which maple???

species columbine seems to work for mom and dad .. its a self sowing biennial.. and maybe it just dies.. before the maple can kill it ... lol ...

the problem with maple.. is that as soon as you dig a hole .. you sever the roots .. and the trees reaction is to regenerate feeder roots.. wait for it.. IN THE HOLE YOU DUG ... so long term.. it will strangle everything that is planted there..

hence the suggestion that your get plants that re-seed themselves .. w/o the digging..

rose champion also comes to mind ...

the other tricks are.. never throw fert in a hole ...or the tree will go get it.. broadcast if you must ...

and NEVER water only the hole ... broadcast all water.. over the hole bed ...

make any sense???

ken

ps: and if its a norway ... just put mulch down .. and put in a bench or hammock .. and give up your dreams of growing things under it ...

It's difficult to grow things under maple trees, but it does depend on the species of maple. The canopy of Norway (Acer platanoides) is very dense, and their roots are aggressive and allelopathic and will inhibit the growth of all but the most vigorous plants. Silver maples (Acer saccharinum) have extremely thirsty aggressive roots that will invade ANYTHING wet in its root zone, especially the plantings you are babying and watering. Sugar maples (Acer saccharum) have better behaved roots, BUT they are very sensitive to root disturbance and damaging their roots is not recommended. I dunno about other species of maples.

Vinca minor and orange ditch lilies are holding their own under my big Silver and Norway (this last Norway I SO want gone, but I've already removed 4 big ones and spent a pretty penny on tree work).

It's taken me over 15 years to solve the dilemma, but my successful
underplantings beneath two silver maples are: Nandina domestica,
a few of the smaller hemerocallis, berberis, epimedium, vinca minor,
gallium, stylophorum, aegopodium , and, surprisingly, a hydrangea
quercifolia 'Pee Wee' and an abelia 'Edward Goucher'. Ken's advice
about NOT fertilizing is dead accurate. . .ditto about general watering,
rather than the specific plant you've added.

Carl

I've tried all sorts of plants underneath my maple over the years. The sweet woodruff did well for a few years, then petered out. What I'm left with now is an aegopodium and...moss. The moss just started growing all by itself, and it looks nice and green and soft, so I've encouraged it.

Sorry, I didn't mean aegopodium in my previous post--what I have is epimedium, or bishop's hat.

I had no idea maples were so problematic!

I'm about to undertake a planting under a red Japanese maple I inherited from my house's previous owners - are there similar problems with this variety? It's a small tree, about 8-9 feet tall.

It's on the shady side of the house and I was planning on a combination of Christmas ferns, celandine poppy and columbine underneath.

Will that work or should I re-evaluate?

I have Maples all around my property. Both the Silver Maples and a variety I haven't identified, that has a more rounded top. Also one of those burgundy leaved varieties. They are all difficult to grow very much under the drip line. Shrubs in particular have a hard time too near the trunk. The one shrub that seems undeterred under the dripline has been a Cornus racemosa.

A few perennials seem to do fairly well. Epimediums, European Ginger, Solomon's Seal. I have been surprised to see Agastache Honey Bee Blue, and Honesty reseed very well under the tree. Vinca, violas and crocus have no problems.

I am still trying a few other things, but the jury is still out on those.

You could put in small spring bulbs which will flower before the canopy closes over.

i had a bloodgood JM .. that had a fibrous surface mat of roots.. that barely allowed me to put a shovel into it ..

it was 8 to 12 feet tall ..

ken

hey.. johnny jump ups grow ANYWHERE ..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

As an experiment this spring I am going to try a couple of corydalis lutea right under our 15 foot maple.

I have ajuga, violets, gloriosa daisies (rudbeckia hirta), French strawberries, coral bells, spiderwort, and a half dozen smallish hostas under my big old Crimson King maple. Also within root reach are five big nandina domestica, a 20 yr old forsythia, two crape myrtles and a pair of old mahonias. To be fair, the hostas are close to the trunk, between the support roots, where there aren't many feeder roots for competition so they do fine.

My in-law has a 30+ year old silver maple. What appears to be growing underneath:

Vinca Minor
Lilies of the Valley
Siberian Squill

Further away from the tree but still within the canopy

Hyacinth bulbs (recently planted, so who knows if it will work).
Osterich Fern (from last year).
Columbine (from last year).

Paul

I've had a similar problem that I solved by having my husband make a large (3'x6') planter. You could make a nice retreat by mulching out the area, add planters, even for your hostas, some chairs, stepping stones. Rather than fighting with the area, make lemonade from lemons.

this is bad information

My largest Bloodgood has horrific surface roots and I have NOTHING growing under it...about a 10x10 area with no weeds or plants...just a little compost that I throw on it and leftover leaves and it looks fine...but my garden is a woodland and very natural...not manicured

@ amgy1 - which information is bad?

I've not had luck at all. Epimedium has done okay in a few spots, one hosta keeps coming back and looks okay. A Kerria I planted about 6ft from the trunk is struggling. A Rhododendron grew a little but is not making the progress it should, same with a Holly that has been the same size for the past 3 years and that is out by the drip line. But to be fair it is also near the roots of a Spruce tree.

Clethra 'Humminging Bird' has done well and does spread. I have it out by the drip line and it seems to be performing the way that it should. The Vinca in the front does very well some epimediums poke up through that and crocus before the vinca leafs out. I tried Cimicifuga and it does okay but underperforms. Honesty still does reseed in those areas, but the Agastache that was reseeding there was stunted and didn't flower, so that is really of no use and will be treated as a weed at this point.

