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Planting near mature conifers

uppityradishuppityradish Posts: 25
in Problem solving
Is creating a gravel garden near large conifers possible/wise/doable? Our garden is south-facing and the area infront of the trees gets a lot of sun. Would mediterranean plants cope in such poor, dry soil? I've Googled this 'til I'm blue in the face - but all the advice addresses problem of shade created by such trees, which doesn't apply here.  The distance from the trunks to the paving stone path is about 2.5m and the length of this area is about 4.5/5m.

Posts

  • BenDoverBenDover Posts: 488
    My sister-in-law grew Japanese Anemone in hard clay soil in full sun for large part of the day, next too (but not under) the neighbours Leylandii hedge.  They grew in a border no bigger than 2 foot wide (front to back).  How they coped with seemingly very little water in rock and soil I don't know, but they thrived.  They had been there a few years so no doubt good roots probably helped so potentially if you do plant them, add in loads and loads of organic mix of compost and well rotted horse manure to the soil when you plant, and in the first year, water copiously to them established. They'll spend the first season building roots.

    Another good one would be germanium (not to be confused with pelargonium).  That does spread around quite happily and can cope with hot sunny borders.  It also seems to cope with poor dry soil, which you will probably have under and immediately around the conifer.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Beth Chatto designed a "dry" garden where a former car park had been.  It is in full sun apart form shade cast by some tall trees at certain times of day and year.  She did it by first working in loads of well-rotted manure and garden compost into the soil and then selecting plants that could cope with never being watered again after the initial planting.   The whole area was then mulched with gravel to keep it neat and reduce water evaporation.

    Her garden is in an area of Essex that can get just 8"/20cms of rain so I would thin that conditions in the dry garden will be not unlike yours in front of those conifers.  She wrote a book called, inventively, The Dry Garden which you can buy online or borrow from a library to get both the methods and the lists of suitable plants.   It is stunning.  Just a few photos to give you the idea.


     
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • uppityradishuppityradish Posts: 25
    Thank you Tim  :)...there is hope......hurray!!!! I have loads of geraniums, so they will definitely be on the list...also a poor japanese anemone currently languishing in shrub border shade.  
  • uppityradishuppityradish Posts: 25
    Thank you Obelixx  :)....I have just ordered a copy of Beth Chatto's 'the Dry Garden' (the pics are, indeed, very inspiring)...and as luck would have it, I collected some bags of manure from a local riding stables just the other day. Can't wait to get cracking...how exciting!!!
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