what to plant under cypress tree in dry shade clay/dirt area?
marcincon
19 years ago
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marcincon
19 years agoRelated Discussions
Dirt under pine trees???
Comments (1)Its not easy to get vegetation under pine trees. If you look at the forest floor in a pine forest, there's not much growing there... competition for light and water and pH are all factors. I'd look for plants that can tolerate dry shade you should be able to have some success. And of course there is always the option to add supplemental water for the plants that you do plant there. Grass isn't going to be the best choice. You may want to try hostas, ferns, wild geraniums, jacob's ladder, bishop's cap, meadowrue, ginger, columbine. Its quite common to see a nice landscaped, mulched bed of shade loving plants under pine trees....See MoreWhat can I plant under tall hemlock that's part shade and dry?
Comments (27)THE plant for dry shade--Geranium macrorrhizum--big Root Geranium. Semi evergreen, handsome groundcover, highly deer resistant, easy to control, very attractive with late spring bloom and no dead heading, dividing or other attention required. What more could you want? Alternate--Epimedium sulphureum--slower to fill in, must be cut back in late winter, but very attractive and has early bloom. If you garden in deer country, as I do, there is very little point in planting plants that deer love. It's a losing battle. And while it is true that starving deer will eat anything, there is a huge range of plants for both sun and shade that they generally have very little interest in. If your yard has mostly unappealing plants, they won't hang out there much. That said, I ALWAYS spray a new plant with a good repellant so if some young thing tries it, their first experience is YUCK! They spread the word. And having said all that, yes, I do have a few plants that deer will eat, and I do spray those. But they are very few, so keeping up with the spraying is not onerous and doesn't break the bank. However, I have NO hostas, yews, or tulips--the ones that say "Free Lunch"....See MoreGrowing plants under Sawara Cypress (False Cypress)
Comments (1)rich, damp soil with shade ... sounds perfect for hosta .... some of which are a native plant if i am not mistaken ... ken...See Moregroundcover for poor, clay shade area
Comments (10)I have the same problem under a silver maple, only the ONLY thing that would grow under it WAS creeping charlie! NASTY stuff. It will take over any grass you have in your entire yard along with your neighbor's yard and it's hard, hard, hard to get rid of. My solution was an area of flagstone and river rock where I can put a nice bench. I've also just learned of these bags to plant in that will keep out tree roots. I've just today ordered some to plant hostas in. Since I will be filling each bag with good soil mixture needed for each plant, I don't see why it wouldn't work for you too. Think long and hard before planting creeping charlie. If you were closer, you could have all the free CC you could dig from my lawn! LOL! Here's what I did under the tree. It's only half done in this picture. Have since added another 3/4 ton or river rock. Here is a link that might be useful: root bags...See MoreDieter2NC
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