Ground cover under shallow rooted maple

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mooch91
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Ground cover under shallow rooted maple

Post by mooch91 » April 20th, 2019, 9:06 pm

All

I have two younger (less than 10 years planted) trees on my property. One is a small hickory tree that provides some shade and is in a more shaded part of the yard. The other is a small maple tree in a sunnier part of the yard.

I had wanted to put a ring of ground cover under each of the trees to help with mowing. I was hoping to avoid mulch which I would end up blowing clippings in to.

I’ve been trying to grow pachysandra around each tree for the past few years. It took off great around the hickory but not the maple. The maple gets a fair amount of sun and the soil gets dry in the summer so the maple has very shallow roots. Almost so shallow that you can’t even dig around the tree to plant. The pachysandra is still there but is very thin, only on one side of the tree, and looks very yellow.

Looking for something evergreen that I can grow in this type of soil that will still grow dense in a 3 ft ring around this tree. But remain contained so it doesn’t take over the lawn.

Location is central PA (zone 5 I believe).

Thanks!

TimmyG
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Re: Ground cover under shallow rooted maple

Post by TimmyG » April 20th, 2019, 10:27 pm

I've got Helleborus foetidus that is doing great at the base of a large maple. Although not evergreen, consider Epimediums and Geranium macrorrhizum. On the taller side of ground covers, look into the various species of Sarcococca (sweetbox), although if you're actually zone 5, maybe not. I'm still waiting to see how some starter plants of Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis have overwintered here in 5b/6a. They're a bit fried looking, but they are only a few inches tall.

TimmyG
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Re: Ground cover under shallow rooted maple

Post by TimmyG » April 20th, 2019, 11:24 pm

You might also try Microbiota decussata, a.k.a. Siberian cypress or Russian arborvitae, although you'll certainly end up going much larger than a 3-ft ring.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Ground cover under shallow rooted maple

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » April 21st, 2019, 7:00 am

I just tried the same thing last night. I put periwinkle under my small maple and Bradford pear Versa minor.

mooch91
Posts: 130
Joined: April 25th, 2016, 8:16 pm
Location: central PA
Grass Type: KBG, PR, TTTF
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Experienced

Re: Ground cover under shallow rooted maple

Post by mooch91 » April 21st, 2019, 7:14 pm

Thoughts on liriope? Spent the weekend at a theme park where most of the trees were under planted with liriope.


TimmyG
Posts: 2244
Joined: May 15th, 2012, 6:04 pm
Location: Dracut, MA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Experienced

Re: Ground cover under shallow rooted maple

Post by TimmyG » April 22nd, 2019, 12:26 am

Give Liriope muscari a try, but steer clear of aggressive Liriope spicata. I am currently trying Liriope muscari 'Variegata' fairly close to a large pine in some light shade, but I'm far from sharing any first-hand experience. The springs I planted super late in the fall were munched by rabbits and are only just now breaking ground with new shoots. All I can tell you is that, although Liriope is typically listed as being drought tolerant, most of my go-to resources do not explicitly describe it as tolerating dry soil. That said, there are plenty of other online resources that do describe it as such.

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