Is what you have in mind a layered effect with smaller trees like dogwoods and big shrubs like azaleas and oakleaf hydranges and gardenias like you usually see in the south?

{{gwi:11442}}

It's not a good idea to dump dirt on top the soil under an existing tree, nor is it a good idea to dig down deep under the entire tree, cutting roots as you go. Plant a few things at a time, moving over when you hit a root. Pine roots tend to be great big things near the surface rather than a network of finer roots like an oak tree. Just plant between them.

{{gwi:11443}}

Gardens under pines are self mulching, pine straw just falls right down there.

My experience gardening under a big evergreen tree is a 15-year nightmare; I almost wish I'd never started. Mind you it's not a pine but a Chamaecyparis. But even so, I suspect some elements are common - having to water constantly in summer, which is probably not good for the tree; the soil level creeping upward as each year's natural mulch is deposited and burying plants as well as landscape materials, the extreme dryness creating good habitat for pests such as weevils and cutworms which reproduce and feed ecstatically, and the fact that you can't dig enough to plant big plants but when you plant them small they never grow because they can't seem to extract enough nutrients (and maybe water) from the acidic soil.

Big trees are lovely to have in many ways, but they are essentially thugs, and they don't respect the rights of people, buildings, or other plants.

After all these years of re-landscaping about every three years to try to accommodate the tree, I've settled on hardscaping that I can easily keep clear of debris, and containers for planting. I do have two small raised beds, with very limited success (they get infiltrated by tree roots within 2 years). If I had a bigger yard and could garden elsewhere, I'd just give up and let the tree have its base clear. (I haven't considered removal because the tree belongs to a neighbour in my case, but due to our increasingly windy climate and the fact that the tree leans lovingly toward my tiny house, the neighbour has actually agreed to remove it this year).

Having said all that, there are plants that might really thrive under a pine - cyclamen? - but for me, the lush shade garden I keep working towards remains elusive and if you can get close it's at the cost of serious labour. Even my ferns, and I've tried plenty, either don't thrive or eventually get smothered by the debris.

Thanks for the suggestions. I can't imagine why anyone would plant a pine tree in this space (the main corner on the front of the property) when they could have planted a beautiful tree that would have added to the value of the property, like a live oak or a pin oak, etc. They planted this tree in the 50's or 60's, so an oak would be fabulous by now. But, I have to work with what I've got, which is a 50+ foot stick coming out of the ground. I guess I'll try to start out with some small perennials so I don't have to dig out too much dirt around existing roots, and then I can just ammend as I go, rather than try to add dirts that can smother the tree roots.

Thanks, Annie

Here's a link to what Walter Reeves of Atlanta has to say about planting under pine trees with a list of some plants that he recommends.

Some of the prettiest southern gardens under pines that I've seen on the web feature daylilies. Bell's Gardens is one, there are others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Walter Reeves on