what plants can I grow in my garden. The soil is heavy clay type and is in shade / partial shade.?
looking for some colour all year round and low maintenance
Answers:
I sympathise - I have similar problems in the southwest (Cornwall), but here are some things I found helpful:
1. Look at what grows well in local woods, and those plants or their domesticated cousins are likely to grow well in your garden.
2. Ferns do very well in damp, shady areas, are green most of the year and require little looking after.
3. Most woodland flowers tend to flower in the spring, putting on their best display before the trees come into leaf (ie, while there is maximum light available).
4. The RHS or Royal Horticultural Society is THE body for plant identification and matters horticultural, and their website (www.rhs.org.uk) is a mine of information. They also publish a lot of books on plants.
5. One such is a very useful little book called RHS Plants For Places, published by Dorling Kindersley. It is divided into sections such as "Clay soils", "Dry sites in shade", "Damp sites in shade", "Ground cover in shade", etc, etc, with each section showing plants that thrive in those conditions, complete with photos, size, and type. A little book but worth its weight in gold.
6. Don't overlook local nurseries and garden centres - they will have local knowledge and can advise you.
7. If you have just moved in and don't know what to take out, leave it for a year and see what comes up. That ugly looking thing in the corner might produce brilliant flowers later on. Even bindweed, a notorious climbing thug, has gorgeous white trumpets.
8. Another reason to leave it for a few months anyway is that now is nesting season and you may disturb birds raising their young if you start hacking away.
9. When I bought a house with a garden (I'd never had a garden before), I went on a local gardening course and learned a lot.
Without knowing whether your garden is damp or dry, battling the elements (ie windy or north facing), beside the sea (ie lots of salt), and how big an area is available (could you fit in large trees, for instance?), it's difficult to suggest exact plants for it, but hopefully some of these suggestions might help.
Good luck!
Other answers:
Rosemary can survive almost any bad growing condition. I have clay in my backyard (west coast of US) and the rosemary bush grows very well. Almost no maintenance. But the color you get is green all year round with lovely, little purple flowers about twice a year. Each time it blooms for two months or longer.
You can use the leaves for seasoning chicken for baking. Taste great. Or air dry it and bag it. It's a great bug repellent in the closet.
Rosemary can survive almost any bad growing condition. I have clay in my backyard (west coast of US) and the rosemary bush grows very well. Almost no maintenance. But the color you get is green all year round with lovely, little purple flowers about twice a year. Each time it blooms for two months or longer.
You can use the leaves for seasoning chicken for baking. Taste great. Or air dry it and bag it. It's a great bug repellent in the closet.