Re: Underplanting Gary Oak


Tony & Moira Ryan, Wainuiomata New Zealand
Climate ( US Zone 9). Annual averages:-
Minimum -2°C; Maximum 28°C Rainfall 2000mm
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Hello
I have written before about this oak tree. And have received much valuable information from this list. Unfortunately, my computer lost its hard drive, so I have lost all this information.
I am now ready to deal with the space underneath this oak - it is a huge tree which is surrounded by concrete and an unfriendly neighbor to the west, and a small area of weedy pulmonaria (evil taproots) that I would like to replace with a more friendly groundcover. 


Hi Anna
Hoe immensely inconvenient for you. I asssume there must be some sort of lit archive you could consult, but as it hapens I do still have copies of some of the useful replies you received and send them herewith 

"under the camellias I have  Evansia irises like I japonica and I
confusa, some Pacific Coast hybrid iris,  begonias like B. grandis,
and B. taliense, some of the new Chinese Epimediums, several
Arisaemas, Erythroniums, Trilliums, and snowdrops."
"Under my camellias, which are, as you suspect, very shallow rooted, I have gardenias, Daphne odora marginata, Carex aurea, lace cap hydrangea (variagated), Pieris japonica, Tuberose, and each year I plant the variously colored coleus as an annual for color. I also have had Heuchera, which didn't pop out enough, so I pulled it. There is also some Liriope. As you can tell from my list, it is shady below my camellias, though it gets sun in the summer until about 1:00 pm" 

There is an old fuchsia hybrid that is more or less under the mature
camellias in my yard. It seems relatively happy.
A few more which could be used include toad Lilies (Tricyrtis), Cyclamen hederefolium, 
bleeding heart and Corydalis  and for summer colour Impatiens.
This may not be all the suggestions that were made, but I think it gives a pretty good list to work from. 

Moira
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