My garden under a big pine

Ha! What you can't see directly in back of the pines is a big 'ol very out of control laurel hedge, now tree size! Our neighbors asked us to keep it when we put up the fence because it blocks the view from their windows to ours. They actually gave up a foot of land when we built the fence to keep that dang laurel!

Hi Pistil; a neighbor just gave me a bunch of nice ceramic pots. Wondering if you have any opinions on plants in your shade garden that would do well in containers? Not ready to put anything in the ground until next year probably, but thought I could at least get started!

I've got a Japanese laurel and some dead nettle (White Nancy) growing that I can take cuttings of, they will probably do okay in that spot in containers.

This message was edited Aug 22, 2015 1:52 PM

I have not done much with pots in shade. I have a Hosta 'Praying Hands' in a pot, it looks kind of pathetic. I made a conscious decision to avoid pots, due to the need for watering frequently. I do have some big planters, but they get sun. I suspect most every species in my shade garden might like a head start in a nice pot, and with our mild fall-winter-spring would be bigger, better transplants next year. The Japanese Laurel and White Nancy could really get themselves some growth and be ready for next year.

I'll do some research and keep you updated.

Pistil, it's great to see your updates. I especially appreciate your comments on groundcover. I didn't realize Angelina liked shade; I had her in mostly sun before. Right now I have asiatic lilies, columbine,polystichum ferns and digitalis going.

Lynnala, I have large pots under my dougfirs, and what has survived is large hostas, and ferns. And in a more average size pot that gets just a wee bit of light rosemary, believe it or not, and the heuchera struggles on in there too.

Thank you 13! I have lots of ferns on the property, so I know they will do well. I haven't got any hostas yet, glad to know that they do well in pots; I plan on getting a few. I'll give the heuchera a shot too, I've always loved them.

This message was edited Aug 26, 2015 10:22 AM

Spring 2016 Update.
Garden under pine is doing fine.

The lady ferns are surviving, not thriving.
Tellima grandiflora 'Forest Flame' surviving, not great but keeps going I will keep it.
Iris foetidissima var. lutea has settled in nicely, no blooms/seedpods yet.
Hosta 'Great Expectations' died out totally, too dry for Hostas.
Iris cristata 'Abbey's Violet' spreading, does not bloom much, slugs like it.
Epimedium pinnatum ssp colchicum thriving, clouds of yellow flowers
Hemerocallis fulva 'Flore pleno' doing great, maybe too great???
Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride' doing fine, always looks a bit thirsty, discheveled, should have planted closer together.
Geranium phaeum 'Samobor' looks dreadful, I should put it out of it's misery
Geranium phaeum 'Lily Lovell' looks bad, not as bad as 'Samobor'
Polypodium scouleri struggling
Digitalis lutea survived, I planted two more, one made it through winter. I want more.
Digitalis trojana never came back
Hellebore Winter Jewels strain, 'Golden Sunrise'. Thriving, I planted more this spring, from a sale.
Alstroemeria 'The Third Harmonic' This year has really taken off. I can't wait for the blooms.
Intermediate Bearded Iris 'Midsummer Nights Dream doing great, blooming well twice a year!
Bergenia 'Winterglow' added 2014 Struggling a bit, but does bloom some.
Euonymous fortunei 'kewensis' doing fine in a bad spot
Sedum 'Angelina' spreads like crazy, I plan removal. Never gets the orange color shown in photos., but would be a very useful solo groundcover for this type of place.
Erythronium 'Kondo' is doing just terrific, the dangly yellow blooms are exactly the same yellow as the Epimedium. Goes dormant in summer, minor slug damage only.

On the whole, the garden is doing fine. I do not bait for slugs or use other poisons, with the exception of the last two years I sprinkled Preen around. Not this year.. The last two years I tossed some slow-release fertilizer there, but not this year. I water, sometimes and not much so it is super dry in summer. The pine needles are a natural mulch, but some plants get kind of buried. The Epimedium allows the needles to filter through so always looks good.
Because of the dryness, shade, and pine needles, there are hardly any weeds. The ivy and Bindweed are gone. For low maintenance yardening, plant pine trees!
The pine tree never suffered from the load of "Planting Compost" I put there, this worked out well.
If I had to do it again, I would probably plant native ferns, and leave out the poorer performers. This would leave me with plenty of plants, mostly yellow or orange flowers though.
I would plant:
native ferns even though they get big
Iris foetidissima 'lutea'
Epimedium pinnatum ssp colchicum
Hemerocallis fulva 'Flore pleno'
Digitalis lutea
Hellebore 'Golden Sunrise'
Alstroemeria 'The Third Harmonic'
Intermediate Bearded Iris 'Midsummer Nights Dream
Erythronium 'Kondo'
Alternatively, just do a single groundcover, using the Sedum or Epimedium, and possibly the Euonymous (jury still out).
These are photos from a few weeks ago, spring flowers done, but it gives the general picture now.

Here it was in March.