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California Gardening

Bamboo, mulch under oaks?

17 years ago

Our home in the coastal San Francisco Bay region is on a steep hillside. The back yard is very small, and consists primarily of rock outcrops and three old and beautiful California oaks. I know that for the oaks' health, I must not water underneath them in the summer, and that I should leave as much oak leaf litter as possible on the ground.

(1) Because of the oak leaf litter, our yard looks neglected and very messy. Is it possible to dress some of the area under the oaks with mulch? WIll this harm the oaks?

(2) For screening and privacy reasons, I'd like to plant some bamboo which would be within a small area of the oaks' drip line. Can anyone suggest a clumping bamboo that will thrive in shade, and also be drought-resistant? (!) I was planning to plant the bamboo in late October, at the beginning of our six month rainy season.

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Comments (4)

gardenguru1950
17 years ago
I don't know of any bamboo that is so drought-tolerant it would be recommendable under or near an oak tree. Without summer water, they simply look trash (if they survive at all).

Would you be interested in recommendations for other plants that would give you a narrow dense screen?

As for mulch under the oak trees, it's always best to use a native mulch. "Exotic" mulches interfere with the mycorrhizal fungi relationship in the soil that keeps older oaks healthy.

Joe
andrewb
Original Author
17 years ago
Yep, I thought that bamboo under oaks pretty much had to be a no-no.

I'd love to hear your recommendations for a narrow, dense screening plant, suitable for my Mediterranean, wet winter/bone dry summer (Coastal California) climate.
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As mad gallica says - that's nothing.... Our backyard is completely covered every fall with the leaves of a mature green ash, a red oak (although a lot of those hang on the tree until spring and get chopped up and added to the garden in spring...) and the needlecast from two middle-aged white pines. The leaves get chopped with either the lawn mower or the mulching leaf blower and get dumped on the beds. Chopping them first reduces the volume and makes them break down faster. I figure the leaves represent all the nutrients the trees took from the soil during the growing season and it is best for the tree and the gardens if those nutrients are returned to the soil - as they would be naturally in a woodland environment. I'd bet the soil under your trees is hard-packed and dry. It needs the leaves to add organic matter. If you ever decide to plant woodland-type plants under the trees, the leaves are part of the conditions they expect.
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Some of the best posters in these forums have already given you excellent advice, let me add my 0.02. As they say, you have to add N and raise the pH, but by no means pull the mulch out. The wood chips have no N, but they have significant amounts of P and K, that will be helpful over the long term. They will also provide plenty of organic matter. Let me also add that many plants will go deeper than 4 (or 8) inches, so that the lower pH zone will not affect them. You could also instruct the gardeners to plant sensitive vegetables deeper for a couple of years. These include greens, brassica, and peas. Your site will probably not be great for the first two years for some small-rooted greens, things like lettuce and tatsoi. But the tomatoes, potatoes, cucurbitas, carrots or radicchio, will be unaffected. My guess is that the beans will be unaffected also. Now, how to raise pH and nitrogen on the cheap. For one acre, I think you are looking at 1-2 tons of lime or the same weight in wood ash. You might find it cheaper to simply give trash cans to people who heat with wood (I save and use all my wood ash), collect the cans in March, and spread right away. One good rain and you are good to go. Spread it everywhere as all plants will benefit. Wood ash is a significantly better fertilizer than lime. For the N, you are looking at either 10 tons of chicken manure or some 400 lbs of urea (I think that would be $160). Spread it only where needed. It will not be needed under the beans or carrots, for example. Long term wood chips make soil as good as other compost, and as neutral. Even clover will grow vigorously in it. I plant in wood chips all the time, following a succession rule (first potatoes, then squashes and cukes, then tomatoes or beans). I sprinkle urea on top. I get to compost, mulch and garden in one shot, at the expense of slightly reduced yields. For cabbage, chard, beets, tell your gardeners to put more lime for all and more urea for all except beets at the base of the plant.
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The opposite may be true, however. I have seen some bamboo that is used for a hedge. It is about 3 foot tick and has about 12 growing seasons behind it. The root mass in this hedge is so dense, nothing will grow there... not even weeds.
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Thanks! I've been looking to replace the bamboo too. Any ideas then for a taller centerpiece and something at the base? Can I get any color in a full shade spot in my zone? Regarding the Camellia spot, would you add anything else or the dwarf fuchsias should be it? I'm wondering if there's a need for any lower ground cover too, maybe vinca minor? I know that can get pretty tangly and overgrown though.
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deep___roots
17 years ago
native cottoneaster. some make good hedges. and don't mind some shade. since it is a native, it would not need watering in summer. any local nurseries to give you advice on varieties?

most of the oaks around my house have vinca or ivy under them as a groundcover.

i've got a bamboo that grows under a 60+ foot walnut or pecan tree in some pretty good shade. very good screen. i think it is your basic golden phyllostachus (might have spelt that wrong). it is a runner, but not an aggressive one and the shade probably inhibits the running. true, bamboo likes sun better, but some types will live in shade pretty good. there is a big quercus agrifolia at the end of the bamboo hedge....so they can co-exist. the branches on your oaks start high? if the branches were low & twisty, they could screen pretty well, but maybe they are high.
arvind
17 years ago
The Oak Foundation has a booklet with a long list of plants suitable under oaks. From http://www.californiaoaks.org/

"Compatible Plants Under and Around Oaks, California Oak Foundation (revised 2000) Homeowners, developers, landscape professionals, and planners will find the plant charts and care guidelines essential. 69 pg. Paperback $12.00, Members $10.80"

There is no native cotoneaster -- perhaps you meant toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia). This is a large shrub with attractive red berries in winter. Great as a screening plant.

Consider contacting native plant arboretums like Tilden Botanic Garden or the one in Santa Barbara or Claremont for suitable plants under oaks. I know that Douglas iris and hummingbird sage will do quite well. They can handle leaf duff easily. Perhaps woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca).

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