole to put the plant in. If that’s the case, and probably in any case really, then you need to prepare the soil first. The best way to do this is to build it up with a few inches of quality soil mixed with organic material. The tree has plenty of that, so take plenty of leaves from the tree, mulch it up under the lawnmower and spread it underneath the tree. Keep the leaves and the compost soil moist and you may even have to repeat this process annually (yes, that’s right, I said annually) for a few years. Earthworms will eventually get into the new soil and help to turn it over and then you are free to plant the shady garden you wanted.

If, like me, you’re a bit too impatient for this, you can always speed it up by planting the shady shrubs and plants in containers for a while first.

Another quick tip, for plants in the shade under the tree, it looks great if you create a contrast of colours with the darker shade so go for pastel or pale leaves, and use darker colours, like red or purple to blend into the background.