Planting under trees

Often, planting under trees can be a problem, however there are ways of getting around this.

As long as you construct a retainer, six to 10 inches high and a foot or so away from the base of trees then you can introduce soil up to the retainer and keep it away from the base of the tree.  This allows you to bring in a lot more soil and the bigger the volume of soil, the easier it is to put in a wider range of plants.

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You can then use a retainer of equal height of wood or rock at the front edge, to create an area for a larger volume of soil.

It is important to mix in lots of compost and bark and leaf mould, to ensure a rich, fungal environment for the woodland floor plants to thrive in.

Groups of plants to look out for, the Honeysuckle Family which includes, Honeysuckles or Lonicera, Viburnums, Weigela etc  There are many Shrub Honeysuckles and climbing ones too.

The Holly Family, of which there are many, and lots of  variegated varieties, such as Ilex aquifolium Mme Briot, which has glossy, spiky dark green leaves with a rich creamy gold margin... very striking.  Ilex altaclariensis Golden King, which has less spiky green, edged suffused gold margins and red berries when planted with male varieties such as Ilex aquifolium Silver Queen with very silvery white margins and quite prickly.  Ther are literally hundreds of varieties, many of which adore a shady spot.

Nandina or Sacred Bamboo which is related to Berberis are great in filtered light situations.  These have white flowers, amazing foliage colours in the winter.  They all will berry from time to time.

Euonymus family, both deciduous and evergreen varieties, apart from any japonica types which prefer more light.  The family are poisonous if eaten, so keep away from small children.  Just bare in mind that there are many toxins which are bad for humans, within the plant world, but with good direction from when kids are young and maybe creating a given area for ebible plants, it can be made easier for them to learn what is okay to eat and what is not.

Mahonia family are fantastic shade tolerant plants, with yellow, generally fragrant flowers in the winter.  Take the top tier of leaves of after flowreing at the end of february each year, with the japonica types, to prevent them from berrying, or leave some flower heads on, so the can berry in places on the plant.

Aucuba or Spotted Laurel is another on with some good variegation within the family.

Pieris, Camellia, Rhododendron, etc etc, for acidic soils.

I could go on as there is such a huge choice of plants to consider, especially when you can create soil in volume.

Go for it and create something amazing in the boring shaded area to be proud of...