After working outside on our property all last weekend I'm really looking
forward to getting down to some gardening this year ;-)

A large part of our 2.5 acre lot is wooded with very tall pine trees (no
lower branches, branches and needles up towards the top) and some smaller
hardwood trees (1" - 6" diameter). After our neighbor had a fire in the
woods we've decided to clear out some of the smaller trees, pine needles and
vines and try to get some mixture of ground cover and flowering plants going
to provide us a buffer around the house in case of another fire.

Can anyone recommend plants that grow well in the shade, that will have some
variety in color, size, etc?

You can get a pretty good idea of what the area I'm talking about looks like
in the second photo down he

http://woozy.com/fire/

We don't plan on planting the whole thing, but a good 20 - 30' out from the
house is what the fire department recommends. We have about 10' of lawn and
then we need to go 10 - 20 into the woods.

Thanks,

Robert

Robert,

I *think* that azaleas should grow fairly well in partial pine shade
(assuming the sun shines on the azaleas part of the day).

If you like hostas, you might check out the selection at Plant Delights
http://www.plantdelights.com/, where there are a "gazillion" varieties for
sale.

BTW, do you know what fueled the fire? Was it the pine needles under the
pine trees? (There are pine trees near my house, but I always thought the
pine needles themselves were too damp to burn; I might re-think that and
rake more of them onto compost piles.)

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Robert" wrote in message
hlink.net...
After working outside on our property all last weekend I'm really looking
forward to getting down to some gardening this year ;-)

A large part of our 2.5 acre lot is wooded with very tall pine trees (no
lower branches, branches and needles up towards the top) and some smaller
hardwood trees (1" - 6" diameter). After our neighbor had a fire in the
woods we've decided to clear out some of the smaller trees, pine needles
and
vines and try to get some mixture of ground cover and flowering plants
going
to provide us a buffer around the house in case of another fire.

Can anyone recommend plants that grow well in the shade, that will have
some
variety in color, size, etc?

You can get a pretty good idea of what the area I'm talking about looks
like
in the second photo down he

http://woozy.com/fire/

We don't plan on planting the whole thing, but a good 20 - 30' out from
the
house is what the fire department recommends. We have about 10' of lawn
and
then we need to go 10 - 20 into the woods.

Thanks,

Robert

Hi Anne,

Thanks! The fire was fueled by pine needles and fallen branches, leaves,
etc.. It was that Sunday evening a few weekends ago where it was really nice
during the day and then got really windy at night. Our neighbor had a small
bonfire going down by our lake and the wind picked up suddenly and that was
all it took. I had a couple of fire extinguishers and a hose and went over
there as soon as she called me but it spread faster than you would imagine.
The fire extinguishers were pretty much worthless. Luckily the Bahama
Volunteer Fire Department did a great job of containing it and putting it
out. We will be forever grateful to them, with that fire and the wind
feeding it, it looked for a while like everything was going to go up in
flames.

Robert

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
. com...
Robert,

I *think* that azaleas should grow fairly well in partial pine shade
(assuming the sun shines on the azaleas part of the day).

If you like hostas, you might check out the selection at Plant Delights
http://www.plantdelights.com/, where there are a "gazillion" varieties for
sale.

BTW, do you know what fueled the fire? Was it the pine needles under the
pine trees? (There are pine trees near my house, but I always thought the
pine needles themselves were too damp to burn; I might re-think that and
rake more of them onto compost piles.)

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Robert" wrote in message
hlink.net...
After working outside on our property all last weekend I'm really
looking
forward to getting down to some gardening this year ;-)

A large part of our 2.5 acre lot is wooded with very tall pine trees (no
lower branches, branches and needles up towards the top) and some
smaller
hardwood trees (1" - 6" diameter). After our neighbor had a fire in the
woods we've decided to clear out some of the smaller trees, pine needles
and
vines and try to get some mixture of ground cover and flowering plants
going
to provide us a buffer around the house in case of another fire.

Can anyone recommend plants that grow well in the shade, that will have
some
variety in color, size, etc?

You can get a pretty good idea of what the area I'm talking about looks
like
in the second photo down he

http://woozy.com/fire/

We don't plan on planting the whole thing, but a good 20 - 30' out from
the
house is what the fire department recommends. We have about 10' of lawn
and
then we need to go 10 - 20 into the woods.

