We’ve moved to a new house with a bit of earth in front of our steps. No one has been taking care of it (there’s only one other family living in the building). There’s a persimmon tree, a magnolia tree, and some random bushes. We cleared out some dead bushes and a lot of dead leaves, and now we have a patch of exposed earth where we could possibly plant something.
It’s not full shade now, but once the trees start blooming it will probably get some dappled sunlight in the mornings at most. It’s pretty sheltered with a wall on one side and bushes on the other. What might possibly do well in such a spot?
Magnolias are notoriously difficult to plant things under, because their root systems are fairly shallow and don’t like to be disturbed. If the area’s been neglected, you’re probably going to need to dump some new soil on top of the area, to a depth of 4 or 5 inches. Then you can try some shallow rooted shade tolerant plants. Rhododendrons and phlox are nearly cliche under magnolias, but quite nice. Lily of the valley, violets or trilliums will give you nice greenery and flowers in the spring. Ferns, if the drainage is good (magnolias like good drainage too, so it probably is.) Hostas work very well in even deep shade under trees (but I’m so bored of hostas I hate to even bring it up.)
I don’t know much about persimmons, so I can’t help much there, sorry. They don’t appear on the “delicate root” lists as a rule, so you’re probably okay with most anything shade tolerant there. If you’d like to make the space a useful garden instead of just pretty, you can try whichever of these plants grow in your zone. *Very *generally speaking, plants that we grow for the leaves or roots tolerate shade, and plants we grow for the flowers or fruit want more sun.
Answers depend in part on your location and the degree of competition from tree roots. If it’s dry shade with lots of roots, not much will do well and a tough groundcover like variegated Bishop’s weed or pachysandra might be the best choice (one thing you don’t want to do is raise the soil level more than minimally, as this could harm the trees).
If the soil isn’t bad, I’d recommend looking into hellebores, hardy flowering plants that will bloom early in spring (or even winter during warm spells) and have attractive foliage most of the rest of the year. Hostas and astilbe are other possibilities to look into.
I was going to warn about this, too - some trees would suffer from too much soil being added over their roots.
You can buy a sunlight measuring device - that might be the place to start for under-tree planting. If the sun comes in at the right angle, you might still be able to plant under the trees, but my initial thought on reading the thread title was, “A very nice mulch.” I use a combination of pine mulch covered with a layer of pine cones under my spruce trees; you might be able to adapt something like that for your local area.
Thanks guys! I never considered a raised bed; that might help.
We’d love to put a bench, or tables and chair or something, but we’d have to clear out several years’ worth of dead leaves and a bunch of shrubs. It’s a shame because in the summer it’d be so cool and lovely under the trees.
WhyNot is spot on. I’d definitely recommend going with some spring ephemerals - trillium, bloodroot, trout lily, mayapple… And just because she is bored w/ hosta doesn’t mean everyone is. Frickin bulletproof, man!
You might want to avoid violets unless you want them in your lawn. And I LOVE Lily of the Valley, but my wife gets a strong skin reaction from the foliage. Might want to check before you buy. I’m also a big fan of barrenwort and pulminaria.
These and other choices might work well though success would be more likely for experienced gardeners. Something else to look out for is unscrupulous sellers who collect plants in the wild, not only depleting native populations but contributing to premature death in garden settings through poor harvesting techniques. Best to obtain such species from nurseries that have a reputation for growing their own plants.
True, but also be aware that EVERYONE gets a strong reaction to handling mayapple! (It’s psychotropic with skin exposure). Wear gloves, please!
And yes, hostas are perfectly cromulent beauties. They’re just so ubiquitous around here, precisely because they are bulletproof, and landlords don’t have to worry about them if the landscapers miss a week of maintenance.
I attended an hour seminar recently on under tree plantings by a noted arborist and here are my notes. These recs are for the southern gulf coast but perhaps they’re available in your area too.
Better to begin undercanopy plantings with young tree. Come out 3 feet from center on young tree, 1.5 from bark on old (same).
Use three varied (3) plants under tree but no two w/ same texture (mondo & liriope).
