We live in zone 6. Rest of the yard is a hodgepodge of grass and creeping Charlie. However, everything under this shade tree died and left a big dirt patch. This area is right outside our sunroom and not pleasant to look at. We have 2 kids that use the yard a lot and a large dog that likes to run around. We also have plenty of deer that seem to decimate anything I plant.
by TimelyPhilosophy4081
33 Comments
Is the yard much bigger? You could put shade loving shrubs and low plants around the tree. You’d lose a bit of yard space but would cover the dirt.
Stop mowing it. The dirt is obviously very compacted. You need to get some native shade tolerant plants to get established. What you’re doing right now is not working.
Get a chipdrop for free. Mulch the woodchips everywhere except at the base of the trunk. Plant native shade perennials. As the woodchips break down over a few years, the perennials fill in and take over the space.
Benefits: Less erosion, more manicured look, no watering needed, very little weeding needed, improved ecosystem, and it will look a lot nicer. And very little long-term effort on your part.
I’d do pollinators and native plants, bit of anarchy gardening
Mulch and native shade friendly shrubs and plants.
Giant rock ring flower bed. Fill it with hostas, astilbe, Japanese forest grass, bleeding hearts, columbine, etc.
Honestly throw clovers and wood chips and let the rest just show up.
Moss ad shade garden
Add shade-loving native sedges that get no more than 6 inches high. You won’t need to mow, and they might hold up to foot traffic better than other types of plants.
You probably don’t need to do sheet mulching because nothing is growing anyway. Plant shade loving natives and they should fill in the empty area nicely! You can look for a shade seed mix or use plugs. Plugs usually work better and it gives you more freedom to decide where to put your plants, but it’s a bigger upfront cost. Leave the leaves instead of raking and it will give you a natural mulch that will decompose and enrich the soil over time.
I can not tell what species of tree this is, but the type of tree will play a big role in what will grow well underneath. I would suggest googling the term “*type of tree* **guild**.” Most trees have a guild of companion plants that grow well together. Some oak trees discourage growth under their canopy.
To help remediate the soil, and not leave it bare and exposed, I would suggest wood chips for now until you can create a list of plants you wish to landscape with.
Ask your kids – it’s their play area. Maybe they would have some good ideas on what they’d like to see there.
Build a deck and put twinkle lights in the tree
Draw out a plan on paper, start with hard scape maybe a path that the kids can ride bikes on that lead to a destination,seating area or pond, then fill in with plants. Native ferns and large pots to change out for seasonal interest
Mulch would help a lot. If kids on it then spend the big bucks on special playground mulch that’s treated so it doesn’t splinter and is softer. It pads the ground so safe to fall on but don’t put that much down, 3-4″ is plenty. From here on out blow the tree leaves back underneath it on the bare ground.
Definitely ask the kids. Bet they wish there was a swing in the shade. The tree isn’t large enough but you could add a couple on a frame. Embellish and paint a basic wood framed one and it’s a nice feature. Could lay out a border of stepping stones, logs, log slices and such as an informal border between grass and mulch that’s a challenge path. Perfect spot for a sandbox on a hot day, keep covered with a safe lid to keep out rain, leaves and cats.
Try researching for plants deer don’t like. Walk the neighborhood looking for unchomped plants that thrive in deep shade to plant to the north of the tree but you can plant things that like sun to the south side as only time that will be shaded is midsummer. Then protect from dogs, kids and deer by surrounding with a wire cage until they have established and are less likely to get trampled. I’d plant 2-3 small shrubs in groups rather than try to blanket the space with a full garden and place them nearer the drip line than the trunk. If fireflies are native to your region maybe they’ll come live with you if they’ve got leaf litter and areas that don’t get trampled.
I must be missing something.
You know what lawns are really good at? Foot traffic, with ‘unappealing to wildlife’ as a close second.
That sounds *perfect* for this scenario. Kids are high foot traffic, and dogs can be (depending on the dog and their outside activities). So hear me out, give them what will fit their needs – grass (and clover) and let them play. Pick the grass closest to being native in your place (native blue sage?) and let it grow ‘wild’ in accent areas (eg, in a circle around the tree).
If the dirt is super compacted, throw down some cover crop, put gardening fabric over it, then cut it when it’s knee high in a month or two. Then sow whatever grass/clover mix and let your kids enjoy the space (and you enjoy not having to hose off the mud when they play outside).
Put some dichondra seeds down
A shade garden with tons of fuchsias and hydrangeas.
Get the soil tested. It might be excessively low pH (acidic) to the point that even if you did make it less compacted and whatever others suggested, that not much may grow/thrive without an application of lime.
Beautiful deer-resistant shade plants: Ferns (so many kinds!), shade-tolerant sedges like Pennsylvania sedge, bottlebrush grass, asters like New England aster, heuchera, foamflowers and columbines for perennials. Northern Spicebush and Buttonbush for shrubs. These are all native to the continental US.
The area looks moist and has poor sunlight. I will try with Irish moss or Scotch moss for ground cover, they tolerate light foot traffic.
I would consider putting a patch of ferns and spring ephemerals to help cheer up the spot. It doesn’t have to cover the whole area if you want to leave areas for the kids and the dogs to run around but it will draw the eye to something that will be lush and beautiful most of the year.
People won’t like this but have you considered removing the tree? Long term project but remove tree, open up to the sunshine. Once you have the stump ground, you can rejuvenate the soil and add amendments. Then create some wide gravel or wood chip areas for the kids and doggos. Add tons of shrubs and flowers around the paths/ open areas and then you’ll have lots to look at from your sunroom.
I’d throw down some clover and call it a day
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A swing or a table or something. Maybe a grill and some lights. A nice shaded area to hang out.
For plants See what is native to your area that can tolerate shade. For the area though I would make it into a really good sitting area
section it off into various parcels with bricks or the like, make a nice meandering path through them. Build a watering/sprinkler system to the parcels and not to the dirt, grow some nice flowering bushes/plants in the parcels and walk around the paths and enjoy them.
Id enjoy not needing to mow twice a week
Packera aurea
Horseshoe pit or bocce campo.
I guess it depends on how old your kids (and dog) are but I’d turn that nice shaded space into a play area for them. You can Google back yard play areas by their age and build sport, art, and activity areas together and a shade garden, obstacle course etc that is also dog friendly. You can have a section away from everything just for the dog to do his business.
If you get winters with a lot of snow you want the permanent structures to be accessible in winter
Is it shaded the entire day or just for certain hours? How much sun it gets depends on what you could plant
OP appears to have a Hackberry tree. Everything below it and downwind of it will be covered in sticky aphid sugarpoop (AKA “Honeydew”) followed by black sooty mold.