In article ,
Capt T wrote:

I have three very tall mature scots pines in my garden and in the last two
years the grass has died off directly below the trees. The needle drop is
obviously quite severe and we end up with a carpet of needles to sweep up. I
suppose the acidity of the needles plus the recent dryness has spelt the end
of the grass. We tried to reseed last year but nothing took.

Can anyone suggest plants that would give ground cover to hide the bare
patch and that would be able to survive the acidity, dryness and shade.

The alternative is not to try, and to plant cyclamen. While they will
make ground cover, they do it for only part of the year, and can't be
walked on. But a carpet of cyclamen is a lovely sight. You would
want C. coum or C. hederifolium. Where the ground is dry enough,
weeding isn't a problem.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.