Don’t use three different colors, make one or two green/foilage.
Don’t mix varigations.
Don’t use too big a plant, 4" (pot) often good.
Use composted mulch, not hardwood mulch.
Ex: Begonia on west, ivy to south and giant liriope behind to N and E.
Good under tree:
Creeping Jenny
Dwarf mondo - good in wet.
Wedelia - thrives under magnolias.
Jewel of Opar
Travascanthia
Varigated wandering jew
White candlestick
Aranthamum - pretty purple
Acanthus molis
Dwarf carnation of India - favorite
Bulbs under tree:
Mondo, liriope, giant liriope, croceus, tulips, paperwhites, ligularia, Hincley gold columbine, jasmine, fatsia japonica, mahonia, caladium.
Snowflake, Nun’s orchid, Peacock ginger, Society garlic (??? Mine need sun to bloom)
Perenials under tree:
Gerber daisy, Summer phlox, Jacobinia, Persian shield, Joseph’s coat, dwarf barbados cherry (shrub), Dwarf leocothoe.
Tops under tree:
Aligularia, Wedelia, Carnation of India, Algerian ivy, Dwarf juniper, Pacific blue juniper, Columbine, Sandy leaf fig ivy - like ardesia but can handle sun too.
Bad under tree:
Roses
Grasses
Herbs - put in pots instead.
Asparagus fern
Lantana - will ring roots.
General:
Expanded shale - for high O2 requirements. Good for use as mulch on plants that don’t like plant mulch.
Mushroom compost - good for sick trees. Mix into surrounding soil.
That was my first though upon the mouseover, before even opening this thread. Around here, magnolia trees are really common. ALL of them have absolutely nothing growing under them – not even weeds.***
Be careful not to mound dirt or mulch over the flare of the tree, where the trunk meets the roots. You’ll very slowly but just as surely kill the tree.
** Gardening tip 101: if weeds won’t sprout in a particular spot, nothing you plant there will grow.
Well, we’re renting the place. We’re interested in staying here long-term, but not if the landlord jacks up the rent too much every year. If things go well and we see ourselves staying here for more than a couple of years, then we might invest some effort into clearing the place out. But it would take a LOT of work. We were working for most of the afternoon last Saturday and we only succeeded in clearing out a fraction of the space. There must be years worth of dead leaves piled up in there.
I would LOVE to plant lily-of-the-valley, but I think it’s poisonous to cats, and my cat loves playing tiger in the bushes so I don’t want to plant anything that might hurt her.
Thanks for all the recommendations everyone. I’ll have to look up some of the plants and see if they’re available in Seoul.
A few years ago I planted a Japanese maple in my front yard. The space around it is about 3-4 feet in diameter. I planted snowdrops there, because they’re the first thing to come up each season, and it helps me to get through Winter. Then, in May, I plant some annuals, different kinds each year.
The ground is covered in several inches of dead leaves, probably over the course of several autumns. The top layer is dry but the bottom layers are all damp and rotting. The magnolia tree is definitely alive, it’s just about to bloom. Should we be worried?
No, probably not, although you could clean that up a bit to improve the appearance. You just don’t want a constant source of moisture right up against the tree trunk and bark. Don’t cover anything above the flare and don’t build a mulch “volcano” surrounding the tree. The roots need to breathe and, depending on the species, roots periodically need to aerate underneath as well.
A common misconception with new plantings is that you build a mulch ring around a tree to hold water like a bowl. While you don’t want the root ball to dry out in the first few months, the real purpose of a mulch ring out a couple of feet from the trunk is to keep the ground underneath the ring moist and thus encourage roots to move outward to there and further seeking moisture.
OOOoooo! Yes, this! Nice soft springy moss that likes being walked on. With a little stone path leading absolutely nowhere. Make it a little fairy garden!
(I’m sorry, I think my hippie chick is showing…)
I use a combination of pine mulch covered with a layer of pine cones under my spruce trees; you might be able to adapt something like that for your local area.
Frickin bulletproof, man!