Where are you located? And this area looks to be rather heavy shade......does it get any sunlight?

Hi there,

We're in central North Carolina. And yes - the backyard has a very heavy canopy, and does not get any more than 4 hours of direct sunlight a day.

Thanks!

Congratulations on your new home...what an exciting time! I think you might find it a bit difficult to keep much healthy and thriving under such acidic soil (pine needles) in heavy shade and just looking at your pictures the pine needle mulch gives the area a beautiful, natural forest like feel. I think I would just plant deep shade shrubs around the property line just to give it even more privacy and leave the pine needle much. Enjoy your new home and happy gardening!

You might be able to grow something you like in containers. That way you don't have root competition and can control the planting medium.

It's a gardening myth that pine trees or pine needles (or any other conifers, for that matter) make soil acidic. They don't :-) The trees grow there because they prefer acidic soil but they don't make it that way. Even the suppliers of pine straw mulch - very big in the South - provide disclaimers about their product contributing to soil acidity.

Root competition and therefore available soil moisture can be an issue. I'd look at whatever native groundcovers are available in your area - they tend to be well adapted to specific local conditions like dry shade of a coniferous forest. Otherwise, Liriope spicata, English ivy (if not an invasive issue in your area), Euphorbia robbiea or hardy ginger, Asarum caudatum, are evergreen suggestions. Geranium macrorrhizum is a more colorful alternative but dies back in winter.

Whatever you do, DON'T rake away the needles. It could trigger erosion.

Not sure many groundcovers would work there. What about planting ferns? Or wintergreen? (Spotted or regular). Or just scattering a few flowering things around, like mayapples, trillium and mayflowers?

Virginia creeper, you would need to keep it from climbing your trees

though. Hazards sells trays of plants, try them.

love your trees.

Thanks very much for these suggestions/input! I will try and keep posting as we make more progress. Very glad to hear I shouldn't try and remove the pine needles - that would take me years...:-)

Lots of great input here - thanks again.

Another similar question for you. As our leaves start to fall here, can I simply mulch them and start using them to fill in some lower-elevation places in the yard? And more specifically, is there any reason I shouldn't place mulched leaves/needles directly against the side of the house? See the attached pictures - I'd like to start building up and angling the ground away from our crawl space and AC unit - this is where I'd like to deposit some mulched leaves. You can we had some recent rain and we're seeing some real runoff in this area.

Mulched leaves directly against wood could promote rot or provide homes for insects.

My favorite ground cover is Sweet Woodruff.

This could be a very bad idea but pachysandra and ferns?

not what you asked about but you just fill that area with azaleas and other shady shrubs. One property in our area has completely filled the area under their pines with azaleas and some dogwoods. It's beautiful in the spring. They might have paths through it that we can't see from the street side.

Oh. And azaleas spread pretty easily by layering them.

They could attract not just insects, but rodents into your property...Yikes!

Leaves will not help to fill in low spots. They will break down and disappear. If you have depressions that you want filled in, you need to bring in gravel, stones or soil--something inorganic that won't break down.