Conundrum 1

I have a wee problem. I live in the woods with the trees fairly close to my house. There's a piece of land approximately 15 x 40 feet directly in front of my home that drastically needs attention. It has tall trees and typically would be covered with underbrush if it weren't for the apparent rock repository. About 6 inches below the decomposing leaves I ran into smooth round rocks. I've removed some, but I'm down at least 18 inches and I still have rocks. I wanted to plant a bed of Mountain Laurel here, but I'm afraid even adding a good two feet of topsoil to this area would be a bad idea. Is there a chance the root systems could live and develop in such an area?

As long as you dig the initial hole large enough for the roots and make sure the roots have real dirt(not that foo-foo potting mix stuff) around them, I believe(and this is just an opinion) they should be fine. The roots will make their way to dirt and nutrients in time. The biggest issue will be making sure they have enough water while they are getting established. Most plants can survive incredibly adverse conditions. Hope this helps.

Thanks. I was just worried over the expense and the work involved. I'm going to try it this spring. Cross your fingers for me!

It seems to me that you have a natural rock garden under the leaves. So plant rock garden plants which tend to be able to trive wigh shallow roots. Laurel would work I think but you have to plant SMALL ones and let the roots grow in between the rocks. But Hostas are a natural (unless you have deer which think of hosta as cavier.) ORnamental cabbages would work along with all the standard rock garden plants. IF the area is moist, elephant ears would cover a lot of area very nicely, but you have to dig them in the Winter

BEA,
Thanks for some possible solutions. I'm hoping that this Spring I will be able to begin a solution. I originally thought of a "dry stream bed" look, but there were just too many rocks. I've begun to dump all my leaves and grass cuttings there, hoping to form a nice base. I'll snap a picture. LD

i was gonna warn you about Laurel being invasive but now find it's not Laurel but Kalmia latifolia

Thanks for your concern, Mark. The Laurel I've seen around here seems to mimick the rhodies' growth.

I did notice something last spring, we seem to have a small patch of wild azalea (pink) that is quite captivating. It's across the driveway from where I would like to put the laurel. I'd like to bring the azelea along, but am a bit afraid to disturb it's surroundings.

Any thoughts?

We have wild Azalea in our woods too - I have made seven attempts to transplant it closer to the house. Only one has survived for 3 years now, but have yet to see the first bloom. Ther smaller the plants are, the better the chances are that they will survive a move. Good luck.

LD, it is true, Azaleas from the wild seem to resent being moved.

Mark, that's right about the Kalmia. It is found all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania growing under the trees and spectacular in bloom en masse. We call it Mountain Laurel, and it is the PA state flower. NJ makes do with the lovely violet.