What to plant under cedar tree?? for Questionland Seattle

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What to plant under cedar tree??

I have a huge cedar in my front yard. It expells so much tree crap that nothing really grows under it. I want to be prepared for next year to at least make it more presentable. What could I plant under it (the start of the underbranches is about 12 feet up) that would love all the mulchy crap from that cedar?

misssmartypants asked in Garden Design about 1 year ago | Report

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Redwood Sorrel (Oxalis oregana) grows beautifully under cedar hence it's name.

Marty Unger answered in Garden Design about 1 year ago | Report

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The things that grow naturally under cedars - Oregon grape and salal.

Geni answered in Garden Design about 1 year ago | Report

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Huckleberries do well in this environment. They like damp, acidic soil, and do well in the shade. The fruit is delicious, though maybe not so good from the front yard with high dog pee potential.

Mahtli69 answered in Garden Design about 1 year ago | Report

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Oxalis (as Marty suggested already...although watch out, because it spreads), ferns (especially native sword ferns), and hostas.

Sacrelicious answered in Garden Design about 1 year ago | Report

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Cedars are native, so I'd go with anything else that's native to Washington woodland forests and likes the shade. Marty's suggestion that you plant redwood sorrel is brilliant, though that will require soil that's a little more damp at the surface. Other similar leafy plants include bleeding hearts (dicentra), various hostas, ferns (sword fern and maidenhair), false lily of the valley/solomon's seal, and bunchberries (aka creeping dogwood, one of my favorites). If your soil is a little drier, you can try woodier plants such as salal (waxy green leaves often seen in bouquets) or Oregon grape. The bonus of planting these kinds of plants mean that once they are established, they require very little care.

This appears to be a fantastic website on native woodland plants for our area:

http://wnps.org/landscaping/herbarium/index.html

MyrnaMinkoff answered in Garden Design about 1 year ago | Report

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The problem isn't so much the mulchy crap, or the acidity, even though those things are actually problematic. The problem is the shade. What you're looking at now, a virtual desert, is kind of the natural state of the understory of a cedar grove. Dark and dry.

However! Aside from chopping down the cedar to build a nice humidor, which by the way isn't a terrible idea, You do have options. How about some bulbs? I planted some tulips and daffodils last fall in a very shady area, and it worked well. They'll pop up and bloom even without much sun. Add some lime in the hole you dig to fix the acid soil issue. Do a google search for other shade lovers (hostas?) but beware that the dryness and shade are so extreme under that huge cedar that you'll have to work hard to provide them a happy place. Specifically, you can cut more branches and amend the soil.

Adam Michelson answered in Garden Design about 1 year ago | Report

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