what nonsense....

there is no TREE... of which conifers are... that can not out compete a perennial ..

if it does... its bad plant.. or bad planting in the first part ...

the pungens roots ... at 6 feet tall .. are probably working their way past 10 feet out ...

now.. if you are digging under there all the time.. maybe you could down it down a bit ... but i doubt it ,,...

ken

to clarify ...

as with grass and weeds.. choking a new planting.. and completing for water ... i would hesitate to plant large perennials too close to a transplant within the first year or two ...

once free range... and over transplant shock ... i dont see any reason you cant landscape around a conifer ... or under it.. etc ... presuming you arent under there.. digging holes all the time to move other plants in and out.. and perhaps cutting tree roots...

conifers are trees.. and the thought ... that you cant plant things under trees.. is just not in my hosta world ...

ken

Thanks for the help Ken. I am very careful and not planting things that I have to dig out around the tree roots. I have planted things that I can simply cut back and let die as the tree grows so I wont be digging around the trees roots. The tree is my first priority!

I underplanted my Hemlocks with mostly ferns, some Pieris, Inkberry, Skimmia j. ... No problems.

I utilize tall perennials around several of my conifers as an assisting micro-climate to keep the roots cooler in mid-summer. When the perennials die back in the fall, the conifer comes out in full view.

Bee Balm especially works well for this and has great flower power too. Plant away.

mark

Theoretically might be true, but in practice I can't see any small perennials making a real difference for a grown tree growing in a climate it is well adapted to. If it did "stunt" the trees growth...would you really care if it took 30% longer to get from 6 feet to 7 feet? If you are concerned, dump a little fertilizer there, or plant nitrogen fixing legumes. The only possible issue is competition for nutrients. Just be careful not to plant vines.

A bigger concern would be the acidic soil created by the pine needles killing the perennials.

This post was edited by edlincoln on Thu, Jul 25, 13 at 13:25