Awhile back I posted that I had just moved to a new house in the UH area, just south of downtown Houston... my yard is a blank slate! I just got my soil test results back from TAMU... the front bed area soil is moderately acidic (ph 6.0), and the side bed soil is slightly acidic (ph 6.2) - the only additives I'm needing are potassium & nitrate. How should I go about raising the ph a bit - or is this acidity close enough to neutral not to bother? Any plant recs (shade loving, especially, I've got lots of it!), with this chemistry in mind? Thanks!
Soil testing complete - moderate acidity, as I predicted!
Wow, you are lucky. I wouldn't change the pH. Many of the nice shade plants love slightly acidic soil. The city water supply is usually somewhat alkaline, so I would guess that the pH would trend up a bit as you water the plants.
If I remember correctly, I replied previously with some shady plant suggestions.
Japanese Andromeda, Fatsia Japonica, sweet olive, ferns, cammelia, azalea, ....etc.
If you are looking for some smaller shade plants, I've had good luck with oxalis, viola odorata, and salvia.
If you are looking to plant some herbs, cilantro does great in Texas shade (especially in cooler months)
It's funny you mention oxalis... I've got it growing wildly all over my yard! The lady that lived here before me has a bunch of ugly elephant ears & monkey grass in the front (those will be uprooted for sure!) Of course, azaleas/camelias are an obvious choice as they are shade/acid loving... I will probably throw a few of those in, but was hoping to do something a little different in addition to these Houston standards... the more natives, the better! I will definitely check out the olive/japonica/andromedas/ferns (love the southern maidenhair!) as well - and of course the salvia is a must have! I have to try the cilantro as well - never thought of that one! Thanks for the input!!
There was a great thread titled "Shade garden Plants in Texas" started in October 2004 with many good suggestions (about 70 replies). htop in SanAntonio listed and described about fifty plants as part of the discussion. I found the thread by searching "shade" in the Texas forum.
I posted a similar question for flowering, dry shade plants about three months ago. The responses I got include the following:
Turk's cap, Texas Betony, Society Garlic, Autum Joy, Mexican Buckeye
I've always been curious if any fruits or vegetables grow well in Texas shade. I know that the rule of thumb is to plant fruits and vegies in as much sun as possible, but do you know of any that do well in hot shade?
The only thing I can think of is strawberries do well in shade.
I might start a separate thread on this just to see.
I remember reading somewhere that strawberries do alright in shade - that would be fun to try, for sure!
Yes - I've got to check out that thread - I remember now reading about turk's cap, soc. garlic & buckeye (a tree? or am I thinking of something else?)
Just found this thread,
Cilantro is one of the crops I was growing for our restaurant. Let it go to seed and have harvested a couple of cups of seed. Trying to see if the seeds will germinate in a side bed. If successful, I will have plenty to share.
Another plant that seems to like the shade is Parsley. Got 10 feet of it. Using all I can and it still produces more - I cut it with kitchen shears so that the central growth leaves can continue - same when harvesting the cilantro.
Mint is another plant that I don't think cares where it grows - shade or sun. Have a lot of it, too. Some beautiful blue flowers now on some.
Turk's cap is great in sun or shade, so are Frost weed and Coralberry, all native to Texas, vey hardy and reliable, for a larger shrub you could try Elderberry.
Josephine.
This message was edited May 26, 2006 11:53 AM
Beautyberry does really good in mostly shade for me. Its not real exciting but very adjusted to soil here and grows great.
Debbie
PS I got tomatoes in mostly shade doing as good as the ones in full sun. Definately putting fall one's mostly in the shade. The trees will loose leaves in Nov (?maybe?).
Weren't you looking for vines? Not sure if poisonous but this one provides great shade, orderly climber, this one about 6-7 yrs old, covers arbor. If you are an aggie (which I'm not) you'll really like the color...lol
Here's a link:
http://webs.lanset.com/pathline/millettia.htm
Debbie
And mine...it's alot hardier than the web link indicates too.
This message was edited May 26, 2006 5:29 PM
Here's Turks Cap back by the 'corner'. Sprawls alot for me but I love it. Milkweed does really good for me in the shade too.
