Any suggestions for what to plant underneath a huge maple tree? I have to work around those giant roots, can I plant things in between them? Right now, it's all a moss/weed/grass combo, plus a boxwood hedge next to it. Some of it gets a few hours of sunlight in the summer, some is just plain shade.
Any suggestions very much appreciated!
Under the Maple Tree...
Copper sulfide-the active ingredient in a lot of those 'dissolve the tree roots in your pipes' compounds! LOL!
Ha... that reminds me-- I recently wrote a favorite nursery asking for their advice on what to plant in poor quality soil in dry full shade. They suggested pea gravel! hahaha
Pea gravel-or some nice plastic flowers. Seriously, though, I hate under-the-tree space, but so far I have some English ivy doing okay under one tree and a climbing hydrangea (schizophragma, not petiolaris) doing fine under another. These are both first year plantings, so I can't say much about them yet.
English ivy?!? noooo...
(My landlords just paid some people to come in and rip up the English ivy that was eating the yard alive. The ivy is still carpeting the ground in the dark, dry area undereath the deck. I have no idea how it does it.)
So yes, Razzie, I would say English ivy could do the trick, although I'd be careful with it. I have a feeling I'm going to be ripping out ivy shoots for as long as I live at this house.. :)
Sylvi, when I was little one of my neighbors had a CEMENT front yard, painted green! Now that's one way to go about it...
Well, the ivy is planted in dirt next to the driveway that I thought was part of the driveway because it was so hard and dry. I hope it doesn't eat the rest of the garden, but I needed something that could grow in driveway!
You can also plant myrtle (vinca minor). I have hosta and epimedium doing OK under my trees, but plan on watering much more than the rest of the yard. You can find soil pockets between the roots in which to plant, but the digging still isn't easy. The suggestion to mulch the area (I use pine straw) isn't a bad one. You could add a couple of chairs and save yourself a lot of frustration. Plant a few impatiens in a pot or two; place them in the sunnier parts and you'll have some color.
Hostas and Epimedium will do very well, they manage to compete for whatever food and water there is, especially once established. The feeder roots from the maple tree will spread in no time back into your carefully amended soil, but if you are like me and digging up hostas to divide and trade it is possible to keep after the problem. I have also started to bury one gallon containers right into the soil-- this is the only way Astilbes and others will get enough moisture. The soil here is SAND, so drainage is not a problem. You may wish to add extra holes to the containers if you try that.
Thanks for the responses! Especially the funny ones!!
I actually am thinking of encouraging the moss immediately underneath, is that a problem? Is there a way to encourage it?
When I tried to dig in between the big roots, I got lots of little roots, I guess what you called the "feeder roots". This tree is enormous, will I hurt it if I clip off feeder roots where I want to plant something else? I like the idea of burying containers. I have a relatively small property so watering isn't a problem.
I don't think it is possible to harm a large maple. Even if you raise the level of the soil around the tree (as in a raised bed) the feeder roots will just spread into it-- other trees would suffocate from that. I like my moss also, even though it indicates low-fertility and acid soil! I have a path of flagstones, and the moss settled around the edges is a charming effect, I think. Have fun, and you can't go wrong with Hostas!!!
One other thing you might try for dry shade is hardy cyclamen. They bloom in spring, go dormant for the summer and then put up marbled foliage for fall and winter. I also grow hellebores and primulas under a maple but have to water those a lot.
English Ivy looks great under trees and going up them, but if you use it, determine in advance that you will prune it back every June and September to a certain boundary. Don't let it scramble up trees beyond your reach; it will die if you cut it off at the base, but the leaves and vines will cling to the tree for months and months, looking terrible and brown, dropping leaves occasionally to keep the ground looking messy below. (Can you tell that I did this? ha) Good luck!
We just finished planting under our large maple and ash (part sun, lots of shade)--we planted variegated liriope, coral bells and hardy geraniums next to the oak leaf hydrangeas and european wild ginger that were already there...to amend the soil we added a layer of 50/50 mushroom compost and top soil on the top. ( We planted under just half of the drip line circle; the rest of the area is planted in grass.)
I think adding some peat-y humus would be good around the hydrangeas...Later this fall we are going to tuck in some daffodil and muscari bulbs in little 'bouquets' and maybe get a few ferns from the 'fern co-op' (see the fern forum) to top it all off...I wonder if a rhododendron would work, too!? Anyway, I think we'll have to give this spot some extra water, feedings, etc. , as they mentioned above.
If you are interested in lots of ideas and information on shade plantings and building up the soil around the maple without killing the tree try Marge Talt's essays on shade gardening under trees at http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/222/9872. I found her articles full of new/good ideas. Now we will see if they work! Good luck on your project. I will be interested to hear what you decided to do. T.