Why shady courtyard corners can still be productive

Most of the culinary herbs we grow in Britain evolved on woodland edges, in damp meadows or along stream banks — places with dappled light rather than blazing summer sun. A courtyard corner that catches three or four hours of direct light, or that sits in bright indirect light bounced off a brick or render wall, is often closer to those conditions than a sun-scorched patio. The trick is identifying what kind of shade you actually have. Dappled shade beneath a deciduous tree behaves nothing like the deep, dry gloom under a dense evergreen, and a north-facing wall that stays bright all afternoon will support far more than a narrow passage between two close fences.

Spend a day watching the spot before you spend money on plants. Note how many hours of direct sun reach the ground, whether the light filters through leaves, and how damp the soil stays a day after rain. Herbs that sulk in a dark, permanently wet corner will romp away in a bed that is merely shaded at midday.

The best culinary herbs for a shady corner

These are the dependable performers for UK courtyards, roughly ordered from the most shade-tolerant to those that need a decent stretch of indirect light.

• Mint — the most forgiving of all. Spearmint, apple mint and Moroccan mint will crop in near-full shade, though flavour is strongest with a little sun. Always grow it in a pot, sunk into the bed if you like, because it spreads aggressively by runners.
• Parsley — flat-leaf and curly both do well in partial shade, and the leaves stay tender and green for longer than in full sun, where they can toughen and bolt.
• Chives — happy in half shade and one of the first herbs to produce usable leaves in spring. The purple flowers are edible and excellent in salads.
• Chervil — a genuine shade lover with a delicate aniseed flavour. Sow in late summer or early autumn for leaves right through winter.
• Coriander — shade slows the bolting that ruins it in a hot summer, so a cool corner extends your cropping window considerably.
• Lemon balm — vigorous to the point of thuggish, so give it a pot or its own space. Wonderful for teas and fruit salads.
• Lovage — a substantial plant with a bold celery-like flavour. It needs room, reaching a metre or more, but tolerates partial shade well.
• Sorrel — thrives in damp shade and provides lemony leaves for soups and sauces over a long season if you keep cutting.
• Sweet cicely — a soft, ferny herb with a gentle aniseed sweetness, ideal for a damp, shaded corner and useful for reducing sugar in cooked fruit.
• Watercress — grow it in a pot standing in a saucer of water in a damp corner, and keep cutting the stems to encourage fresh growth.
• Bay — tolerant of shade, though it grows more slowly and prefers shelter from cold, drying winds.

Pots, compost and drainage

In a courtyard, containers give you control over the one thing shade herbs hate most: sitting wet. Terracotta dries out faster and suits damp-loving herbs better than you might expect, while glazed or plastic pots hold moisture longer and are better for parsley and chives in a very gloomy spot. As a rough guide, use a 30cm pot for mint, parsley or chives, and 45cm or more for lovage, sorrel or bay.

Fill pots with a peat-free multipurpose compost mixed with a couple of handfuls of horticultural grit or loam-based compost for weight and drainage. Raise every pot onto feet or bricks so surplus water escapes freely — this matters far more in shade, where evaporation is slow. Group pots together to create a slightly humid microclimate, and use wall brackets or a tiered planter to lift herbs towards the light. Watch for slugs and snails, which love damp, sheltered corners, and check the drainage holes are never blocked.

Watering, feeding and keeping the harvest coming

Shade slows evaporation but does not remove the need to water. Check pots by pushing a finger two or three centimetres into the compost, or simply by lifting the pot and judging its weight. Water in the morning where possible, and avoid soaking the leaves in the evening, as cool, wet foliage encourages mildew.

Leafy herbs want nitrogen, so feed with a diluted liquid seaweed or general-purpose feed every fortnight from March to September. Stop short of overfeeding, which produces soft, floppy growth with diluted flavour. Regular picking is what keeps these plants productive: cut chives back to two or three centimetres, take parsley stems from the outside of the clump, and pinch mint tips to keep it bushy. Sow coriander and chervil in small batches every three to four weeks for a continuous supply, divide mint in spring, and top-dress pots with fresh compost each year.

What not to plant in a shady courtyard

Rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, lavender and basil all need sun. In shade they turn leggy and pale, lose much of their aromatic punch, and are far more prone to mildew and root rot over a wet British winter. If you want them, give them the sunniest pot you have — against a warm wall or on a windowsill — in gritty, free-draining compost, and keep them on the dry side.

Winter is the other test. Most shade-tolerant herbs are perfectly hardy, but waterlogged roots kill more of them than cold ever does. Raise pots, ease off watering from October, mulch the surface of border soil with grit, and leave faded stems standing for a little protection. Cut back hard in early spring and most will reward you with a fresh flush of leaves by April.