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cramsay's Under the trees garden
Plantings (10)
Progress Journal (3)
Wish List (1)
The back yard is dominated by five large trees, a knobcone pine, douglas fir, lodgepole pine, blue spruce and gray birch. The fir is the biggest, about 40 ft. tall. Under the trees is a bit of a shade garden that I’ve tried to plant with natives, but it’s pretty hard to get anything going with all the needles and full shade. I try a couple new species every year, with about 40% success. Always looking for suggestions for this spot. I’d love to make it look natural, but the trees were poorly planned and too close together. It’s also quite dry, though I do use a soaker hose to water occasionally. The big knobcone lost a huge limb recently, so that has altered the light in the area, which might turn out to be a good thing.
Photos
Plantings
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Mahonia
Mahonia repens
Established on 04 Oct 09
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Red flowering currant 'Alba'
Ribes sanguineum
Established on 11 Apr 09 This little start was coming up in my patio, an...
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Blue Violet
Viola adunca
Established on 21 Mar 09 Native.
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Vine Maple
Acer circinatum
Sown on 18 Oct 08 Picked out the one with the nicest red foliage.
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Snowberry
Symphoricarpos albus
Sown in Oct 2007 Common native shrub, added to my native shade g...
- 2 journals
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Spiny Wood Fern
Dryopteris austriaca
One of the few non-volunteer ferns I've planted...
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Oregon Sorrel
Oxalis oregana
This is the only plant that has thrived in this...
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Wahoo
Native. Supposed to have nice fall foliage, but...
- 1 journals
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Goat's Beard
Aruncus dioicus
Native. Common at the edges of clearcuts, roads...
- 1 journals
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Hardy Cyclamen
Cyclamen hederifolium
Blooms in late fall, leaves come up in winter, ...
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Comments
EricaceaeValentine wrote:
Hi Cramsay, I thought I’d offer a couple suggestions for native plants for your shady spot. I have an ever-expanding redwood in our front yard which sheds needles and branches and creates rather dry shade underneath. I’ve had really good luck after trimming up the branches a bit, bringing in some top soil, and watering more often in the summer. I also occasionally remove some of the fallen tree stuff so it doesn’t smother the plants. My goal is to maintain a good amount of fungal activity in the remaining tree debris so it turns into lovely forest soil. This was the first area I planted with natives in my yard, so they’ve had a couple years to get going. By far the most successful plant has been wood sorrel or Oregon oxalis. I’ve also planted some sword ferns, lady ferns, false lily of the valley, wild ginger, twinflower, fawn lilies, trillium, evergreen violet and stream violet. Most of the plants are doing well, and I think it has to do with supplemental water more than anything. Good luck!
Posted on 05 Jun 08 (about 1 years ago)