Landscaping under a shady oak
11 years ago
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- 11 years ago
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ground cover ideas under shady Maple
Comments (2)You can find some more information by searching previous posts about "what grows under a maple tree"; Groundcover and Shade forums--you might find someone who's had direct experience with specific groundcovers under maples. I doubt the grass thing will work. The creeping forms of liriope might work, though I haven't tried it. I was able to grow Vinca minor, but with spotty coverage. If you lower your expectations about a "clean" look, you may be more successful, as the problem with growing under maples is that you can't ensure uniform conditions that address soil, water, root competition, so you'll have pockets of success and failure, compared to photos you see of those great southern gardens with the liriope under oaks. The wild violets will pop up everywhere (not necessarily a bad thing)But maybe the creeping liriope will creep successfully. It is very invasive and may spread where you don't want it, but where it's happier....See MoreHelp with landscaping under/ around scrub oak trees
Comments (2)Although I have lived in neighborhoods with scrub oak I have never had any in my yard :( Vinca major grows very well under scrub oak and can get carried away. You may want to consider the smaller flowered periwinkle Vinca minor. I would not expect daylilies to do well because they like sun. If it was me I would try planting the hostas directly in the ground and see how they do. Some other plants that may do well are columbine, coral bells, spiderwort, and brunnera. Plant them a few feet away from the scrub oak if possible, allowing the plants to spread closer on their own. Poison Ivy also does well under scrub oak....See MoreLandscaping help for shady zone 4 garden (with pics)
Comments (4)What a great house! I've been think about this . . . I think your boxwoods just have some winter damage, so I would for this summer just cut out the tan parts which are dead, and leave the rest. You may be quite surprised at how they start to fill in over the next couple of years, and they provide a consistent evergreen backbone, but if they don't you can remove them when you are ready to plant. Leave everything as is for now, except get a scuffle hoe (AKA stirrup hoe) and stir up the mulch or dirt with the weeds several times over about a week so the vast majority of the weeds die. Then put down cardboard (go around the plants) and add mulch over the cardboard. Put in a tidy edging to keep the grass out, either a deep cut V or a buried plastic or metal edging with a line of bricks along the inside edge to give the mower wheels a surface so you don't have to edge it. This will give you at least a tidy look for this season while you plan. If you want to, put a couple of large pots with flowers at the stair base. All the beds should come out at least as far as the landing at the bottom of the steps so you have room to layer in the plants rather than just have a single row. You can make it as deep as you want, but leave some room at the back to do maintenance. My foundation beds range from 6'-12' deep. Then you should start planning. Watch carefully how much light each side of the house gets. For instance, the side with the big maples will be both shadier due to the overhanging trees and drier due to the maples' roots. You can get a soil test done to see if your soil is acid or if it is alkaline or neutral as far as pH, and also see what the texture is (clay or sandy or loamy or most probably a mis of all 3.) See if water stays in a a hole for a really long time or if it drains relatively quickly. Think about whether you want the plants to come above the level of the porch or if you like the open view of lower plants from the house and looking at the house. Starting now, begin looking at and thinking about plants: - Notice that the garden linked above used shrubs and perennials to give longer season interest (though please don't plant them closer than recommended since that will create much future maintenance.) - Consider foliage (as mentioned in the article) - color, size, shape, and texture. If you only have fine-texture in green, it will be less of the varied look you are going for, so you want a range of leaves that are skinny, broad, ferny, gold, green and variegated to carry the garden when plants aren't blooming. Many shade plants bloom early, so count on foliage and annuals for summer color. - think about all 4 seasons: evergreens or bright bark or interesting branching for winter, spring and summer bloom and the foliage I already mentioned, and fall bloom and changing foliage color. - Many of the specific plants mentioned in the article won't work for you, either due to lack of hardiness in zone 4 (oak leaf hydrangea) or wrong light levels (catmint/Nepeta) so you will need to research zone 4 plants that like bright shade, darker shade, and perhaps part sun. - Visit gardens if there are open garden days in your area, notice ones in your neighborhood and as you travel around. When you see plants you like, post them on the Name that Plant forum or here to get IDs. Look at websites with garden eye candy and get books with photos from the library. That way you will start to find plants that appeal to you. Here's an article on planning a long border. The repeating part is important for it to look cohesive. Again, many of the specific plants won't work, but it may give you ideas. Some plants to check