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The North facing garden usually sees sun all day long. While for many this may seem like the easiest garden to create – most plants love sun right? It can be quite daunting as a garden that gets all day sun comes with a few down falls mainly hot and dry. As long as your ground is prepared correctly though this ultimately shouldn’t be a problem.
Healthy Soil & Mulch
Make sure you start with healthy soil. If your garden is a little old and you can’t turn the soil over with some compost, a good sprinkle of Searles Penetraide will help. Penetraide is a soil wetter and quite simply helps make your old, sometimes hydrophoic soil, able to hold and store water and nutrients again.
If it is possible try to turn some Searles 5IN1 Compost into the soil to help enrich the old soil. When planting new plants into an old garden I always dig my holes twice as big as the rootball of the plant I am planting and backfill with Searles Garden Soil.
Mulching is so important in a northern facing garden. A good layer of mulch can help the soil maintain a regular temperature and stop the topsoil from drying out too quickly. I like to use organic mulches like sugarcane, pine bark or mulch plus.
Plants for the North Side
Plants perfect for Northern facing gardens are plants that thrive in the sun and the heat. Hibiscus, roses, lavender, geraniums, grasses, grevilleas, callistemons, petunias, aloes, agapanthus, scavoleas and dipladenia. All large trees and shrubs work well on northern side too, like frangipanis and syzigums.
Most fruit trees, herbs and vegetables will also thrive in full sun, especially during the winter months.
Nearly all the climbers do extremely well like jasmine, wisteria and mandevillas.
For something a little different cacti and succulents can also make a bold statement in a northern garden. Instead of going all cacti and succulents, which can sometimes make a garden seem dry and hot why not mix it up. I find planting cacti with other flowering, glossy leafed plants such as dipladenias makes your garden look a lot more tropical but without the need for a lot of moisture. Aloes are always great and there is a variety that flower every season.
Containers & Pots
Large pots can work wonderfully on norther side. The bigger the better. I find small pots and hanging baskets dry out too quickly and need a bit more care and attention.
What ever you decide a northern facing garden can bring you a lot of pleasure as long as you start with great soil.
About Chelsea Van Rijn
My family owns Trevallan Lifestyle Centre (TLC) an About the Garden Local Garden Expert. Trevallan’s motto is “give your life some TLC” and that’s what I do every day – help people put the TLC (Tender, loving care) back into their life. I love talking to people about stress FREE gardening and often talk at local gardening clubs, women’s groups and social clubs. I write a gardening column for the local paper and gardening magazines (including About the Garden). I also love sourcing beautiful things for the home and body. I try to source things for their beauty and functionality but sometimes decor items have to be a little bit fun too! Enjoy the journey with me and visit my blog trevallan.com.
