Best plants for under trees – think leaves!

Last week I looked at some of the bulbs and perennials you can plants under trees to brighten up this often neglected bit of the garden. But what about leafy plants? Some of these do particularly well in the shaded conditions that a tree provides. So, to restore the balance here are some of the best plants for under trees, where the leaves are the star attraction.

Best plants for under trees – Hostas

If there’s one hardy, shade loving plant to grow under trees, it’s the hosta. A quick warning – I’m a hosta-hollic. I love them, and love any excuse to add one to my collection.

Why do I love them so? Well, you get hostas with leaves in so many different shapes and sizes – heart-shaped, sword-like, rounded, tapering, wavy, dustbin-lid sized and just about everything in between. They also come in so many different colours – limey yellowy green, acids, deep forest greens, glaucous blue – solid colour or variegated. And the sizes vary too – from the diminuitive ‘Little Red Joy’ to the beast that is ‘Sum and Substance’.

The flowers, to my mind, are nothing to write home about. They’re pretty enough and come in whites, pinks or mauves – but for me, when it comes to a hosta it’s all about the leaves.

I also love the fact they’re really easy to look after, they thrive in tricky shaded spots where other plants give up and die, and you can easily propagate them through division. What’s not to love?

Hosta Suggestions

There are literally hundreds of hostas out there. Actually Mickfield Hostas, which houses the UK’s national collection, has almost 1,000 hostas for sale! So do take a look – it’s where I go for mine. You can search by size, leaf colour, pattern, fragrance. The choice is incredible. What a lovely way to kill a few hours on a wet day, browsing for hostas. My favourites include:

• Sum and Substance
• Julie Morrs
• Rainforest
• Guacamole
• Deane’s Dream
• Thomas Hogg
• Silver Bay
• Katie Q

In terms of planting, you can go for a hosta as a statement plant on its own. Obviousy you need a medium-sized or large variety for this.

Or otherwise combine them with other things. For instance I love this bluebell, hosta combination below – I think it’s stunning. To give the planting some structure they’ve cleverly put to hostas in a sort of symmetrical position and then let the bluebells run wild around them. Mmm I wonder if I could emulate this and introduce hostas into my bluebell planting near my beech tree. One to ponder!

I think hostas also combine really nicely with ferns in a shaded spot. That’s lucky as ferns are another of my best plants for under trees. Just look at this glorious combination below!

Best plants for under trees – ferns

It’s lucky that ferns and hostas combine well as ferns are my next suggestion of good plants for under trees.

It can’t be any surprise that I’m suggesting them, after all ferns and trees are natural bedfellows. Wander around any wild woodland and you will find an abundance of ferns, happily thriving.

And while few of us have a woodland to plant up, I’m a great believer in looking at nature, to get inspiration for plants which seem to naturally thrive in the environment you have. It was the key gardening lesson I brought back after walking the Camino with my friends in the spring. Walking that trail we repeatedly saw many of the same plants, for the simple reason that they thrive in those Spanish conditions. Similarly look in a woodland and you will spot lots of plants which thrive – including ferns.

Fern Suggestions

So what ferns would I recommend for under your trees? I particularly like Brauns Holly Fern. I have it in a container but it would look smashing under a tree. It’s rather soft and feathery, with arching fronds.

Another beauty is the shuttlecock fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris. It has large, pale green, lacy fronds which uncurl in a most gorgeous fashion.

I think it’s particularly efffective planted in large groups.

For something smaller, with smoother, sleek leaves, you might go for Asplenium scolopendrium aka Harts Tongue Fern (named after the deer). I have it in pots in the shade and in my semi-shaded woodland bed where it’s great nestling next to an apple tree. It’s evergreen too, so looks good all year round, and needs very little care – just a little tidying in spring. I also think it’s a good choice because if it rains it looks gorgeous and glistening. And in our climate, rain is guaranteed.

Once I get started on ferns, I’m hard to stop. For instance if you want something larger – that’s more of a statement there’s the fabulous Soft Shield Fern Polystichum setiferum ‘Herrenhausen’. I’ve read it’s meant to be semi-evergreen but mine looks pretty good all year round!

Or for a fern with some red in it – well a burgundy kind of red – take a look at Athyrium Otophorum Okanum (below).

It is deciduous, so does die back, but oh the joy when it returns! It has yellow-green leaves with a deep red stalks and rib running up their middle. I love it.

Best plants for under trees – heucheras

Heucheras are another of my plant addictions. I have oodles of them in pots and borders – but interestingly, not really under trees – yet! This surprises me as they are one of the best plants for under trees – so long as there’s dappled, not full shade.

Like hostas, heucheras have flowers, but their claim to fame is their leaves. Though I think their flowers are rather interesting in a dainty way.

Although size wise the plants don’t vary too much, there’s no end of variety when you get to their leaf colour. Heucheras comes with leaves deep green, to acid lime green, yellows, silvers, peaches, hot deep red, raspberry and aniseed coloured, through to almost black. Some like more shade/sun and are more drought tolerant than others so I’d check the details on a plant before going for it in deep, dry shade.

But to give you a head start, the variety called Choclate Ruffles is worth considering as it it can cope well with dry shade. It has – as the name suggests – lovely chocolate coloured, slightly ruffled leaves. These have a rich burgundy underside. The flowers are creamy white and appear on tall stems in the summer.

My other word of warning re using heucheras is I’d resist putting lots of different varieties together under a tree. I’ve seen some do this and I think the effect looks unnatural. That’s not a look I’m ever going for in my garden. If I was putting heucheras under a tree I’d stick to one variety but plant quite a few, for impact.

Japanese Spurge

If you’ve got a bigger area to fill, then Japanese Spurge – or to give it it’s proper name – Pachysandra – is worth looking at. It comes in all shapes and sizes, from low but dense ground cover to larger clumped shrubs. What almost all varieties have in common is lovely leaves.

Again flowers will appear during the summer on most of the varieties, but it’s the plants’ interesting leaves – sturdy but with an intricate etched edge – which I think make it a stand out plant.

Pretty much all types of pachysandra will thrive in shaded conditions, my only word of warning is that some of the low-lying varieties can become invasive if not kept under control. They’ll need a firm hand!

Solomon’s Seal

My final suggestion for wonderful leafed plants for under trees is a bit of a cheat, as while Solomon’s Seal has fabulous arching sprays of leaves, in May and June it also has creamy white bell-shaped, green-tipped blooms which set the leaves off a treat.

Solomons Seal is one of the best plants for under trees because it likes darker, cooler conditions which a tree provides.

It’s also ideal because its a bit different. It has an elegantly drooping, cultivated and yet untamed form. It’s a conundrum of a plant!

Leave this beauty undisturbed and it will naturalise and form clumps – but they’re elegant clumps! Or if you want to mix things up, combine it with my other shade loving suggestions such as ferns, hostas or some of the plants from last week’s list such as hellebores. You will transform that spot under your trees from overlooked to drop-dead gorgeous.

That’s it! Hope this helps any of your struggling with the space under your trees.

Happy gardening X