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Planting under pine/christmas trees

16 years ago

I have very little experience with gardening. I now have a house that is flanked by a thick row of very large trees that look like stereotypical chistmas trees, i.e. cone shaped, evergreens with needles, that have pine cones, but I don't know what species they are exactly. Underneath them is a dark wasteland. I'm not expecting miracles. I know most plants need sun and I know that a lot of things wouldn't like to grow in a billion pine needles. But is there anything that does take to that environment besides maybe hostas? Is there anything that can carpet that kind of area? I am in zone 6 NY. Thanks

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Comments (3)

duluthinbloomz4
16 years ago
I plant under old spruce - decades of needle drop have made the soil like a forest floor. The needles are a dandy mulch. Easy to work in and yes, the ubiquitous hosta love it there - as does columbine, Siberian Squill, muscari, myosotis sylvatica (forget-me-nots), bleeding heart, astilbe, ostrich ferns, lily of the valley, some chunks of Stella d'Oro I couldn't bear to compost, and a couple of Northern Lights azaleas.

If you like annuals, impatiens would probably make the best carpet effect. And there's always coleus or caladiums for a bold statement, wax begonias, and torenia. And I'm sure there are many more.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
its a shade garden ... so the sky is the limit on which plants will take the shade ...

but no plants really will grow with any vigor in what you call a DARK WASTELAND .... consider pruning the trees up to increase light ...

but your biggest problem will be your ability to water plants planted into the roots a line of mature pines ... [a proper ID might help] ....

trees are super competitors.. and any water you add will most likely be taken by the trees.. unless you can supply enough water.. for your plants to get big enough to compete with the trees ...

so its not what will grow there.. it is really all about how well you can take care of them.. after you plant them ...

ken
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Comments (18)
conifers are conifers.. because .. they have cones ... and conifers are trees ... so name the tree .. then add 'cone' ... so.. as noted.. your spruce has spruce cones ... go figure on that logic.. lol ... anyway.. enough on that ... there are 3 basic things plants need PROPERLY ... to be PROPERLY planted ... to be in PROPER light ... [you arent going to grow sunflowers under there, eh .. being rather literal] .... and PROPER watering ... and i will focus on water like a laser ... new transplants need more water than an 'established plant' ... until they can grow the roots needed to support the plant ... or get those there.. working again after you disturb them thru planting ... for the first month or so ... most perennials should NEVER dry ... no matter if it is a plant that can TOLERATE dry shade ... but once they get going ... then their true characteristics come out.. and tolerance to dryness will surface ... make sense??? anyway .. perennials can take years to grow into large plants.. so what you do .. next season.. is put in BOTH perennials for the long run .. and some annuals for instant impact ... but be aware .. there are very few annuals that are dry tolerant.. other than weeds.. lol ... once again.. you have not.. or i missed it .. the actual sun on the space.. i might consider ringing the rocks with impatiens if shade.. and maybe allysum or petunia if sun ... covering about the first foot in .. then some other annuals .. interspersing them with perennials for the following year ... it looks like you have a struggling heuchera or coral bell there ... so that indicates that with a little more TLC.. those will grow there ... below is a pic of maple roots ... to show you the 'potential' of what you are dealing with under the soil .... a spruce is NOT going to be that extreme ... but i hope it makes you appreciate what i meant when i said trees are super competitors ... i really have no clue what the grass is growing in .... that is the neighbors septic rebuild.. it took me two years to convince him to get rid of that maple or face another rebuild in the future ... he finally did last summer [4 years???] ... i gave up long ago.. trying to grow much of anything under maple.. but i digress .... good luck ken
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Good Day, I too have a shade garden under pine trees, two actually. I have Korean Spice bush, hosta, lots of early spring bloomers but by mid summer the only thing that is still looking good is the bush and hostas. It is too dry to keep impatiens alive unless I water daily, I've even tried sinking pots to help hold the moisture, just won't grow. Any suggestions for something that will give me some color during the hot summer and won't require that I have to mortgage my house to pay the water bill? Thank You,Elphinstone
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Comments (1)
What is your question? What do you want to plant? There is no reason you can't plant under pine trees, you just have to see what plants you want there. Japanese maples, Rhododendrums, gardenias, hostas, really anything that prefers some shade will do well under pines. Pine tree roots grow down more than out.
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Comments (2)
Not sure where you might have read it but pine needles do NOT poison the soil!! Pine needles (pine straw) are a very common garden mulch in many areas!! Nor do they make the soil any more acidic than it would normally be - both of these are garden myths. The reason many plants do not thrive under large conifers like pines (or even larger deciduous trees) is usually a combination of dry shade - a tricky gardening situation at best - and root competition. Look for spreading groundcover type plants that will tolerate or thrive in these conditions - fernleaf dicentra, epmediums, bigroot geranium, just to name a couple. Start out with small plants and give them some extra TLC (water and even some ferts) until established.
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mdknight3000
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks. Since your responses I've managed to identify the tress as Norway Spruce. The are very large, taller than my two story house. I think the poster who suggested cutting some low branches is right. A lot of the lower branches aren't even green, they are dried out and have no needles at all. Having taken a long hard look at the area I've realized that it isn't COMPLETELY a wasteland as some little white wild flowers do grow there (haven't identified them yet, but they have tiny little heads smaller than a dime and are about a foot tall.) I've never really watered this area but due to run off from the neighbor's it does seem to get a lot of moisture. If I supplement the rainfall, now that you know what tree I'm dealing with do the suggestions above hold up? I also did a search at a plant retail website for "shade, slope, deer resistant" and got Liriope muscari ÂBig Blue.Â Does anybody know this plant and whether it is a good choice under trees? The photos seem to have them under diciduos trees but they can do that just for the photo. Thanks
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