landscaping below Douglas fir

4 years ago

I have three 100 ft tall Doug firs. The ground below them is infested with weeds since grass doesn’t grow.

The soil is bone dry with some pine cones and needles mixed in.

I would like to plant stuff that has no problem
In dry shade.

To do that I need to get rid of the weeds though. I thought about smothering them with dirt but after reading up on that, that’s a no no.

I could bring in mulch but I don’t want to do that since this area is pretty close to a massive mulched area and it would just be to much mulch overall.

So how do I do this? What’s my game plan ?

Figure out the plants, shrubs, ground cover that will go into the space...

Then remove weeds around each plant....

As the plant grows wider and wider over time I would have less weeds.

Over time, As the plants and ground cover grows bigger and bigger, I would have less weeds to weed..

Would this plan work?

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

4 years ago

That's not the way I would go about it :) I'd weed out the entire area before any planting and then mulch well after planting. Mulching is still the best way to suppress weed development and will help to hold soil moisture so the new plants establish faster and better.

Comments (8)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
4 years ago
In order for you to obtain truly helpful information, you will need to share your general location.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 years ago
Pictures would also be helpful.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years ago
I live surrounded by Doug firs, including one massive one growing dead center in the back garden. I'm not sure why you can't just weed out the unwanted plants and replace with others that are adapted to that situation.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
many weed seed are air borne ... and they will sprout in any uncovered soil ... so the other reason not to smother whats there with soil.. is you will just be bringing in more weeds ...

and the reason they end up under there.. is due to the dead air zone under the tree ...

you note its bone dry ... no matter what you plant there... you will have to water the transplants heavily ... and the bigger the plant.. the more often you will have to water ... until the appropriate plant is well established to the point of any drought tolerance they might have ...

imo ... god free gift of needles is the most natural and FREE mulch.. so i wouldnt disturb that .. as much as possible ...

and i agree that hand digging the weeds there is probably the best. though not easiest solution ... you can do it with least disturbance to the free mulch ...

if you want to get ahead of the curve.. do not let the weeds go to seed .. by leaving them there for years.. while whatever you planted grows to size ...

i dont think there is an easy way to do this.. short of hard work ...

ken
100 904
Original Author
4 years ago
Garden gal - weeding out the weeds and planting a plant is the plan. I’m trying to avoid weeding the entire area now though.

200sq ft of solid weeds are there now.

If I plant 20 small shrubs, can weed 20 small 2ft by 2ft areas and leave the rest.

I don’t see the need to weed the entire area as they would just grow back in a month anyways.
100 904
Original Author
4 years ago
Can I ^
Embothrium
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Always with gardening there is a certain minimum amount of work that has to be done in order to produce whatever specific outcome is desired. If you want to make the area you are looking at weed free then you will have to do whatever it takes to get rid of whatever kinds of weeds you have. If you are looking at a shrub thicket or a patch of firmly rooted perennial weeds you have a different kind of project ahead of you than if it is mostly just some small annual weeds that can all be pulled out in an afternoon.

landscaping below Douglas fir

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Comments (8)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

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landscaping below Douglas fir

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Comments (8)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

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