I have two giant pine trees. I can give you some hints. First of all - - the reason your plants didn't spread is because there's not much rain and/or water that gets under a pine tree. The huge needle mess is actually good - - it acts as a mulch and will help the plants you DO plant hold moisture. SO - - my advice: limb "up" your pine tree. Cut the limbs on the bottom of the pine tree up as high as you can. It will allow some sunlight and rain in under the branches. THEN, I'd plant shade plants that do not require a ton of water beneath the new limbed up tree. After the first year of transplanting a hosta, it does not need excessive water - - so a hosta is perfect. Water well the first year, then leave it alone thereafter and it should be fine. My advice is to forget the idea of getting special varieties of hosta. I'd go to Lowe's or Home Depot or WalMart (or a friends yard) and buy the largest pots of hosta you can get. Like the other plants you planted, the hostas will be very slow to grow unless it gets more regular water. Combat this by getting the largest hostas you can find up front. That way you'll have a good "look" without waiting 4 years for the hostas to fill in. They'll probably not need to be divided in the future, so you can just pop them in and enjoy. I do not have a picture right now, but my goal this year was to vary all my hostas. I have a dozen or so varieties throughout the garden - all mixed up and side by side. So you'll really see and understand the variation. Meaning, I've planted August Moon right next to Excelsior right next to Blue Angel right next to Sum and Substance right next to a dark green hosta, etc., etc., etc. The only thing I keep consistent: I put the taller varieties in the back. I've also got one pine tree surrounded by a "Fairy Ring". I put a ton of mixed hostas beneath the tree THEN added about 15 plants, a small miniature-yellow variety, that look exactly the same as an "edger" around the outside of the pine. It's gorgeous. The idea is that all my beds look very colorful, even though they get vary little shade. Just remember, if you plant a tiny hosta (or any other shade plant) it will not grow much larger due to the lack of water and sunlight they receive beneath a pine tree. GOOD LUCK! Also - on a final note - - depending on how much pine "mess" you have - if you gather up all the pine needles, it makes a wonderful liner for a path. You could dig a path somewhere - remove all the grass and make it about 3' wide - then fill in the path with the pine needles. It stays the same color year round, rarely grows mold or disease (pine needles are resistent) and is easy on the knees to walk on. Let me know how it turns out if you're interested in my ideas! Thanks, Shawna

I grow quite a few things under tall old spruce. Hostas, ferns, bleeding heart, Northern Lights azaleas, ninebark. Nothing that holds its leaves, for sure, but the ninebarks are at the interesting multi colored shreddy bark stage - which to me is just as good. Largely, winter interest under 5 or 6 feet of snow here is a non starter. I (or someone) would have to get on a ladder and clear out those gutters - pines definitely do litter. But the needles are useful spread around garden beds like mulch.

In my experience moss will not grow well indoors. It can grow in a greenhouse, but not in a house or apartment. Moss requires moisture, but it also requires a great deal of moving air and good ventilation at the same time, otherwise all that moisture it likes will turn into an environment in which fungus, algae, and bacteria can thrive and kill the moss. This is only my opinion, and my experience, but I think if you grow moss indoors, you might have a good long while with it to watch it grow before it starts to die off, but eventually it will succumb to the conditions of the indoors. Pehaps there are other folks on GW who have had a different experience growing moss indoors.

After the hurricanes of 2004, we lost much of the spanish moss in trees. We didn't really notice this until a few years ago when the moss returned. It is pretty and certainly helps define the South. Spanish moss is a plant and contrary to popular tales, Spanish moss will not " kill" a tree. The weight of heavy growth can be a negative on fragile tree limbs but the plant itself is not a killer. Cows adore the S.moss. If you have too much on the ground and you are fortunate to live near pastures, to toss it over the fence to the cows. Here is a link that might be useful: Spanish-moss (Tillandsia usneoides)