Pine trees! Need help what to plant!

[Pawsinthedirt]

Hello,

I have a fence that is lined with pine trees and am looking to add a garden bed under them - this is in zone 6B and gets little sun in that area. Any suggestions welcome!

 

[Twigs]

Help us understand, Little sun? 2hrs/less than 6hrs? Morning sun/late evening?

 

[Pawsinthedirt]

I would say mostly shaded due to the pine trees - some parts get a little sun maybe less than 2 hours in the morning

 

[Toddz]

With 2 hours or less of sun, your only option will be shade loving plants but I don't know of any fruits or vegetables that you could grow.

 

[Pawsinthedirt]

Looking to plant any type of plant/flower that will tolerate the pine trees

 

[Toddz]

Looking to plant any type of plant/flower that will tolerate the pine trees

Hostas are an obvious choice but I'm not well versed in shade plants.

I'm not sure the pine trees will have any effect on anything else you grow. It takes a lot of pine needles to affect the ph of the soil but you can always do a ph test to find out. I don't know of any plants that are affected by pine tree diseases, there are some fruits that are.

 

[Pawsinthedirt]

Great thank you! I will definitely do a soil test to check - there was loads of pine needles on the ground but we had a major clean up today.

 

[YumYum]

One way to find out is go to Lowes and look at their plants. The tags are color coded to the amount of sunlight they need. I think a blue tag is shade and yellow is full sun and maybe orange for part sun, something like that. They will only carry the flower plants that are blooming at the time of sale so if you want something to bloom in Summer then you will have to look in Summer time.

Another thing to consider is the arc of the sun. In late Summer it will be more overhead so the pine trees shade wont reach out as far north as it would in very early Spring.

 

[Tetters]

Sorry @Pawsinthedirt, but I think it would be a waste of time trying to grow anything there. Not only will pine trees take all the moisture and goodness out of the soil, but they will inhibit growth to such a degree that nothing will thrive. I can think of lots of shade loving plants, but none for that particular area.

 

[Toddz]

Sorry @Pawsinthedirt, but I think it would be a waste of time trying to grow anything there. Not only will pine trees take all the moisture and goodness out of the soil, but they will inhibit growth to such a degree that nothing will thrive. I can think of lots of shade loving plants, but none for that particular area.

I have grown many things at the edge of 30 year old blue spruce plus I have lots of weeds that grow right up to the trunk of it.

 

[Pawsinthedirt]

Sorry @Pawsinthedirt, but I think it would be a waste of time trying to grow anything there. Not only will pine trees take all the moisture and goodness out of the soil, but they will inhibit growth to such a degree that nothing will thrive. I can think of lots of shade loving plants, but none for that particular area.

That’s what I’ve been worried about

 

[Pawsinthedirt]

I have grown many things at the edge of 30 year old blue spruce plus I have lots of weeds that grow right up to the trunk of it.

This sounds promising!!!

 

[Pawsinthedirt]

One way to find out is go to Lowes and look at their plants. The tags are color coded to the amount of sunlight they need. I think a blue tag is shade and yellow is full sun and maybe orange for part sun, something like that. They will only carry the flower plants that are blooming at the time of sale so if you want something to bloom in Summer then you will have to look in Summer time.

Another thing to consider is the arc of the sun. In late Summer it will be more overhead so the pine trees shade wont reach out as far north as it would in very early Spring.

Awesome thank you! I will definitely keep my eyes open!

 

[Tetters]

It would be really interesting all round if you would post your results here for us Paws - please.

 

[Pawsinthedirt]

I will absolutely! I’ve got to take some before and after photos and I’ll post em in here too - thanks everyone