section heading hidden

Reading the Light in a Mews Courtyard

Most urban courtyards and mews gardens share the same tricky characteristic: the light arrives late and leaves early. Tall boundary walls, neighbouring buildings and a north-facing aspect can reduce direct sunlight to an hour or two in midsummer, and nothing at all between October and March. Before choosing a single plant, spend a day watching how light moves across the space. Note where the sun touches, where it lingers, and where the shadow never lifts.

It helps to distinguish between different kinds of shade. Dappled shade, filtered through a tree or trellis, is the easiest to plant — most ferns, hostas and woodland perennials will grow happily. Deep or full shade, in the corner where two walls meet, is more demanding but still workable. Dry shade, often found under evergreen shrubs or against a house wall, is the hardest of all, because the soil is both dark and parched by roots. Match the plants you choose to the shade you actually have, not the shade you wish you had.

Ferns: The Backbone of a Shaded Courtyard

If there is only one group of plants worth investing in for a dark courtyard, it is ferns. They evolved on woodland floors and in rock crevices, so they take low light and damp air in their stride, and they bring a softness that no amount of painted trellis can imitate.

For structure, try Polystichum setiferum, the soft shield fern, which holds its arching fronds through winter, or Dryopteris erythrosora, whose new growth unfurls in a coppery pink before turning green. Asplenium scolopendrium, hart's tongue fern, has bright, strap-like leaves that reflect what little light there is and looks superb against brick. For a damp, dim corner, Matteuccia struthiopteris will send up fresh shuttlecocks each spring, while Blechnum spicant and Polypodium vulgare cope with drier spots once established.

• Plant ferns in groups of three or five for a natural drift rather than single specimens.
• Leave the old fronds on over winter to protect the crowns, then cut them back in early February.
• Keep the soil cool with a mulch of leaf mould or composted bark.
• Ferns also grow happily in gaps between paving, softening the hard edges of a courtyard.

Hostas and the Art of Foliage Contrast

Hostas are the natural companions to ferns, and in shade their leaves hold their colour far better than they do in sun, where they often scorch and fade. The trick is to use them for contrast rather than as a collection of identical clumps.

Choose a large, bold variety such as Hosta 'Sum and Substance' or Hosta sieboldiana var. elegans for a strong architectural accent, then partner it with something finer — Brunnera macrophylla with its forget-me-not flowers, or Tiarella and Heuchera for foliage that shifts through bronze, plum and lime. Epimedium is invaluable in dry shade, producing delicate sprays of flowers in spring and weed-suppressing leaves afterwards.

Slugs and snails are the main frustration. Rather than reaching for pellets, water in the evening instead of the morning, surround plants with a gritty mulch, and accept that a little nibbling is part of gardening in a damp courtyard. Hostas grown in pots, raised off the ground, suffer far less damage than those planted at soil level.

Getting Ivy and Climbers to Work for You

Bare walls are one of the reasons courtyards feel bleak. Clothing them with climbers adds a green backdrop, insulates the brickwork and gives birds somewhere to nest. Hedera helix, common ivy, is the obvious choice, and deservedly so — it will grow in almost no light, tolerate poor soil and provide late-season nectar for insects when little else is flowering. Keep it clipped so it forms a flat, dense sheet rather than a tangled mass.

For lighter walls, Hydrangea petiolaris is a superb self-clinging climber, and Parthenocissus henryana will produce silver-veined leaves that turn crimson in autumn. Both are slower to establish but far more interesting than ivy alone. Where the wall is very dark, use a trellis or wire grid to lift plants away from the masonry, and plant into a decent-sized pocket of improved soil at the base.

Pots, Compost and the Question of Moisture

Many mews courtyards are entirely paved, so containers do most of the work. Use the largest pots you can accommodate — small pots dry out and overheat, and they freeze solid in winter. Terracotta and pale glazed pots bounce light around the space, whereas dark plastic disappears into the shadows.

• Use a loam-based compost such as John Innes No. 3, which holds moisture and nutrients far better than a light multipurpose mix.
• Add a layer of gravel or broken crocks over the drainage hole, and raise pots on feet so water drains freely.
• Underplant with Galium odoratum, Anemone nemorosa or Cyclamen hederifolium for interest beneath taller foliage.
• Water deeply but less often, and check pots under the eaves after rain, as they often stay dry.

Mood, Surfaces and Year-Round Interest

Shade can be an asset. It makes green foliage look richer, keeps the courtyard cool in summer and encourages moss, which softens paving beautifully if you let it. Aim to work with that atmosphere rather than fighting it: think woodland clearing, fern gully, quiet retreat.

Pale paving, a mirror or a small water bowl will all lift the light. Add a few evergreen ferns and a Sarcococca confusa or Skimmia japonica for winter scent and berries, plus snowdrops and hellebores for early flowers. A courtyard that receives almost no direct sun can still feel generous and alive — provided you plant for the conditions you have, and let the shade do what it does best.