Thanks,

Robert

Robert,

I *think* that azaleas should grow fairly well in partial pine shade
(assuming the sun shines on the azaleas part of the day).

If you like hostas, you might check out the selection at Plant Delights
http://www.plantdelights.com/, where there are a "gazillion" varieties for
sale.

BTW, do you know what fueled the fire? Was it the pine needles under the
pine trees? (There are pine trees near my house, but I always thought the
pine needles themselves were too damp to burn; I might re-think that and
rake more of them onto compost piles.)

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Robert" wrote in message
hlink.net...
After working outside on our property all last weekend I'm really looking
forward to getting down to some gardening this year ;-)

A large part of our 2.5 acre lot is wooded with very tall pine trees (no
lower branches, branches and needles up towards the top) and some smaller
hardwood trees (1" - 6" diameter). After our neighbor had a fire in the
woods we've decided to clear out some of the smaller trees, pine needles
and
vines and try to get some mixture of ground cover and flowering plants
going
to provide us a buffer around the house in case of another fire.

Can anyone recommend plants that grow well in the shade, that will have
some
variety in color, size, etc?

You can get a pretty good idea of what the area I'm talking about looks
like
in the second photo down he

http://woozy.com/fire/

We don't plan on planting the whole thing, but a good 20 - 30' out from
the
house is what the fire department recommends. We have about 10' of lawn
and
then we need to go 10 - 20 into the woods.

Thanks,

Robert

Hi Anne,

Thanks! The fire was fueled by pine needles and fallen branches, leaves,
etc.. It was that Sunday evening a few weekends ago where it was really nice
during the day and then got really windy at night. Our neighbor had a small
bonfire going down by our lake and the wind picked up suddenly and that was
all it took. I had a couple of fire extinguishers and a hose and went over
there as soon as she called me but it spread faster than you would imagine.
The fire extinguishers were pretty much worthless. Luckily the Bahama
Volunteer Fire Department did a great job of containing it and putting it
out. We will be forever grateful to them, with that fire and the wind
feeding it, it looked for a while like everything was going to go up in
flames.

Robert

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
. com...
Robert,

I *think* that azaleas should grow fairly well in partial pine shade
(assuming the sun shines on the azaleas part of the day).

If you like hostas, you might check out the selection at Plant Delights
http://www.plantdelights.com/, where there are a "gazillion" varieties for
sale.

BTW, do you know what fueled the fire? Was it the pine needles under the
pine trees? (There are pine trees near my house, but I always thought the
pine needles themselves were too damp to burn; I might re-think that and
rake more of them onto compost piles.)

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Robert" wrote in message
hlink.net...
After working outside on our property all last weekend I'm really
looking
forward to getting down to some gardening this year ;-)

A large part of our 2.5 acre lot is wooded with very tall pine trees (no
lower branches, branches and needles up towards the top) and some
smaller
hardwood trees (1" - 6" diameter). After our neighbor had a fire in the
woods we've decided to clear out some of the smaller trees, pine needles
and
vines and try to get some mixture of ground cover and flowering plants
going
to provide us a buffer around the house in case of another fire.

Can anyone recommend plants that grow well in the shade, that will have
some
variety in color, size, etc?

You can get a pretty good idea of what the area I'm talking about looks
like
in the second photo down he

http://woozy.com/fire/

We don't plan on planting the whole thing, but a good 20 - 30' out from
the
house is what the fire department recommends. We have about 10' of lawn
and
then we need to go 10 - 20 into the woods.

Thanks,

Robert

Hi Robert,

Fine Gardening's June 03 issue had an article about choosing appropriate
plants for areas prevalent to fires. The article listed several plants
which were fire retarding (not apt to burst into flames--fleshy moist
leaves, deciduous trees and shrubs) which should be planted next to a
home structure, and fire resistant plants (less likely than other plants
to burn, will slow an incoming fire) which should be planted farther out
from a structure.

