What to plant under pine trees

I need some ideas. I have three huge pines on the east side of my house. They are trimmed up about 10 feet, though some of the long branches droop down and touch the ground. What plants will do well and add some color?? Should I trim the long branches so plants will get more light?? The trees are between my house and a busy street, so I don't want to trim too much. Do I need to clean up the needles on the ground?? Any help would be really appreciated.

Debbie

Hi Debbie
I had the same exact problem!! 2 Huge pines. Pine Trees are very greedy with water and therefor its difficult to keep the flowers underneath well watered. Best suggestion I would have is perhaps bury some potted annuals under the tree. Being in pots wont dry them out as fast.
I had tried different things and nothing did well. Finally had my brother come and cut the suckers down.
Good luck and hope this helps.
Janice

momcat,Work with nature,easier to get good results.I took fallen pine limbs (2-3" diameter)and made a shape around the area.Planted acid loving plants azaleas, rhododendrons and filled in with pine straw.Works well, looks great.

check out this ladys pine trees....I bought really nice shade plants from her last year www.hostahills.com/

Thanks for the ideas Janice and Vineman. Not sure what I'm going to try first. May try pots under one and try to get some rhododendrons going under the others. I really appreciate your ideas.
Notmartha, thanks for the web site. She has beautiful pictures.

Hi I have 16 large pines around my hpuse probably a 100 years old. I planted ajuja and ivy and it covered very well under those surrounding the house

Hi, I pruned the lower limbs on my pine tree and planted azalea, Japanese painted fern, annual begonia, coleus and filled the remaining spaces with Lamien maculata. Of course, this was just an experiment in my zone 7 area and worked beautifully for me. The tree is on the open north side bordered by the west side and gets variences of lighting. Morning sun, dappled shade and even some fully shaded afternoon spots. Give it a try!
Sayre

momcat didn't see your zone, here in florida pine trees are made for planting azaleas under, and other semi shade acid loving plants would work too, like thoze azaleas under those pine trees though.
arlene

I'm glad to see this post. I've been toying with this idea for a couple of years. I have 3 humongous pines in my back yard too. The grass grows lousy and hubby hates mowing it because the roots protrude out of the ground making it hard to get the mower around. I'd rather cut them down but.....! Someone told me it's best to try & find pockets between the roots to plant rather than add soil on top of the roots. I'm not sure if I'll tackle it this year but I'm glad to see the different ideas. I never thought azaleas and rodies would do too well for me because the soils so dry but the ground covers sound like a good idea. Maybe some hostas would do well too? I thought maybe I would commit part of the area to some sort of patio with a table & chairs and a fire pit. I wonder about evergreens - like junipers and firs?

Have you given any thought to cotoneaster? There are many cultivars, some are evergreen. They flower in the summer and have berries in the fall and winter. A lovely one is 'dammeri'.

Under some of my pines, I have Bishops Weed, aka..Snow on the Mountain.

http://www.sierra.com/sierrahome/gardening/encyc/display/0%2C1073%2C17450%2C00.html
Trish

This message was edited Monday, Mar 26th 10:11 PM

Thank you for all the ideas! You guys are GREAT!! I do like the idea of Azaleas and Rhododendrons. The soil under the trees always seems so dry, though. But, I may give them a try anyway. I still have a month or more to plan. There's still patches of snow on the ground! (I'm in zone 5, just outside Chicago). I'll keep everyone posted, and maybe post some pictures so you can see how it's going.
Thanks, again,
Debbie

MomCat,
I have Hosta, yellow and pink lady slippers and a few lupins.

Hi Momcat,
Since you are asking about planting under your pine trees I am not sure if you would like this idea or not but you might give it some thought for one of them.
What we did was cut the limbs up to about six feet and since you have already cut them ten feet the biggest part is done. We put a free standing swing with a canopy under our pine with a small table beside the swing. We also have the drooping limbs so it makes for a nice shady place to sit in the early summer mornings or just anytime you wish to. Instead of planting under the tree we fixed a flower bed beside of the tree.

lamium likes dry shade. But I think any shade plants will do if you mulch them with the pine straw. Impatiens do best with a lot of water but the hostas are often planted around a tree.

I have had great luck with sweet woodruff. It's a beautiful short grower and doesn't seem to mind the dry soil and grows right up to the trunk of the tree - its a gorgeous dark green too :)

First I would leave the pine needles. They are great mulch. It is dry under pines because they are evergreen and percipitation has a hard time getting through the branches at all times of the year.

I have several pines, actually spruces and junipers, at the back of my small yard. They make for great privacy for the yard in back of me, but I am so short on gardening space. I limbed them up on my side only to maybe 4 feet or so. I have epimedium, myrtle, sweet woodruff, brunnera, corydalis, hostas, and japanese kerria (a shrub) underneath. Nothing thrives, but they are all slowly increasing.

I always buy small plants and shrubs for planting under trees. It is much easier to dig among the roots and won't hurt the trees. A bit of soil added on top of a root structure won't hurt a tree. Just don't pile like 5 inches on the entire diameter out to the drip line around the tree. And don't let new soil or mulch touch the bark of the tree.

A different thought.

Pine trees grow in acidic soil.

Plant acid loving plants around pine trees

Azaleas for one.

If you want to keep the pines, don't try to adjust the soil
pH as this will make your pine tres sick.

Byron

We bought a house with two rows of pines creating a "narrow walkway inside of it" ( Couldn't tell, though )The lower branches were overwhelming the yard and garage. Hubby wanted to chop 'em down! =( I took the chain saw and trimmed them up about 4 and a half to 5 feet. I stood there in disbelief by this unveiled treasure. What a magnificant sight. I turned over the tight soil where I could and added lots of new soil. I planted everything there!( my storage spot for startings and new undesiginated plants )Had no idea everything would love it there so much. Impatients burst with seed..looked like a river of color. Saved alot of the seed for this year.( May not have the room there again.)I let the pine needles cover everything over winter. After frost,I gentle raked away the needles, it was like Christmas seeing all kinds of pretties coming back up! Soil looks great ,too! Trees responded dramatically,also. There's a wonderfully, cozy spot for sitting...( Just remember to cover furniture to avoid sap )

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MomCat--my mom has had white azaleas under her pine trees for years and years...they are beeeeeeeeeutiful!