As a landscape designer, I am presented with many problems: planting on slopes, dry shade under trees, screening and hedge options, ground covers, areas where deer browse, replacing old landscaping with natives and turf remodels, and I thought a post about What I Have Done will help you make better decisions.
More and more people are requesting native selections, and the options are greatly reduced if you also add deer resistance. Some of the plant cultivars can be difficult to find, but they are becoming easier as nurseries offer more and more native varieties. In most cases, a native garden has a slightly more “messy” appearance than a non-native one; Not always, but usually the choice for a native plant is not a clean and tidy plant. But in the end you end up with a healthier, more pollinator-friendly environment that attracts a wider variety of animals.
I still mix non-native plants with natives because the plant palette is much larger and when you’re doing deer browsing, you should have a wide variety of plants in your quiver. Deer are just as likely to eat a native plant as a non-native plant. And this isn’t low maintenance either! Your native plants require care and attention like any other.
Dry shadow under the trees
Dry shade under large trees is always a challenge. Grass can be difficult to grow and the roots make it difficult to plant anything of considerable size. But there are several options that will work quite well with low maintenance solutions.
My preferred option for under trees is Carex grass. I’m surprised more people don’t use the native evergreen Carex. The most used is Carex pennsylvanicaand is usually readily available. Similar in appearance to Liriope, deer avoid Carex completely, unlike Liriope. another native Carex are Carex plantanginea (Seersucker Sedge), Carex vulpinoidea (Fox Seedge)and Strict Carex (Tussock Sedge). For more information on the performance of Carex varieties in the Mid-Atlantic region, go to Carex for the Mid-Atlantic region del Monte Cuba, which always carries out rigorous multi-year studies on plant groups, especially native ones.
Other options for shade ground covers
For other options, ferns are a great help in dry shade, contrary to the common opinion that they need moist soil. I always tell clients that if you have the combination of deer and shade, ferns are your best friends. Many ferns do better in moist soil, but in drier shade there are natives that thrive, such as Red-stemmed Lady Fern, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Lady In Red’which is one of my favorites. Other native options are common. Lady fern, scented fern, wood fern, Christmas fern, evergreen wood fern, sensitive fern, royal fern and New York fern – a whole set of options.
It takes a few years for ferns to become well established. But it’s well worth the wait. lady in red It’s not evergreen, but I love the ruby red stem emerging spring foliage!
Some other worthy native land covers are Tiarella (Foam Flower), Aquilegia (Red Columbine), Chrysogonum virginiana (Golden Star)and Pachysandra procumbens (Allegheny Pachysandra) which are deer resistant. He Allegheny Pachysandra is similar to Japanese pachysandra, but it grows much more slowly, so you have to give it some time.
Screens
Another common question from customers is what type of screen to put up to block the view. Arborvitaes, cherry laurels and pines are the traditional and safe options.
But I had the opportunity in my own house when I had to remove 43 dead fir trees that the previous owner had planted, to create a different type of screen. Over time, the trees had interfered with the power lines as many screens do, and I decided to replant with a border of much shorter evergreen and deciduous shrubs. Most of it is native, but I have mixed some other well-loved ornamental plants with a wide variety of natives.
When the trees were removed, I kept all the chips instead of taking them to a landfill, and we spread them to make a good mulch that will slow weed growth for years, as well as break down and feed the soil for years to come. . Some of the logs were stacked into pyramids and I made holes in them for native pollinators to nest and reproduce. In addition, the rotten logs will serve as habitat for invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles.
Hedges are living fences of trees, shrubs and other plants, such as vines. It can consist of a simple row or be an intricate layer of plants to form a barrier. By creating corridors for wildlife in fragmented landscapes, which is most of what we have left, hedgerows provide food and shelter for wild creatures. Additionally, it provides energy savings by blocking the wind, which I counted on at the top of a hill in front of the house. I decided to make my hedge a multi-year project. As I get extra plants from different jobs or pick up some plants I buy from a sale, I will add them. Therefore, this is not a planned hedge that will be planted all at once. It will evolve over time.
Combining evergreen and deciduous plants, which flower and grow at different times of the year, can provide a wide season of wildlife attraction. A diversity of species and overhead structures, including logs and other dead wood, create successful hedgerow habitat. It is better to have a wider hedge than just a narrow line to create more types of habitat. I plan to add another line of shrubs in front of my original plantings. For more information, see Creating a wild backyard: hedges.
I am avoiding planting any type of large trees due to the location of the hedge under the power lines, but if the power lines were not there I would be planting native trees such as hawthorns and oaks.
