Your "landscapers" are sorely misinformed. Pretty much anything can grow under a Japanese maple, as their root system does not have the same aggressive, water-guzzling, nutrient-hogging character that other, native maples display. And a hot, dry summer will require regular periodic irrigation of any JM for it to survive and thrive - these are not drought tolerant trees. My only concern when underplanting a taller growing JM is that you select plants that will not need frequent division to maintain them, as excessive cultivation in the root zone or any significant disturbance can damage the delicate root system, sometimes to fatal results. Selecting something to contrast with the dark red foliage is a good idea, like bboy's suggestion of blue leaved hostas. You could add Japanese painted ferns as well to pick up the coloring of both the hostas and the tree foliage. I like the contrast of gold tones myself, so golden leaved hostas, Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa 'Aureola' or 'All Gold'), Campanula 'Dickson's Gold', spotted London Pride (Saxifraga x urbium 'Aureopunctata) or Lamium 'Anne Greenaway' or 'Aureum' and autumn fern are all suitable choices. Epimediums are an excellent choice as well, as is any moisture preferring, shade tolerant groundcover or part shade perennial that doesn't require frequent division. FWIW, my JM's are planted in the middle of mixed borders with an assortment of a wide variety of part shade shrubs, perennials/grasses and groundcovers surrounding them. So the notion that "nothing" will grow under them is very misplaced.

We moved to this house five years ago. There was a huge spruce tree on the property. The first spring, my friend gave me about twenty violets and twenty lily of the valley. By the next summer, the violets completely covered the big area under the tree, the lily of the valley did not do as well. I did not clear the tons of needles or pinecones before planting. I just dug a hole and stuck a plant in. Done. The violets bloom each year in the early summer and remain green until winter. The plants completely disappear in the fall and come back up each spring with no effort on my part. You can't see the ground for the violets. One word of caution, you will have to make sure they do not get into your lawn or flowerbeds. They will spread wherever they can.

Hi - I don't know if this will help, but I was able to rid pesky groundcover (ivy and asiatic jasmine) under a stand of 75-year old Texas live oaks ... and replant without disturbing the oak roots. I pulled by hand, though, since I didn't want to use Roundup, etc. My situation may may be a little different from yours, as Texas live oaks are almost an evergreen species, and they drop their leaves and regrow new ones within a few weeks in the spring (a truly blissful time for allergy sufferers, I can attest!). So I don't have the fall leaf drop problem that you may have. I can easily rid the bed of the leaves with my handy-dandy shop vac, blow them into the grass, and mow over for the compost pile. Don't know a hoot about pines, since they don't grow in our soil here. The trees provide a lot of shade, so I chose Alpinia zerumbet variegata (variegated ginger lily), Aspidistra (cast iron plants) and Ruellia (Mexican petunias). I added compost to the bare soil, cultivated lightly, kept my plantings away from the tree trunks and started with fairly small potted plants, so I didn't have to dig deeply to plant them. I am in zone 8b, with very hot summers, mild winters. All are growing as perennials quite well, require amost no irrigation beyond rainfall, and I've (so far, so good! - knock on wood, so to speak!) seen no harm to the trees. I still have to keep an eye out for the old groundcover, but the current plantings provide enough shade and nutrient competition that it rarely shows its face any more. If you decide to go ahead and kill it, good luck getting rid of your vinca! Robyn

Should beOK here in WA. Have you thought of trying some bulbs? They only need winter rain, and there are other perennials which could spread there but do not like our summer sun. It will depend a lot on just where in WA you are. There's a pretty perennial Nemesia which seeds easily and smells good, but have you tried a nurssery or Bunnings garden centre where they have a good selection of ground covers and cottage garden plants. There are prostrate Grevilleas which would give you winter colour.