Re: planting under Calif. live oak
Thanks, Sean - Your comments about the Sunset list are extremely helpful. I too
thought the list seemed designed for shopping at, say, Home Depot or Kmart
rather than my local specialty nurseries. I feel the same way about acanthus as
I do about hypericum - objectively, lovely plants; subjectively, garden sick-up.
I remember once on medit-plants a thread about designing a garden of thugs. What
do you suppose would be the most repulsive garden you could design? Maybe I'd do
the whole thing in hypericum, tastefully outlined in...yes, I think impatiens
would set it off nicely.
Back to the tree - I've already put a couple ceanothus griseus, a carpenteria,
and some erigeron out by the sunnier edges. We'll see. I was especially glad to
see plants on your list that grow in deep shade and dry, heavy soils. It's a miracle!
So, come the new year, I'm taking your list and going plant hunting. Thank you
so much for taking the trouble to answer so thoroughly in this busy season.
Kay Dreher,
Berkeley, California"Sean A. O'Hara" wrote:
>
> At 10:13 AM 12/16/99 -0800, John Dreher wrote:
> >Here's a list of plants for growing under oaks (should need no supplemental
> >summer water) published by Sunset Magazine in its Nov. 1999 issue:
> >
> >Salvia greggii << your garden is possibly too shady
> >Iris douglasiana << good, but still might like more sun
> >Nepeta faassenii << best with more sun
> >Ceanothus griseus horizontalis <<both Ceanothus like more sun
> >Ceanothus rigidus
> >Heuchera << very good, use species types, newer nybrids often thirsty
> >Narcissus << if enough sun in late winter/spring
> >Centranthus ruber << blooms best in sun
> >Rosmarinus officinalis << can take shade if not overly humid
> >Erigeron karvinskianus << tends to get weedy and dries up in heat!
> >Sasa veitchii << can be good - very oriental in feeling
> >Festuca ovina << will tolerate shade - best in sun
> >Senecio cineraria << yuck! use shade tolerant Artemesia stelleriana instead
> >Pennisetum alopecuroides << better in sun
> >Hypericum calycinum << your friends might die of boredom!
> >
> >Anyone have comments on this list? I too have a live oak that takes up
> >most of my back yard, quite beautifully, but it seems to provide more
> >shade than I would guess some of the above plants would need. Of course,
> >the two story tall apartment building just over the property line to the
> >south could have something to do with the shadiness....
> >
> >Kay Dreher
> >Berkeley, California
>
> Kay -
>
> I've added some comments to the above list from Sunset. It is a shame that
> these folks must always reduce planting lists to the most common and leas
> interesting plants available! Most of the above might not be a good risk
> in your heavy shade either. Here are some worth considering for dry shade
> under oaks, with only once-a-month irrigation during dry months
> (recommended for plantings under normally summer dry oaks):
>
> Acanthus mollis and spinosus - Bear's Breech - the quintessential
> Mediterranean plant, ubiquitous and perhaps too common, but I find that
> well-placed clumps with no or a very low groundcover under oaks are quite
> dramatic, showing off their classic form perfectly!
>
> Aspidistra elatior - Cast Iron Plant - a victorian classic, seldom seen
> these days, but still handsome in shade, given room to arch its graceful
> leaves outward; some forms have cream-white stripes or dots and are much
> prized by the Japanese.
>
> Capenteria californica, Tree Anemone - shrub - we've talked about this one
> recently, and there is a page on information on the web-site.
>
> Cymbalaria muralis - Kenilworth Ivy - a delicate little tangle of a vine,
> too charming for words, with tiny ivy-shaped, cress-like leaves and
> singlely borne snapdragon flowers; prefers to grow in stone walls or in odd
> crevices, which it will cover completely during the cool, wet months,
> drying up completely in summer heat.
>
> Holodiscus discolor, Ocean Spray - shrub - a nice native that is very
> underutilized, with a handsome, arching, Spirea-like habit and
> creamy-yellow fluffy, fragrant, flower clusters which dry an attractive tan.
>
> Nephrolepis cordifolia - Southern Sword Fern - something that haunts older
> and neglected gardens, as it is thrives on neglect and spreads to make a
> dramatic groundcover; the upright feather fronds are yellow green and to my
> eye, very handsome; best if allowed to fill an area by itself as it will
> overrun all neighbors.
>
> Pericallis cuneata (syn Senecio hybridus or S. cuneata) - Florist's
> Cinerarea - another old plant which has become relatively unknown by
> today's gardeners, growing from self-sown seed with the winter rains and
> producing brilliant pink, purple, blue, violet, magenta daisies in deep
> shape, and heavy soils; try and find someone who have them naturalized in
> their gardens, or let the horticultural types not available revert to a
> more graceful form over time; dies in summer drought to return with the rains.
>
> Polystichum munitum - Western Sword Fern - a Calif. native from redwood
> country, where it makes impressive clumps in the dark understory of those
> majestice trees; clumps can reach 4-6ft wide if very happy; enjoys dense
> mulch/litter.
>
> Ribes viburnifolium - Catalina Incense - groundcover shrub - spreading and
> rooting as it goes, the roundish dark green leaves on wine stems are
> attactive, but in rainy weather they are wonderfully fragrant; small
> clusters of pale rose flowers followed by red berries; cut out upright
> shoots to make a denser groundcover.
>
> Ruscus hypoglossum - Butcher's Broom - an interesting evergreen shrubby
> perennial, with handsome green 'leaves' (actually flattened stems) that
> have a curious little flower growing right in their centers!
>
> Sarcoccoca ruscifolia, Fragrant Sarcoccoca - low shrub - small, dark green
> evergreen leaves and tiny white, intensely fragrant flowers; loves deep
> shade and heavy soils.
>
> Symphoricarpos - Snowberry - low, native Calif. shrubs with thin, roundish,
> soft green leaves, making a light tangle over the ground; insignificant
> flowers produce handsome round white, or pale pink berries; there are
> various species and clones, some even with variegated foliage.
>
> There are certainly other candidates as well. Most of those plants which
> will grow without supplimental irrigation, or with only once a month
> watering (the maximum suggested by summer dry oak experts) are worth
> considering. For a handy little guide to growing plants under oaks, see
> Compatible Plants Under and Around Oaks, by the California Oak Foundation -
> see the main Medit-Plants web page (http://www.support.net/medit-Plants/)
> and enter 'california oak foundation' in the search box. Apparently, when
> Sunset writers were researching their article, they made several calls to
> the Calif. Oak Foundation for information. This group also has lots of
> interesting information about how to create land trusts that protect oaks
> for those who inherit California lands and who would normally have to sell
> the land to pay inheritance tax!!
>
> Regards,
> Sean O.
>
> 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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