Last week, the landscaping community engaged in a range of thoughtful discussions, with particular interest in planning for the upcoming spring season. Members shared insights on continuing education opportunities and exchanged ideas on sustainable landscaping practices. There was also a lively discussion on integrating native plants into traditional designs, reflecting a growing trend towards eco-friendly gardening.
This Week’s Hot Topics
Help shape our spring CEU lineup
The community is putting together a list of continuing education units for spring, and your input could help tailor these sessions to better fit our needs. It’s a great chance to influence the learning opportunities available to us. Read more here
Native swap for liriope in dry shade
A member opened up a discussion about replacing liriope with native plants in dry shade areas, sparking debate about the best species to use. This is an ongoing conversation for those interested in sustainable and regionally appropriate landscaping. Read more here
Looking forward to another week of shared learning and collaboration. Thank you for being part of our community.
Under my mature oak, I’ve had good luck replacing hostas with Pennsylvania sedge and foamflower in ‘dry shade’; the trick was a 3-inch leaf-mulch ring and one deep soak every 10–14 days the first spring, then no irrigation. If your soil runs alkaline, swap foamflower for barren strawberry, and this database helps you filter natives by shade/dry: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin. Think of it like a weekly espresso, not a daily sip.
Quick example: Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) with Christmas fern has been my most reliable dry-shade combo beneath big maples; I plant 2-inch plugs in early spring and skip amendments — , ‘improving’ soil under trees has burned me. If deer are thick, swap Heuchera for Packera obovata and run a simple drip loop for one deep soak monthly that first season. Since everyone’s planning for spring, this filter helps find regional dry-shade natives: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin.
Quick note from my yard: green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) with eastern alumroot has filled in under a big sugar maple once I stopped amending and just tucked 1-inch forestry plugs into the leaf litter in late winter — “plant small, plant early” has been the trick. It stalls if I pile mulch (), so I keep only a thin leaf layer and, where foot traffic hits, swap in golden ragwort instead. If you’re mapping out spring installs, that late-winter window before leaf-out has given me the best take rate.
Iris cristata with wild ginger has held up under my beech once I started planting small plugs and a thin blanket of shredded leaves each fall. If your soil skews alkaline, swap the ginger for woodland stonecrop; Mt. Cuba’s Carex trial (Mt. Cuba Center | Carex albicans (white-tinge sedge) - Mt. Cuba Center) also sold me on Carex laxiculmis ‘Hobb’ for edging — mine’s the camel of the shade bed.
Under my old oak, Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) has been the easiest native ground layer; I divide clumps in late fall, rake leaf litter back, then “scratch-and-plant” small plugs into the duff and let winter do the watering (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin). If you need a tougher look-alike for light foot traffic, I’ve had better luck with Carex blanda as an understory, though it seeds around a bit.
Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) has been my steadiest fill-in under a mature hickory; I set quart pots 12–15 inches apart in late April, top with a thin bark layer, and give one deep soak a month that first summer (good profile: Pachysandra procumbens (Allegheny Spurge, Mountain Pachysandra) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox). It spreads like a lazy tide, so I mix in Christmas fern or seersucker sedge for faster coverage; if it bakes in August, expect a short nap.
Dry shade under my Norway maple used to drive me nuts; what finally stuck was Christmas fern — I split clumps and, come early April, slide divisions into narrow slits with a soil knife, then give them a deep soak weekly that first summer because “first season is everything.” It reads fairly traditional, @mjohnson83, but if the spot is bone-dry by August, mix in some bristleleaf sedge to keep the edges from crisping…