Best foliage for full/partial shade under pines?

Question

Help! I am trying to get complete answer on what would be the best flowers and green plants to plant in partial to full shade that are midsize in height and (Here is the hard part) will do well under pine trees. (Something about the soil around them) I live in WV, so if annuals (which I prefer) they would have to be for my grow zone. Please help, I have searched and quized local gardeners, but I get different answers every single time.

Answer 1

First of all, you will probably have to build up the soil in the area, otherwise the roots of the pines will compete with the plants for water and nutrients. You can accomplish this either with raised beds or simply mounding soil in the planting site. There are many hardy perennials, some of which would work well even in dense shade. Hostas (perennials), of which there are thousands of varieties, come in many shades of green ranging from yellow to blue, variegated white and green etc., and sizes from miniature to very large. These combine well with Impatients, which would be an annual in your area, grow to 16 inches in height and a quite tolerant of acidic soil conditions and shade. For the record, annuals must be planted every year, whereas perennials come back year after year. I suggest a combination of both, as your annuals are going to give you the most color and show and are worth the effort of replanting every year.

Answer 2

The continual shedding of the pine needles has made the soil under your pine trees acidic. This is why people are advising that it will be hard to grow anything under them. Depending on how acidic your soil is will determine what you can plant. Buy a cheap PH test kit and see what it indicates. Armed with this information you can contact your local nursery and get their advice on what needs to be done or can be grown. Pine trees are also inclined to surface root and this will cause the soil to be dry and to have heavy root competition. This will virtually rule out growing annuals.

If the soil has become very acidic you may need to add compost, lime etc to correct this before anything can be planted.

With correct advice you will be able to find something to plant but it is not an easy problem to solve.

Answer 3

I would want to stick with a perennial if I were you as it is going to be difficult because of being under pine trees. You should be looking for something that likes shade and acidy soil. Look at some garden books that will give you info on these type of plants, they will also tell you the zone. Good Luck!

Answer 4

If you walk through the mountains where there are a lot of pine trees you will find an awful lot of ferns. They thrive under pines. They are beautiful and come back every year. As for the flowers, you should take a walk and see what grows best around your neighborhood under the pines. That's where you will find your answer.

Answer 5

You will want to look in gardening books for plants that not only grow in shade, but also acidic, sandy soil. If your soil isn't just sand below, then your choices will improve. If you put lime under the trees to balance the soil you can grow much more. I would then try hostas and impatiens or begonias. If you get partial shade you could try low growing azaleas or rhododendrons also.
Low spreading yews may work because they grow in shade if you just want evergreen ground cover. You actually have many choices.

Answer 6

I live in the redwoods which I assume is close to pine trees being coniferous. I have had luck with hostas for greenery and impatiens and siberian blue bells for flowers. I did have to dig beds and add a gernerous amount of potting soil but the extra work was worth it. The impatiens flowered all summer and into the fall. Good luck.

Answer 7

Any plant that extremely loves fertile / acidic soil. this would sound loopy, yet azaleas are a good decision. The organic and organic be counted made out of the pine tree can help you the pH factor, and create some coloration. Azaleas do suitable with coloration after a million pm or so. also like filtered gentle. learn this on line and good success....

Answer 8

This is a hard one......ferns will do well under pine trees but I don't know of anything else......unless you put in a raised bed for annuals??? Just don't cover the bottom of the trees with soil...it will kill them.

Answer 9

Pachysandra does awesome underneath pine trees and stays green year-round. It is a great ground-cover for shady areas.

Answer 10

sorry to tell you this but your not going to find anything that will grow under a pine tree the soil is to poor sorry