Naturalizing under pines

Hope I am placing this question in the right forum--if not please do let me know if another would be better! I've got four large pine trees in the corner of a large upper yard. The lower branches had been removed many years ago so there is sunlight there and lots of pine needles and cones too! I'd like to naturalize this area with some small plantings and wonder what might be best here. Would ferns or mosses grow well here? I'd like to keep it as simple as possible and make it a retreat area with some seating for relaxing and pondering the rest of the garden which is now a blank slate. Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Not sure how small you have in mind, but I'd be thinking about deciduous azaleas: Rhododendron vaseyi, R. atlanticum,etc.

I 2nd claypa's suggestions.

Great question. Sure it's fine here.

Question for you, would you please share with me what you mean when you use the word naturalizing. I think I know but I'm not sure and it makes a big difference.

I'm going to take a stab at how you are using the word and suggest a concept for you that would probably have a good shot at "naturalizing" that opened up area underneath your pines.

Mosses may not work for you given you mentioned the removal of lower branches but there are other reasons jumping out at me that say this might not be an ideal location for native mosses.

To start, you'd want to consider establishing your ferns and grasses. These three are decent to try-
Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron)
Cliffbreak (Pellaea atropurpurea)

Here's the grasses for you to check out and try a few of if you went this route you would need grasses to hold up other plants-
Carex aurea
C. hystericina (one of my favorites)
C. tenura
C. meadii
C. echinata
C. stricta
C. radiata
C. pedunculata
C. cephalophora
C. gracillima (one of my favorites)
C. prasina
C. pennsylvanica
C. vulpinoidea (another of my favorites)
C. arctata
C. longii
C. scoparia
C. cephalophora

Sorry, I don't know the common names to those grasses and you'd have to check which ones are acid loving or acid tolerant or trial a few and see how it goes. Grasses can be intensely beautiful when a gentle breeze blows and when companion planted with complimentary species.

Then toss in a few New Jersey Teas New Jersey Teas (Ceanothus americana). I think you'll really like the look of these.

Then consider these plants for the area underneath your pines-
Yellow-Pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima)
Whorled Rosinweed (Silphium trifoliatum)
Flat-Branched Ground-Pine (Lycopodium obscurum)
Meadow Rue (Thalictrum dioicum)
Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquefolia)
Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Wild Columbine (Aquiligia canadensis)
Aniseroot (Osmorhiza longistylis)
Joe-Pye-weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
Devils Bit (Chamaelirium luteum)
Starry Campion (Silene stellata)
Umbellate Wintergreen (Chimaphila umbellata)
White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)
Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis)

If after a few years you have good luck establishing these types of plants, You could try adding a few Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) and Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens). Don't let the common names fool you, these are beautiful plants.

I've been working on a similar project. It won't happen over night. We want it too but it doesn't work that way. I've never beena patient person and having to add plants based on time and money restrictions never did sit well with me but I plug along adding the plants that work and sooner or later it will all come together for me.

Best wishes to you creating your "retreat area with some seating for relaxing and pondering the rest of the garden". I'm trying to do the same thing myself.

Thank you all for your replies! This gives me lots of ammunition to start my planning on these dreary winter days. I have a wonderful reference book I picked up in N Yorkshire and will use it to look up these plants. Equilibrium, you read my mind about naturalizing. I recognize some of the plants you mention and those would be perfect. I want the area to look as if I just walked into a woodland with plants that belong as well as looking as if it happend on its own rather than planted by a gardener's hand. I have the rocks and seating pictured in my mind and I'm just missing the plantlife...this is a great help. Thank you all!

OK, that's what I thought but I wanted to be sure without insulting you. The word "naturalize" is almost exclusively used for non-native plants that can take over or rather get weedy or invasive. Native plants don't ever "naturalize". They belong. It's hard to reverse your thinking but please know that most nurseries use the term properly when they are selling their plants. Most buyers are interpreting the green industry's use of the term improperly.

If this is the style of gardening you want, you might want to post over in the Indigenous Plants Forum so you can attract more people who garden like this-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/wildplants/all/
Another good forum might be Gardening For Wildlife-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/backyardhabitats/all/
Lots of people trying to create their own little havens to look and marvel at there. It was your comment to use ferns and mosses that got me thinking that you might not really want "naturalizing" plants.

Here's a thread I saved on seating that I liked that I stumbled across here at DG-
http://davesgarden.com/place/t/639168/
I saved that thread in a special place so I could always find it because I was so impressed with what that member created.

Here's another thread that might be of help to you-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/669828/
Check out the nurseries under PA. You should be able to find all the plants you were looking for and then some at those nurseries and you can generally contact those people direct for help.

EQ....I took a look at that bench.....I've got the 'I wants' now really bad. It's unbelievable!

You also had a great list for under the pines. If I may however mention that the Sensitive Fern can quicly get out of hand, so only plant it where it can go crazy. It sends our runners and pop up some distance away. I've tried to contain one with an underground barrier as I had heard that they have shallow roots. Apparently they run deeper than I thought.

Hey Marie, you've got a very valid point there about the sensitive fern. I've got a few of them in an area that already has a good mix of species going. For sure that isn't a great fern to let go in an area where one isn't going to have diversity or an area in which it isn't indigenous. I have seen that fern do great though when it is kept in check with species in a community setting which is how it would be found in the wild. It seems as if that plant can be a beast when companion grasses aren't present. The cover it provides for small mammals and herps is decent. It's native to Pennsylvania as well as where you and I garden too. Probably good you mentioned that because that fern should perhaps be added after other plants are established just so it doesn't get the jump.

Ya, that bench was awesome wasn't it!

Thank you Equilibrium for the links and advice. My goodness that bench is gorgeous! Somewhere in my stacks of gardening books and pamphlets I have directions for making faux stone troughs. That beautiful bench inspired me to give that a try come spring. Pittsburgh's Phipps Conservatory is a short ride away and perhaps I should think of visiting there for some mid winter inspiration. They've just completed a huge remodeling and addition that I'd love to see. You've certainly given me lots to think, plan and dream about and I appreciate it. By spring I should have a digital camera to take photos to post as well!

Hey AyUpPetal, welcome to DG ;)