Some examples:
Fire-retardent:
Bergenias
Blueberries, huckleberries
Daylillies
Dwarf periwinkles
Lilacs
Viburnums
Lawn Grasses
Wisterias

Fire-Resistent
Bearberry
Columbines
Contoneasters
Poplars
Salal
Sumacs
Wintergreen
Yarrows



Beyond the subject of fire retardent plants, my favorite shade loving
plants that perform well in our shadies spots --
Columbine
heuchera
camelias
hostas
anemones
sweet sarcocoa
daylillies
confederate jasmine
indian hawthorne
hellebores
daffodills
bleeding hearts
ferns
astilbe
foxgloves
pachysandra


happy gardening!
Heidi


Robert wrote:

After working outside on our property all last weekend I'm really looking
forward to getting down to some gardening this year ;-)

A large part of our 2.5 acre lot is wooded with very tall pine trees (no
lower branches, branches and needles up towards the top) and some smaller
hardwood trees (1" - 6" diameter). After our neighbor had a fire in the
woods we've decided to clear out some of the smaller trees, pine needles and
vines and try to get some mixture of ground cover and flowering plants going
to provide us a buffer around the house in case of another fire.

Can anyone recommend plants that grow well in the shade, that will have some
variety in color, size, etc?

You can get a pretty good idea of what the area I'm talking about looks like
in the second photo down he

http://woozy.com/fire/

We don't plan on planting the whole thing, but a good 20 - 30' out from the
house is what the fire department recommends. We have about 10' of lawn and
then we need to go 10 - 20 into the woods.

Thanks,

Robert

Heidi,

Thanks for the great list!

Robert

"Heidi" wrote in message
.. .
Hi Robert,

Fine Gardening's June 03 issue had an article about choosing appropriate
plants for areas prevalent to fires. The article listed several plants
which were fire retarding (not apt to burst into flames--fleshy moist
leaves, deciduous trees and shrubs) which should be planted next to a
home structure, and fire resistant plants (less likely than other plants
to burn, will slow an incoming fire) which should be planted farther out
from a structure.

Some examples:
Fire-retardent:
Bergenias
Blueberries, huckleberries
Daylillies
Dwarf periwinkles
Lilacs
Viburnums
Lawn Grasses
Wisterias

Fire-Resistent
Bearberry
Columbines
Contoneasters
Poplars
Salal
Sumacs
Wintergreen
Yarrows



Beyond the subject of fire retardent plants, my favorite shade loving
plants that perform well in our shadies spots --
Columbine
heuchera
camelias
hostas
anemones
sweet sarcocoa
daylillies
confederate jasmine
indian hawthorne
hellebores
daffodills
bleeding hearts
ferns
astilbe
foxgloves
pachysandra


happy gardening!
Heidi


Robert wrote:

After working outside on our property all last weekend I'm really looking
forward to getting down to some gardening this year ;-)

A large part of our 2.5 acre lot is wooded with very tall pine trees (no
lower branches, branches and needles up towards the top) and some smaller
hardwood trees (1" - 6" diameter). After our neighbor had a fire in the
woods we've decided to clear out some of the smaller trees, pine needles
and
vines and try to get some mixture of ground cover and flowering plants
going
to provide us a buffer around the house in case of another fire.

Can anyone recommend plants that grow well in the shade, that will have
some
variety in color, size, etc?

You can get a pretty good idea of what the area I'm talking about looks
like
in the second photo down he

http://woozy.com/fire/

We don't plan on planting the whole thing, but a good 20 - 30' out from
the
house is what the fire department recommends. We have about 10' of lawn
and
then we need to go 10 - 20 into the woods.

Thanks,

Robert

Vinca Major is a fast growing, aggressive ground cover that grows well
in the woods. It is like periwinkle only much larger. It will pretty
much take over an area, however, but is nothing like some of the worse
spreaders like kudzu or Ivy.

Thanks,

That might actually work nicely for some sections of our property. How do
you start something like that off? At our old house in Durham we tried to
plant ivy on a slope in front of the house and it failed miserably. I've
been trying to grow some Carolina Jasmine here which is supposed to be a
fast grower and it isn't doing much either. I don't seem to have the touch
when it comes to vines. I do best with vegetables in raised beds and
everything else is downhill from there

Robert

"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Vinca Major is a fast growing, aggressive ground cover that grows well
in the woods. It is like periwinkle only much larger. It will pretty
much take over an area, however, but is nothing like some of the worse
spreaders like kudzu or Ivy.

