"Pam - gardengal" wrote in message
news:Mw46d.121497$MQ5.63299@attbi_s52...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
I have a pine tree at my new house. There's nothing under it but dried
needles, and some hideous red mulch applied by the previous owner. Now,
I've
spent enough time hiking to notice that in the woods, there's not much
that
grows under pine trees. But, that's before WE get involved. :-) The
circle
under mine begs for something, whether it be just green like pachysandra
or
vinca, or maybe a bunch of spring bulbs. Is it hopeless? Do the needles
wreak havoc with pH to the point where the soil's unfriendly to most
plants?

Let's assume for the sake of discussion that if lack of water is the
issue,
I'm willing to correct that. I've got this new high-tech thing called a
sprinkler.


It's not an ideal situation but certainly doable. There are a fair number
of
plants suited to dry shade that can be established under the drip
line/crown
of a conifer. Soil pH is not that critical - surface needles will have a
pretty insignificant effect on the soil chemistry, so just go with plants
you know are suited to your local soil, acidic or otherwise (most plants
will prefer slightly acidic soils anyway). I'd amend the soil with a
modest
layer (no more than 2") of organic matter first.

Some to consider:

yep, the Pachy works :-))
Euonymus fortunei
Vinca minor
Gaultheria shallon
Cotoneaster dammeri
Lamium
Geranium macrorhizum
Epimediums
Dicentra
Liriope
Sarcococca humilis
Iris foetidissima
sedums and sempervivums
various ferns (Polystichums, Dryopteris, Blechnam spicant)

Keep that sprinkler handy, cuz drought tolerant or not, anything newly
planted will need supplemental irrigation to get established, but once
established, these should get by with little additional watering. And use
your common sense with regards to how heavy the shade is - the higher the
tree is limbed up, the more light will penetrate under the canopy and the
better the more sun tolerant of these will thrive, but most will be happy
with pretty low light levels.

pam - gardengal

The tree's been limbed up to about 15', so the light's actually quite good
underneath. Full sun for about 3 hours a day, and (too use a precise
scientific term), "pretty damned bright" for the remainder. :-)

Side story: About 4:00 PM this past Sunday, I spotted a blue jay in this
tree. Since I hadn't seen one yet this year, it was a big deal, so out came
the binoculars. While following the bird around the tree, I noticed a HUGE
spider web illuminated by the sun. This thing was easily fifty feet across.
No...wait. Three feet is more like it, and it was fluttering in the gentle
breeze. Absolutely beautiful. But, as usual, my twisted mind dredged up
memories of one of the better Far Side cartoons: Two spiders have built a
web at the bottom of a playground slide. One's saying to the other, "If this
works, we'll eat like kings!"