Re: now planting under Silver Maples

In a message dated 9/15/99 6:30:21 PM Central Daylight Time,
jgadney@EMAIL.MSN.COM writes:

<< Cindy, you've enjoyed good luck under silver maples. It's totally different
 from what I and many others in this area experience. More power to you, and
 your plants!

 John Adney
  >>

Hi John,  I figure plants must grow under these trees in nature and so I'll
try them and see which can compete and which can't.  The wild ginger and
sweet woodruff are such vigorous plants elsewhere that I figured if anything
could, they could.  I also planted some Trycirtis ohiensis under them too,
cuz I heard they spread fast, but they haven't yet.

Now the hostas I have under these trees are not increasing rapidly, except
the Hosta 'Erromena's that are planted right up next to the trunk.   I assume
there is less competition near the trunk compared to out over the zillion or
so little feeder roots.

I also have my compost pile back there and when I was digging out some of it
with a spading fork to mulch a new garden, I noticed some areas were filled
with tangles of little reddish colored roots.  Are these from the Silver
Maples?  If I  turned the compost pile more frequently than every couple
months, would it help keep the roots out??  They make it harder to dig out
the compost.

All that said, maybe it's just that my expectations are not very high for
under those trees???  It is a more natural area of my gardens.

Cindy Johnson
White Bear Lake, MN
zone 4a
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