Muddy clay, dark & dingey...!

Can anyone come up with a suggestion as to what I can put into a dark, miserable patch in my garden. I'm not the best of gardeners, though I do keep trying, but everything I put in commits suicide, that is apart from the trifids - sorry weeds.
The patch in particular is directly north facing backed by a 6 foot wobbly fence (c/o my inept previous neighbour) and on the neighbouring side of the fence grows wonderful shrubs/trees some 10 to 12 feet high, ensuring no sunlight ever actually reaches the ground. The soil (dare I refer to it as such?) is a mix of solid clay petering out into a very heavy dark mixture and the whole lot clings limpet-like to any implement I dare to use on it. I've bought several bags of clay improver and for a very short space of time things appeared to be getting better and I became hopeful of actually putting plants/shrubs in and watching them grow.
I know we've recently had rather a lot of the wet stuff and unfortunately my garden also falls to the downside of a natural pond in the fields at the rear but I really am getting desperate to find a shrub or climber which just might be able to stand the appauling conditions. :confused:

 

Welcome deedee.

Go for a light leaved, glossy (so reflects light), evergreen, pretty berries and flowers, almost indestructable Soil type: Clay/heavy - I'd go with a low maintenace plant like spotted laurel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/4107.shtml

Flourishing in adversity, this is a hardy, evergreen shrub that is one of the best for shady positions, even in smoky town gardens. Its glossy green leaves, splashed with gold are guaranteed to brighten the dullest corner and look good all year round. Bright scarlet berries, which often persist from autumn to spring, are produced on female varieties.

BM

 

Thanks for your suggestion Banana Man. I'll give spotted laurel a whirl.

 

I've got a fair few filling various spaces I couldn't be bothered to be inventive with. Being evergreen and almost maintenance free its a no brainer really. Just plant it and forget it really. The old 'glossy leaves to brighten shady beds' is as old as the hills but a design tip well worth knowing.

 

Golden euonymus should also do OK - and hosta's should manage there as well ferns. Primular vulgaris (the wild primrose) should also manage as well as fuchsias - especially magenallica, which I've grown in similar shady positions.

Take a look at the RHS site, which should expand on the choises of plants for this spot. Be careful of anything heavy looking in a dark area -