out that are hardy for you: Shrubs and shrub-sized perennials: Hydrangea paniculata/panicled hydrangea comes in various sizes from 3'-12', is long blooming, but likes at least a half day of sun or all day bright shade. Hydrangea arborescens/smooth hydrangea such as Annabelle - bright shade to morning sun. various long-blooming cultivars are pink, lime, or white, but all are about 4' Red-twigged dogwood (Cornus alba or C. sericia) come in various heights and will give you winter interest as well as some have variegation or nice fall color. Will want part sun. Kalmia latifolia/mountain laurel - evergreen and likes full shade to part shade Aralia 'Sun King' - large with gold foliage, but a perennial - part or bright shade makes the gold brighter Kerria japonica - part shade Any of the 'Lights' series of deciduous rhododendrons/azaleas - bright shade or part sun; spring flowers and fall color; needs acid soil Blueberries will grow in part sun and have flowers, berries, and fall color; needs acid soil bulbs: Daffodils - pests don't bother them and they are long-lived. Plant behind perennials so the dying foliage is hidden. Need half to all day sun. Allium Purple Sensation - part sun to full sun, but another bulb that critters won't eat Perennials: Astilbe - full shade to morning sun is fine as long as it doesn't dry out. Hosta - huge range of foliage size and color but deer like them. Part to full shade. Jacob's Ladder/Polemonium Primrose - not all like shade or will be hardy, but most will be Siberian iris - Wants 3-4 hours sun or more to bloom well. Polygonatum/Solomon's seal has variegated types Crested iris - spring bloomer, full shade is fine. spreads slowly. Digitalis - some are perennial and some biennial; toxic; half sun to full shade Ferns - shade is fine, though there are an enormous number of kinds and not all will be hardy for you Aquilegea/columbine - mostly sun to mostly shade Dicentra (AKA Lamprocapnus)/bleeding heart - mostly shade to mostly sun Hellbore - mostly shade to mostly sun Epimedium - part to full shade Closed gentian - part shade, moist Brunnera is available with green or silver-patterned leaves full to part shade Aconitum - shade is fine, but may look better in brighter shade to part sun; toxic Pulmonaria/lungwort - silvery patterns on leaves and pink/blue flowers Ligularia Mertensia/Virginia bluebells Phlox divericata Actaea Aka Cimicifuga AKA bugbane - dark red varieties shade is fine Anemone canadensis (spring) or A. Honorine Jobert (fall) - will spread vigorously, so plant to pull bunches of it out annually There may be sedges that work, but I am not familiar enough with their zone ratings to be sure Thalicturm/meadow rue Tiarella/foamy bells have flowers and many have colorful foliage...See MoreLandscaping Advice: shady yard
Comments (34)Folks: I have been AWOL on this for a bit, but I’m back! (While trying to delete my duplicate postings, I accidentally deleted this one. Ugh. Thanks Houzz Tech for helping me out.) So... I’m doing bits at a time, rather than having an overall plan from the git-go. I received a large quantity of mondo grass from my brother, so this week I planted plugs of it about a foot apart under the magnolia tree on the far right side of the yard. It is the creeping, spreading type, rather than clumping, so I am expecting overall coverage eventually. The shape of that bed has morphed from a semi-circle to more of a kidney shape, extending all the way from the front sidewalk to the front foundation shrubs (large azaleas). I’m tying the mondo grass bed and the front right foundation planting together to try to reduce the number of chopped up pieces in the yard. Looking straight on, from the driveway to the walkway, there is a large rounded bed of azaleas. All across the front, on the right hand side, is another group of azaleas, just straight instead of curved. Now that the blooms have faded, I would like to reduce the size of the azaleas by half. I had already cut back the azaleas on the left side to about three feet. I bought 14 dwarf gardenias, with plans to plant them as an intermediate layer between the tall azaleas and whatever is at ground level on both sides of the walkway. Don’t know if the root competition will do them in, but I like the fact that they bloom after the azaleas are done, and their sun requirements will probably be met. We’ve been adding a topsoil / compost blend as we plant the new things, breaking up the clay and mixing in for several inches. I like the look of big swooping curves for plantings, such as Dig Doug and Yardvaark have pictured. So I’m moving s-lo-w-l-y in that direction. We will try for grass in the remaining places this fall. To plant grass here this late in spring is a total waste of resources. We bought the house in December, so it has been a pleasant discovery that we have a good bit of Hosta scattered around In odd places. I plan to relocate most of it, incorporating it as part of the layering from tall to short plants in these beds. We do have a lot of different kinds of plants which can look pretty hodge-podgy, but I have more eclectic tastes, preferring something resembling a cluttered cottage garden over anything formal or highly structured. Is is there a question hidden in here somewhere? Not especially; this just a response to some of the ideas I’ve gotten and an update on the progress being made. I’ll post some pics after this first phase is planted and mulched. Thanks for reading! Suzy...See MoreRelated Professionals
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Michael AKA Leekle2ManE