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Planting colour under rhododendrons
Amanda Collins
Posts: 2
in Talkback
I have a huge rhododendron running down the whole of the side of my garden. The border is in sun for most of the day. I want to deepen the border and plant some flowers and shrubs for colour. Will this work? What will do well? I love dahlias, delphiniums etc but would these work?
0
Posts
Nothing will grow under rhododendrons. Are you thinking of planting in front of the rhodos instead? You can prune back the rhodos very severely to free up some more space. Do you know which rhododendron you have?
Steephill is right. Rhodes leaves contain a substance that inhibits growth of nearby plants.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
That is why they are so successful at overrunning the countryside - and your border!
Containers in front of it might be an answer, but as the others say, nothing will grow at its feet.
Agree with what's been said, although you might have a chance with deeply-planted daffodils.
I do want to create a border in front of the rhododendrons. I don't know the type, but I live near the New Forest and it is the common purple one. Any advice on soil prep and whatever flowers and shrubs would work would be great. Reds and purples ideally. Thanks!
The common purple one is Rhododendron ponticum and is a real thug. You can cut it back as hard as you like (it'll look awful for a bit, but it'll recover - they're hard to kill!). If you don't cut it back it could take over your garden...