Re: Schinus molle - California Pepper, the scum

Carol, I grow lots of different plants in the shade and litter of the pepper tree.  I too love it despite its warts.  Allelopathy has not been a problem at all.  

The biggest problem, as you suggest, is the litter.  Large plants with large, succulent leaves like agaves and aloes fare best though I have to brush out the centers every so often.  Fine leaved plants like the Australian natives (even large ones) and low growing ground covers simply get buried in the litter.  

Thevetia thevetiodes does well.  The litter seems to slide right off the Thevetia foliage.  Larger salvias are fine.  Pholmis does well too as do the larger native grasses.  

I recently heard about a woman who uses a big shop vac to vacuum the litter out of plants beneath her pepper tree!

Nan (in San Diego County)

On Dec 31, 2006, at 10:56 AM, Carol Joynson wrote:

I know I should rip it out. Evil incarnate etc., etc.  But 1) it's huge and provides wonderful privacy on my hillside, 2) can't afford to (do you know what they charge!??!! - worth it considering the location, but not in my budget).
 
So - it's sitting in the middle of my lotline where the native hedgerow is going in.  I would like to get as close to it as possible, maybe some understory.  Have heard the tales of alleopathy, have searched for details on web, nothing except some docs that suggest the real problem is suffocation: the tree puts out massive amounts of litter.  Even found a piece suggesting they would make great farmland reclamation trees in Africa: low water requirement, enormous biomass contribution.
 
Does anyone have anything  specific on what sort of California native (or other medit type, but this is for the birds and beasts) could possibly grow in the understory of a Schinus molle?  I'm more than willing to provide a weekly shake-out for the litter problem until the undergrowth is high enough (and I'm rich enough) to remove or severely cut-back the big tree.
 
Thanks,
Carol
Eagle Rock (Los Angeles, NE)
 
``Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity'' - Hanlon's Razor

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