Does anyone have a good suggestion for landscape design under old CA live oaks?

Question

The area under the oaks is dry, the dirt is very hard clay, and the roots are surface. I want to create a natural looking landscape that is not cluttered. I'm told not to plant too close to the tree for fear of fungus disease. Any suggestions on plants and designs would be wonderful!

This is in Oakland CA.

Answer 1

First of all, you should plant NOTHING under your oak trees (from the trunk out to the edge of the farthest branches). You should NEVER water under a oak tree. Winter rain is quite sufficient once the tree is a year or two old. Excess water will kill your tree and will increase the likelihood of diseases (oak root fungus and root rot being the primary ones).

Let all the leaves that fall from your tree STAY where they fall. The roots are very close to the surface and need the protection. As the leaves compost, they become a very rich mulch that feeds your tree and will turn your soil soft. The leaves also hold in any moisture for the shallow roots. (This also saves you a WHOLE lot of work!!).

Do not put rocks under your trees. They cut off oxygen for the roots and keep the leaf mulch from getting to the roots.

Following these rules will give you a very NATURAL setting. Just look around at oaks growing on hillsides (not yards) near you. You will notice that nothing grows under them, they do not get watered and they do very fine, thank you!

Keep in mind that EACH of these trees adds THOUSANDS of dollars to your property value!!! You do not want to risk losing that value. Several of my oak trees are close to our house on the west side and save us hundreds of dollars (more?) in cooling expenses each year.

Good Luck!!

Answer 2

Hiya - I'm in N. CA too (Sonoma Cty) and there are lots of oaks around here as well. Bunch grasses might be a good choice - they don't require lots of water and would certainly match the native grassy/oaky N. Cal landscape. And there are lots and lots to choose from - colors, heights, etc. Lavender would be good for color and variety - also low water and tolerant of heavy clay soils. Not too sure about design without seeing what tree layout you're working with, but maybe you could try lining paths and borders with your auxillary plants and just letting the oaks shine solo? Good luck!

Answer 3

inside the fences, plant some really thorny stuff. trellises of climbing roses make great security measures, and provide a little added privacy. They also make a whole lot of noise if anyone tries to climb down them. Pyracantha does a similar job, but provides more privacy and more thorns, but less noise if someone tries to push through it. Most any citrus tree will tend towards a bush shape with lots of spines that can work if you have a lot of area (I believe you do...) as well as providing fruit. However, as your sole defense, I would not count on them, as they also provide snacks to go along with the entertainment. If there's a lot of ground between your fence, and where they come to spy, some nasty ground cover, such as rosemary (doubles as a spice, and leaves quite a smell on visitors) or most berries, such as blackberry, gooseberry, raspberry, etc. around where they come in may help. For privacy, italian cypress is pretty hard to see through, and if you keep the ground around it clean, it will shed a lot of spines when it gets disturbed. It's only slightly prickly to the touch. Golden bamboo is said to be a good privacy barrier too, and may have some good spikes or something. A nice row of pomegranite trees (bushes, more like it) can also be rather useful. They tend to take a while to get going, and their fruit forms in the winter, when you're not likely to be out sunning yourself. Pomegranite plants form twigs which serve almost better than spikes. The worst I've ever gotten scratched up was when I was trying to trim a row of pomegranites. The weight of their fruit pulls the branches down, but they naturally grow back upwards, so a hedge of these will end up with intertwined branches that are impossible to force through. Patience will be needed, but the ends should justify the means. Pomegranites also attract humming birds, which in fact are territorial. It should prove difficult to spy on skinny dippers from inside a thicket of prickly plants with a fast buzzing bird distracting you. You might also consider removing the privacy fences. Obviously they don't work, and unless I'm mistaken, you've got the pool itself fairly well hidden from view (or you will have it that way) without the fences. Set up some plain chain link fences around the perimeter, or some metal bars or something classier if you've got the cash. If everyone can see in, just MAYBE the parents, or third parties will do something about the kids they can now see sneaking off to peep at your pool. Pools generally need to be fence off separately to prevent accidents anyway, so put the privacy fence along that third side. Or, as a slightly cheaper way, you might have the fences cut down a little to stick the trellises above the fence to zoning limits. Like I said, climbing over a prickly trellis is tough.

Answer 4

If you have the money hire a couple of young 20 somethings in bikinis to stand under your oak trees. At least they will have shade, and your landscape will be the envy of the......neighborhood?

Answer 5

mondo grass and hosta