I'm wondering if those who posted on the thread 3 years ago have any updates about how their plants are doing under their trees?

The degree of success one will have depends heavily on the type of maple - not all maples have equally difficult roots to work around. And not all maples will tolerate disruption in their root zone equally as well.

Ideally, if one wants to underplant any type of tree, it should be done at the same time as the tree is planted. This allows any accompanying plants to establish successfully before the tree's roots begin to be a problem. And it always a good idea to select plants that are pretty drought tolerant once established, as any tree's roots will seek out moist soil and hog the moisture. If the tree is already well established, I'd locate any plants no closer to the tree than the dripline unless a shallow rooted, low growing groundcover.

So pretty 'sherry'. The shades of green and various textures with that pop of color from the geraniums has made for a wonderful garden; and with little water to be added...a bonus. Thanks for the picture.

sherrygirl - nice garden...did u plant the tree & everything under it when the tree was young? My maple is at least 30 yrs old...nothing under it when I came(2005) & nothing there now...

The obvious answer is Spring Ephemerals...daffodils, Virginia Bluebells, etc. They will do their thing before the maple leafs out.

What has worked for me under my swamp maple (acer rubrum)- big root geranium (macrorrohizum), epimedium, geranium sanguinium, Canadian ginger (asarum canadense) and on the outer reaches so there is some sunlight -nepeta 'Walkers Low' and verbena bonnarensis - which re-seeds prolifically and must be thinned.

the garden was in place first for a few years and then the Japanese maple was added, the maple was small. I removed a heuchera near the base of this tree two years ago because it was being overgrown by the hostas near it. I encountered some tree roots at that time. I've done some transplanting about 6-8 feet away from the trunk last spring and did not encounter any roots. Maybe I've just been lucky and picked the perfect spot and time. I understand people have had problems under these conditions, but don't like being told you can't do something.

I have one of those "root monster maples" in my back yard that I have read time and again you can't grow anything under. I have Autumn Bride heuchera, hosta, porcelain vine, dead nettle and a small evergreen growing in the shade of this tree. I don't dig or transplant in the area any more because of the roots but this area has looked really nice for more years that I can count.

sherry

Here is the photo for the post above. You can see the trunk of the tree in the background. Nothing is impossible!

Sherry - I've never tried to plant by this old maple ...had so much work everywhere else it was last on the list...have a huge patch of pachysandra that should go & I thought I could plug some pieces under there...yours looks nice

It certainly does look great Sherry! I agree, I don't like the idea of being told something is impossible, challenging perhaps but not impossible lol! You have proven that plants and gardeners can overcome less than ideal conditions. Your plants are not hanging on by a thread, they are thriving. Kudos to you!

felisar (z5) Yes, the Geranium macrorrhizum, Epimedium and Asarum canadense are great performers under Maples. I grow them under an immense Acer saccharum (Sugar maple).

I also grow Polygonatum (Solomon's Seal) under it. Great plant(s) known for being able to adapt to dry shade. Phlox stolonifera performs very well also. Vinca took a while to establish but now needs to be controlled just like the Ajuga. Many other plants grow there but with less success.

I had Actaea rubra (native here) seed in and it is deliriously happy growing under the Maple.

I planted euphorbia amygdaloides (wood spurge) under my red maple and it's thriving! Spreading around the tree each year with gusto. Foam flower is doing ok as well.

i built a bed around it.

I have a Norway maple which I hate because NOTHING grows under its dense shade or can outcompete its roots. If it wasn't >50ft tall, I would chop it down.

Between the roots from our Norway Maple and an ever growing deer population we have been successful with Epimedium and Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa family).

Has anyone been successful with hellebores under maple trees? Hellebores often grow under deciduous trees in their native habitat, so I'm guessing they will do okay. I'm trying them this year.

I had a Sienna Glenn maple moved in to our front yard with a tree spade after our house was built. I’ve tried hydrangeas, hostas, echinacea, sedum, speedwell, and black eyed Susan. The only thing that’s done the best so far is the sedum. But it’s planted furthest away from the trunk and surface roots. Just today I took out the black eyed Susan that didn’t come back and replaced it with tall phlox. I’m guessing with root competition this too will fail. I’m regretting designing a kidney shaped island around this maple because it’s just not working great. The tree has fungus growing on the trunk which I treated for the first time this year and it’s starting to crumble off. Hopefully that’ll help with all the leaf spot I’m getting on the tree and plants below. I’ve also got bugs eating my leaves! Never ending....

I have Autumn Bride heuchera planted at the base of 35yo maple. The tree is limbed up so the plants get early morning sun and some rain. I never supplement water on the heuchera. Actually I’m surprised they thrive, the roots are sooo big around them. This heuchera blooms in August. It’s my experience here that any plant that flowers late in the season does great all of the time in less than ideal circumstances.

Sherry

I know this is a few months old, but, Noseometer, I have a 30ft+ maple that I have trouble growing anything under. One of the few things I’ve left in place are my hellebores, as they don’t seem to have any trouble. I planted a tree peony in the same area last year which is looking promising, as well.

I have given up planting much under my sugar maple, but last season I had success with burying pots of annuals. That seemed to give them the growing room they needed.