Thanks,

That might actually work nicely for some sections of our property. How do
you start something like that off? At our old house in Durham we tried to
plant ivy on a slope in front of the house and it failed miserably. I've
been trying to grow some Carolina Jasmine here which is supposed to be a
fast grower and it isn't doing much either. I don't seem to have the touch
when it comes to vines. I do best with vegetables in raised beds and
everything else is downhill from there

Robert

"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Vinca Major is a fast growing, aggressive ground cover that grows well
in the woods. It is like periwinkle only much larger. It will pretty
much take over an area, however, but is nothing like some of the worse
spreaders like kudzu or Ivy.

Robert,

It's odd about ivy: people who hate it have trouble getting rid of it, and
people who want it have trouble getting it to grow. In my case, it grows
way too well next to the house (and up the wall), but not so well on a small
sloped area just a few feet away (I think the water runs off before the ivy
can use it).

One personal observation about Carolina Jessamine (jasmine): I think it
likes to be left undisturbed. There was an abundant vine on my deck railing
when I moved here; however, after gently removing it from the railing so I
could power was & re-seal the deck, the vine never did well again.

I planted another one in its place, but apparently did not give it the
support it wanted, so that particular vine only grew along the ground under
the deck rather than up the railing.

If you drive around, you'll see that some of the best vines are growing on
chain link fences, where I doubt the vines get much attention, if any (based
on the vegetation in the surrounding area or parking lot).

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Robert" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks,

That might actually work nicely for some sections of our property. How do
you start something like that off? At our old house in Durham we tried to
plant ivy on a slope in front of the house and it failed miserably. I've
been trying to grow some Carolina Jasmine here which is supposed to be a
fast grower and it isn't doing much either. I don't seem to have the touch
when it comes to vines. I do best with vegetables in raised beds and
everything else is downhill from there

Robert

"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Vinca Major is a fast growing, aggressive ground cover that grows well
in the woods. It is like periwinkle only much larger. It will pretty
much take over an area, however, but is nothing like some of the worse
spreaders like kudzu or Ivy.

Thanks Anne,

We have some sort of vine that grows wild here and eventually kills some of
the trees. I've cut some vines down that were up to 1.5 inches thick. I
don't know what it is but it grows like crazy. We also have honeysuckle
growing along an old fence which smells great when it blooms. Its just the
vines that *I* try to plant that have a rough time. ;-)

I guess I'll keep trying different things until I stumble across the right
one.

Robert

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
. com...
Robert,

It's odd about ivy: people who hate it have trouble getting rid of it,
and
people who want it have trouble getting it to grow. In my case, it grows
way too well next to the house (and up the wall), but not so well on a
small
sloped area just a few feet away (I think the water runs off before the
ivy
can use it).

One personal observation about Carolina Jessamine (jasmine): I think it
likes to be left undisturbed. There was an abundant vine on my deck
railing
when I moved here; however, after gently removing it from the railing so I
could power was & re-seal the deck, the vine never did well again.

I planted another one in its place, but apparently did not give it the
support it wanted, so that particular vine only grew along the ground
under
the deck rather than up the railing.

If you drive around, you'll see that some of the best vines are growing on
chain link fences, where I doubt the vines get much attention, if any
(based
on the vegetation in the surrounding area or parking lot).

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Robert" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks,

That might actually work nicely for some sections of our property. How
do
you start something like that off? At our old house in Durham we tried
to
plant ivy on a slope in front of the house and it failed miserably. I've
been trying to grow some Carolina Jasmine here which is supposed to be a
fast grower and it isn't doing much either. I don't seem to have the
touch
when it comes to vines. I do best with vegetables in raised beds and
everything else is downhill from there

Robert

"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Vinca Major is a fast growing, aggressive ground cover that grows well
in the woods. It is like periwinkle only much larger. It will pretty
much take over an area, however, but is nothing like some of the worse
spreaders like kudzu or Ivy.

