Dry shade under conifers - a challenging spot!

[muckdiva]

Does anyone know of plants which might grow in a long raised bed at the back of our house. It is flanked by a row of very tall conifers on one side and our house on the other. I have used a membrane beneath the compost and topsoil mix to try and stop the conifer roots taking over but it's still a challenge to find anything that will grow without a lot of attention. It's a dry spot because unless our neighbours' conifers are trimmed back hard, very little rain actually reaches the ground. Success stories have been Euphorbia (looking great at the moment), cyclamen and violets. I had this vision of ferns and stuff, but too dry for them. Everything else has fallen by the wayside, apart from ground Ivy which threatens to take over unless controlled. Maybe I should just give up and let it??

[Protea]

I have a similar situation - neighbours have a massive leylandi hedge along one side of our garden and the ground is bone dry nearly all year round!

I curently have a passiflora climbing amongst the conifer and its doing really well (too well in fact - its massive!), ground ivy at the back of the border more as ground cover, a euphorbia (in flower at the mo), rosemary, lavender, and some ground cover plants - the name escapes me at the moment but i remember my parents had it in their raised beds before they renovated their patio - its got small leaves and pretty blue flowers in late spring. I was also going to try some perenial geraniums - don't know how they will feel about it - it does get quite a bit of sun in the summer as its east facing.

[Snadger]

Vinca minor and Hedera will give ground cover!

[TPeers]

Hi Snadger,

vinca minor being the pretty blue flower mentioned before? My Mum has it scrambling all over a rock pile at the bottom of the garden.

If any garden in the UK is free of the dreaded Hedera in its many invasve forms all I can say is LUCKY THEM!

[SueA]

Hi Muckdiva, how about hellebores, anemones blanda/nemerosa,ferns do O.K. under my large conifer tree as do bluebells & snowdrops & even foxgloves.

[berksmike]

I think lit dynamite is probably the best thing to plant under some conifers but i think a lot of english natives deal very well in places like this.

Ferns, foxgloves, perrenial geraniums, bulbs and periwinkles i think would cope.

Mike

[nick the grief]

I have to agree. We (I) planted 5 at the end of the garden when we first moved in to screen the school off but there a re only two left and I have severley pruned the bottom branches off now. I may even think about cutting them off and doing away with them as the hedge behind has matured enough to cover now (hawthorn, bramble & Holly ) I may well replace these with some native shrubs to for a wildlife patch.