All,

Please bear with me, i'm new to this gardening lark, but really make an effort this supring/summer! :-)

I have dug out a new border and in the middle of the border is a Silver Birch tree. Its about 50-60ft high, so the roots are quite a problem. About a mentre around the base of the tree the roots are that dense that theres no chance of planting too much.

Has anyone got any suggestions of a plant that will thrive in these conditions? Ideally something that spreads and could go all the way around the base of the tree. Height is not that important, its more a ground covering that i'm after.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Mick
Sheffield

Zarch wrote in message
...

All,

Please bear with me, i'm new to this gardening lark, but really make an
effort this supring/summer! :-)

I have dug out a new border and in the middle of the border is a Silver
Birch tree. Its about 50-60ft high, so the roots are quite a problem.
About a mentre around the base of the tree the roots are that dense
that theres no chance of planting too much.

Has anyone got any suggestions of a plant that will thrive in these
conditions? Ideally something that spreads and could go all the way
around the base of the tree. Height is not that important, its more a
ground covering that i'm after.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Mick
Sheffield


--
Zarch

Hi Mick,

Welcome to gardening!

Before we can answer your question, it would be helpful to know what your
soil is like? ...and is your border in sun or shade? (Generally, that is;
obviously it's shadier under the Birch.

It must be said from the start that Birches resent underplanting.
Nevertheless, I've planted fairly close to mine. Give the newsgroup an idea
of your conditions and we'll have a go.

Spider in SE London

Zarch wrote in message
...

All,

Please bear with me, i'm new to this gardening lark, but really make an
effort this supring/summer! :-)

I have dug out a new border and in the middle of the border is a Silver
Birch tree. Its about 50-60ft high, so the roots are quite a problem.
About a mentre around the base of the tree the roots are that dense
that theres no chance of planting too much.

Has anyone got any suggestions of a plant that will thrive in these
conditions? Ideally something that spreads and could go all the way
around the base of the tree. Height is not that important, its more a
ground covering that i'm after.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Mick
Sheffield

Ivy would sound a good bet, if you get the variegated ones. Once
established they should adapt to the conditions and the colours in the
variegated leaves would blend with the silver of the birch, and should
be OK in most soil types.
In some conditions hardy cyclamen look wonderful in drifts under trees
but I'm not sure if you have the right conditions for that.

Pam in Bristol

Maybe Mick and "Shell" should get together! I suggested ivy for Micks
birch tree but Shell wants to get rid of it!

Pam in Bristol

All,

The soil around the base of the trees is quite fine in texture(is that what you're after??), but the whole area around the tree (at least 1m in all directions) is full of roots. So its very very difficult to dig down at all. I've had my mini soil tester kit out and it says i have alkaline soil.

As this area is in the middle of a newly created bed i would like something that is quite vigourous and will fill out quickly, but obviously be able to keep it under control.

Is it having all year round colour asking too much? or at least green through the winter.

I feel that if dont fill this space in the middle of this border it will look pretty vacant.

Thanks for the replies so far

Mick

oh and with having 4 of these big birch trees in the garden, it appears quite shady. Although as this is my first spring and summer in the garden i'm still trying to work out the sun/shade proportions. :-)

"Zarch" wrote in message
...

All,

Please bear with me, i'm new to this gardening lark, but really make an
effort this supring/summer! :-)

I have dug out a new border and in the middle of the border is a Silver
Birch tree. Its about 50-60ft high, so the roots are quite a problem.
About a mentre around the base of the tree the roots are that dense
that theres no chance of planting too much.

Has anyone got any suggestions of a plant that will thrive in these
conditions? Ideally something that spreads and could go all the way
around the base of the tree. Height is not that important, its more a
ground covering that i'm after.

Get rid of at least three of your silver birches! The roots travel just
below the surface, I believe.There are more interesting/nicer trees/shrubs.

Zarch wrote in message
...

Zarch Wrote:
All,

The soil around the base of the trees is quite fine in texture(is that
what you're after??), but the whole area around the tree (at least 1m
in all directions) is full of roots. So its very very difficult to dig
down at all. I've had my mini soil tester kit out and it says i have
alkaline soil.

As this area is in the middle of a newly created bed i would like
something that is quite vigourous and will fill out quickly, but
obviously be able to keep it under control.

Is it having all year round colour asking too much? or at least green
through the winter.

I feel that if dont fill this space in the middle of this border it
will look pretty vacant.