Thanks Anne,

We have some sort of vine that grows wild here and eventually kills some of
the trees. I've cut some vines down that were up to 1.5 inches thick. I
don't know what it is but it grows like crazy. We also have honeysuckle
growing along an old fence which smells great when it blooms. Its just the
vines that *I* try to plant that have a rough time. ;-)

I guess I'll keep trying different things until I stumble across the right
one.

Robert

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
. com...
Robert,

It's odd about ivy: people who hate it have trouble getting rid of it,
and
people who want it have trouble getting it to grow. In my case, it grows
way too well next to the house (and up the wall), but not so well on a
small
sloped area just a few feet away (I think the water runs off before the
ivy
can use it).

One personal observation about Carolina Jessamine (jasmine): I think it
likes to be left undisturbed. There was an abundant vine on my deck
railing
when I moved here; however, after gently removing it from the railing so I
could power was & re-seal the deck, the vine never did well again.

I planted another one in its place, but apparently did not give it the
support it wanted, so that particular vine only grew along the ground
under
the deck rather than up the railing.

If you drive around, you'll see that some of the best vines are growing on
chain link fences, where I doubt the vines get much attention, if any
(based
on the vegetation in the surrounding area or parking lot).

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Robert" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks,

That might actually work nicely for some sections of our property. How
do
you start something like that off? At our old house in Durham we tried
to
plant ivy on a slope in front of the house and it failed miserably. I've
been trying to grow some Carolina Jasmine here which is supposed to be a
fast grower and it isn't doing much either. I don't seem to have the
touch
when it comes to vines. I do best with vegetables in raised beds and
everything else is downhill from there

Robert

"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Vinca Major is a fast growing, aggressive ground cover that grows well
in the woods. It is like periwinkle only much larger. It will pretty
much take over an area, however, but is nothing like some of the worse
spreaders like kudzu or Ivy.

"Robert" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks,

That might actually work nicely for some sections of our property. How do
you start something like that off? At our old house in Durham we tried to

Vinca Major is not, as far as I know, sold in nurseries -- actually I think
it may be classified as a noxious weed in NC? I seem to remember reading
that somewhere. It puts out long runners that root wherever they touch the
ground. They have large dark green leaves and medium size light purple
flowers. A string trimmer or something similar is definitely required to
keep them confined to a particular area.

Vinca Minor is definitely sold, looks similar (but smaller), and is not as
agressive a grower. It's still nice though, and I haven't found it to
require anything at all. I planted individual plants about 8 inches apart
in compacted clay soil, did not amend, did not fertilize, did not mulch, and
did not water :-) I now have a nice groundcover that I mow back every fall
and it fills in by the end of spring.

Interestingly, whoever lived here before planted some Vinca Minor, and it
looks like they got (possibly just one) Vinca Major in there accidentally.
So in some areas I have an "undergrowth" of Vinca Minor covered with a layer
of Vinca Major! The Major will take over the whole yard if you are not
careful. I have pulled up plants, left them in the driveway for days, and
they have rooted when they got moved into a dirt-covered area by my car
repeatedly backing down the driveway over them!

"Robert" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks,

That might actually work nicely for some sections of our property. How do
you start something like that off? At our old house in Durham we tried to

Vinca Major is not, as far as I know, sold in nurseries -- actually I think
it may be classified as a noxious weed in NC? I seem to remember reading
that somewhere. It puts out long runners that root wherever they touch the
ground. They have large dark green leaves and medium size light purple
flowers. A string trimmer or something similar is definitely required to
keep them confined to a particular area.

Vinca Minor is definitely sold, looks similar (but smaller), and is not as
agressive a grower. It's still nice though, and I haven't found it to
require anything at all. I planted individual plants about 8 inches apart
in compacted clay soil, did not amend, did not fertilize, did not mulch, and
did not water :-) I now have a nice groundcover that I mow back every fall
and it fills in by the end of spring.

Interestingly, whoever lived here before planted some Vinca Minor, and it
looks like they got (possibly just one) Vinca Major in there accidentally.
So in some areas I have an "undergrowth" of Vinca Minor covered with a layer
of Vinca Major! The Major will take over the whole yard if you are not
careful. I have pulled up plants, left them in the driveway for days, and
they have rooted when they got moved into a dirt-covered area by my car
repeatedly backing down the driveway over them!