Planting under Quercus ilex
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Planting under Quercus ilex
- From: S* A* O*
- Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 11:23:27 -0800
Folks -
Below is a communication from my friend, Heidi Gildemeister, President of
the Mediterranean Garden Society, who gardens on a Mediterranean island
in Spain. I thought you would be interested in her contributions to
this discussion.
It just so happens I have a lot of interesting information about oaks
which I will have to send to you on Mon/Tues of next week. Oaks in our
gardens are certainly worth any amount to trouble we may have to go to
to keep them healthy, and those I know who do garden appropriately
around oaks have found that this method of gardening suits them just
fine since it is so much less labor/water intensive than what they did
before!!
More later . . .
Regards,
Sean O.
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Hi Seán,
PLANTING UNDER OAK. Where oak are at stake, the issue encourages me to
share my personal experience which may or may not apply to California.. I
garden in an open oak woodland in the Western Mediterranean (Holm Oak,
Quercus ilex) and, as done in Mediterranean climate regions, distinguish
between summer and winter water. Winter rain waters our ancient oak yearly,
yet not wanting to risk the giants' health, we do not ever water ourselves
beneath. 'Further out', beyond the dripline where a few oak roots still
reach, a plant in need may get a rare monthly summer watering, if drainage
is perfect.
To keep weeds at bay, we planted en masse, exploring the wide range of
drought-tolerant plants, yet watched for the plants' individual demands and
divided the area by zones :
Near the trunk:
Vinca difformis and Crassula multicava as a totally undemanding, quick
spreading groundcover in deepest shade.
For the same location, yet slower to expand : Arthropodium, Cyclamen
persicum, Fragaria chiloensis, Helleborus, Hemerocallis, Iris foetidissima,
I. japonica (syn. I. fimbriata), I. unguicularis (native in Moroccan oak
woods!), Liriope, Lonicera etrusca, Ophiopogon, Plectranthus arabicus,
Ruscus aculeatus and R. hypoglossum.
To the dripline and well away from the trunk:
Not all for deepest shade and some clipped low where required: Acanthus,
Agapanthus, Arbutus unedo, Bupleurum fruticosum, Buxus, Choisya ternata,
Clematis cirrhosa and C. flammula, Dodonaea, Escallonia, a few Hebe, Laurus
nobilis, Mespilus germanica, Myoporum, Myrsine africana, Myrtus communis,
Phillyrea (clipped low), Rhamnus alaternus, Rhaphiolepis;
Only where sun reaches: Chamaerops humilis (the small Mediterranean palm),
Eriocephalus africanus, Garrya elliptica, Griselinia lucida, Heteromeles
arbutifolia (we keep it at 2m height), Phylica ericoides, Pistacia
lentiscus. And we grow Zantedeschia aethiopica with winter rain and let it
die down in summer.
Beyond the rootzone with monthly summer water:
Abelia x grandiflora, Coprosma, Correa, Euonymus japonicus, Fatsia
japonica, Schefflera actinophylla, Spiraea.
Heidi Gildemeister, Spain
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You can find our more about Heidi, and her book. Mediterranean
gardening, at this URL:
http://www.support.net/medit-Plants/people/hgildeme.html
Sean A. O'Hara sean.ohara@groupmail.com
h o r t u l u s a p t u s 710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose' Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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Ask me about the worldwide Mediterranean gardening discussion group