Thanks for the replies so far

Mick

oh and with having 4 of these big birch trees in the garden, it appears
quite shady. Although as this is my first spring and summer in the
garden i'm still trying to work out the sun/shade proportions. :-)


--
Zarch

Hi Mick,

Thanks for coming back with the info. Sounds as if it's going to be rather
dry as well as shady. However, as you surmise, the real difficulty will be
planting in that rooty ground. You will probably have to start with small
plants and make holes for them as best you can. My suggestions would be:

Epimedium, evergreen forms - attractive leaves, small but pretty
early-Spring flowers.
Helleborus species and cultivars (H. hybridus are great) - strong,
structural evergreen leaves, stunning Spring flowers in white/pinks/plummy
purples.
Brunnera macrophylla (esp. 'Jack Frost', but all are good) - with froth of
mid-blue flowers in Spring.
Heucheras - many beautiful forms; evergreen green-marbled, purple-marbled
and bronze-marbled leaves - spires of white/pink/red flowers.
Tiarella cordifolia or wherryi - mainly green-leaved, but similar to Heucher
a in habit. Beautiful white-flushed-pink flower spikes.
Ajuga reptans - evergreen green or purple or multicoloured leaves with
usually blue (but occasionally pink) Spring flowers.
Vinca, any, but these can become invasive. Blue, purple, mauve or white
flowers.

Fuchsia magellanica or riccartonii. These hardy Fuchsias are semi-evergreen
(or deciduous in a hard winter). They have tiny, pendant white/pink/red
flowers throughout summer. They will give you some extra height and
much-need summer colour.
Digitalis purpurea would be stunning as a midsummer accent plant, to fill
the gap between Spring and Summer.

Hope this helps.
Spider

Spider,

Thanks for that, some great info, really appreciated.

I'll take it away and digest.

Spakker: These trees have been there for god knows how many years and are around 50/60 foot high, so theres no way of getting rid of them.

I'm contemplating getting some sort of tree expert round though to give them the once over and maybe "a trim". What sort of price do you pay for this service?

Thanks again for your time Spider.

Mick

In article ,
Zarch writes:
|
| I'm contemplating getting some sort of tree expert round though to give
| them the once over and maybe "a trim". What sort of price do you pay
| for this service?

With birches, you should normally leave them be or remove them.
No compromise. Get an opinion, by all means.

They are not long-lived in fertile soils (and 50-60' implies a
fertile soil), somewhat prone to fungal infections (though they
are also host to many fungal mycorrhiza!) and respond badly to
pruning.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Zarch wrote:
[...]
Spakker: These trees have been there for god knows how many years
and
are around 50/60 foot high, so theres no way of getting rid of
them.

I'm contemplating getting some sort of tree expert round though to
give them the once over and maybe "a trim". What sort of price do
you pay for this service?

Thanks again for your time Spider.

I'd think twice before any sort of pruning: it would normally make
matters worse by increasing the density of leafy branches, and very
likely by making the trees look ugly. Most "tree experts" are nothing
of the sort, even if perfectly honest: they need to be selected with
caution.

What you should be able to trust most Yellow Pages lads to do,
however, is to take a couple of the trees out completely before
planting the area. That may give you enough clear sky without
removing what you may come to cherish as a feature most gardens sadly
lack. I'd wait at least till the winter, maybe even next year, to get
a good feel for the site -- you certainly won't be able to put a
fifty-foot tree back!

Spider's suggestions would be lovely. Snowdrops and primroses too, of
course, though it may be a bit too dry for the best results.

--
Mike.

On Wed, 4 May 2005 17:24:29 +0100, "Spider" wrote:


Zarch wrote in message
...

All,

Please bear with me, i'm new to this gardening lark, but really make an
effort this supring/summer! :-)

I have dug out a new border and in the middle of the border is a Silver
Birch tree. Its about 50-60ft high, so the roots are quite a problem.
About a mentre around the base of the tree the roots are that dense
that theres no chance of planting too much.

Has anyone got any suggestions of a plant that will thrive in these
conditions? Ideally something that spreads and could go all the way
around the base of the tree. Height is not that important, its more a
ground covering that i'm after.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Mick
Sheffield


--
Zarch

Hi Mick,

Welcome to gardening!

Before we can answer your question, it would be helpful to know what your
soil is like? ...and is your border in sun or shade? (Generally, that is;
obviously it's shadier under the Birch.

It must be said from the start that Birches resent underplanting.
Nevertheless, I've planted fairly close to mine. Give the newsgroup an idea
of your conditions and we'll have a go.

Spider in SE London
Try underplanting with Cyclemen, lots of them.