I have had good luck in shade with phlox. Mine is constantly being covered with leaves. I do NOT rake it. I use an electric leaf blower and it does a great job.

Have you looked into hard ground covers such as stone?

Jeff

Thanks Jeff. I wonder if phlox would need more sun, though? The creeping phlox I have loves to bake on my sunny slopes.

I know I'd have a lot more choices if I used the leaf blower instead of a rake, but I'm trying to avoid the noise :)

Believe me, I wonder if nice gravel could be the answer.

Gravel is tough to clean with a rake. I'm in the same boat you are with my Sweet Bay Magnolia. Sweet Woodruff is my next experiment.
-M

I think you should consider gravel - it can look very nice. Of course, when it gets clogged with dead leaves and such you can't rake it. You have to lift it all out by hand, hose it down and then replace it. If it's small sized gravel that's a protracted job and a nuisance.

But if you use big gravel (each piece at least the size of a big grapefruit) it makes the cleanup job a lot easier. You can even get rid of some debris that lodges between the stones by using a concentrated jet from a hosepipe.

Thanks for the ideas. I've been thinking of trying Leptinella squallida (aka Cotula). It's a cute ferny-like low, creeping groundcover that is growing nicely in a good amount of shade under a witch hazel ....and I've been able to rake it gently with a little shrub rake. Has anyone had experience with it in deep, dry shade?

I'm not sure if it would work in zone 8 but look into
Lily of the Valley, it is dormant in winter here so it can be mowed down by the time leaves fall.

Pachy grows under my magnolia - I don't rake at all. The leaves seem to eventually disappear into it.

liriope/ mondo grass-- takes shade and can be raked.

woodland phlox can take shade, but probably not raking.

Thanks for some good ideas. Newjerseytea, I think the magnolia leaves would be a challenge for the pachysandra to "swallow up" -- the leaves are almost dinner-plate sized and tough, evergreen things that don't disintegrate for ages. I do have pachy under a dogwood tree, but wouldn't you know it, it has anthracnose -- so every fall, I put down bird netting to catch the leaves so they *won't* fall through to the ground!

The sweet woodruff is not a easy rake, but you can tear it out in handfuls and you wouldn't notice three days later. But you may have answered your own question with the netting post. Hmmm...

Yes, sweet woodruff is very forgiving. I guess the problem is that my magnolia leaves fall steadily 8 months of the year....bird netting over any ground cover wouldn't look too great next to the front door for so long of a time (I don't mind it under the dogwood for 3 weeks). And I have to be able to rake, and rake, and rake...for months on end. I'm just letting it be scraggily moss right now.

I have a similar problem on Vancouver Island with a large area of ground which becomes baked and cracked in summer from sun and conifer needles. I am on a well and need to be careful with water in summer. So I need a ground cover that is drought tolerant, beagle tolerant and conifer tolerant. Mission impossible?

When all else fails Ajuga may do.

Leptinella needs sun and moisture. Sweet woodruff is prone to a fungal blight in our area and needs more consistant moisture than the dry, rooty area under the magnolia would provide. And since it is herbaceous (dies back in winter), it allows weed development. I'd consider Herniaria glabra, which is also known by the non-elegant name of rupturewort. It is a low, mat-like, evergreen groundcover that is both shade and drought tolerant. It is rather uninspiring but very functional. I'd perhaps add something with additional height and interest, perhaps epimediums, from which you could manually remove what magnolia leaves may fall.

I was going to suggest epimedium also, between large flat flagstones. Mature magnolia is such a magnificent tree. Or one of the purple ajugas for faster growth. Why not make the area into a seating space with a bench and naybe a water fountain if it makes sense.

A word of warning based on experience and you may not have this problem in your area. We had a southern magnolia in our yard in Louisiana some years ago and planted a creeping vine underneath to combat the same problem (if memory serves it was jasmine). Anyway, it was so close around the base of the tree that the termites were given access to the tree. We managed to save it by calling in the experts, they had to dig out the damaged areas, fill the cavity with concrete and treat the ground around it (it saved the tree and didn't look too bad after a while). So, just be careful if you have termites in your area. They are all over Louisiana.

English Ivy will do well over time and can be raked.

Blue Pacific conifer does well as a ground cover in drier environments and can be raked with a plastic rake. I used this on a north facing slope below red oak and it did very well. Recieved 2-3 hours of morning sun then shade rest of hot summer days and 60% sun during winter after leaf drop. Blue Pacific needs dry root zone in my experience. If you run a sprinkler system regularly, it won't do as well.

I tried a jasmine groundcover and it did not do very well in the extreme dry and shady environment. It lived but did not flourish.

Another thing I tried under my magnolia was pine nuggets mulch. to me, it looks better than pebbles or rocks. It can be easily raked.

We have 20+ oak trees over our back yard area. I wanted to replace the yard with a decorative pea sized colorful rock that was native to our area so I could blow the leave and acorns away. The problem with the rock alone is it got everywhere when you tried to use the blower or when the dogs ran through it. I solved this problem by working sand into the rock with a rake and then a spray from a garden hose. After it dried overnight, I spayed an acrylic binder from Pacific Adhesives and now the rock stays in place. It has been 4 years now and still holding up good. I can blow leaves, acorns and dust with a high powered backpack blower just like I do my concrete.

OMG, you mean that you glued your yard down? I'm sure that I'm misinterpreting that post.

Not the yard. I used the adhesive as a binder for the small rock only to bind with the sand. Water still penetrates but rocks stay in place. I first saw this done with decomposed granite walkways.

I have big dogs, they tore up my lawn so I'm looking for something that will last, my yard is small. Where did you use the rock at ? I like this idea.