Understory trees

article by Heather McCargo photos by Heather McCargo and Lisa Looke Reprinted with permission from The Wild Seed Project. There are many beautiful and resilient plants from the woodland understory...

You create a woodland garden by planting layers of vegetation, in the same way it grows in the wild. Trees are the tallest specimens. Underneath grows the understory level of smaller trees and shrubs. This article provides understory planting tips.

These small trees add flowers, fall color, and even colorful fruit or interesting bark without taking up a lot of space.

Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia, Zones 4-8). Fill your shade garden with colorful plants for multi-season interest.

The Eastern Redbud is native to The United States and Southern Ontario and just might be the perfect understory tree for shade gardens and woodlands. Here are some tips on how to use them in your landscape, where to plant them and how to enjoy them. #woodland #shadegarden #gardendesign #gardentips #smalltrees #understorytrees #dogwood #reasternredbud

Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis), redbud (Cercis canadensis) and dogwood (Cornus Florida) are rockstars of the native tree world. They really are. Spring blooms unfurl from these smaller trees in spectacularly dramatic fashion. All are easy to grow and easy to fit in. They take shade and sunnier spots too.Like legendary musicians, these trees keep on giving through the seasons. Berries and seed pods are followed by fabulous fall foliage. Best of all, these trees are on the smaller side…

There are many beautiful and resilient plants from the woodland understory of eastern North America that can enliven a shady landscape …

You create a woodland garden by planting layers of vegetation, in the same way it grows in the wild. Trees are the tallest specimens. Underneath grows the understory level of smaller trees and shrubs. This article provides understory planting tips.

Plants That Thrive Beneath Oak Trees | oak trees | plants | shade loving plants | oak | trees | plant guide #plantsthattrivebeneathoaktrees #oaktrees #plants #shadelovingplants #oak #trees #plantguide

You aren’t a fool for wanting to put a garden beneath a mature tree. Follow these four steps to conquer this challenging site.

Dogwoods are spectacular trees for almost every garden. They are considered understory trees so they do not grow too tall. But it's their spring flowers that are breathtaking in the garden. But that's not all they bring to our gardens. In the summer those flowers turn to berries that birds and other wildlife love and the berries are replaced by beautiful fall colour. And, there are many different types to suit everyones needs. Check out my post for my top six dogwood varieties.

Cornus Kousa or Chinese Dogwood is an outstanding tree with incredible summer flowers and outstanding horizontal branching habit. Consider planting our native Flowering Dogwood before planting one of these non-native trees. Or, plant them together for a spectacular display from spring through summer. The Cornus Kousa works as well in a woodland garden as it does a specimen tree in the Japanese garden. #Dogwood #backyard #landscape #tree Flowering tree | landscaping tips | backyard ideas

Suppose you’re well on your way to creating a garden oasis with blooming flowers, pollinator-friendly groundcover, and hardy vegetables. In that case, you may have a sturdy Oak or swaying Maple (Is it too idyllic

These shade loving shrubs will fill in the space under trees with beautiful flowers and interesting foliage to beautify those shady garden areas.

American Hazelnut has been a great native shrub addition to our back yard. It seems to thrive in our dry gravelly soil and has never shown signs of stress during summer droughts. We have planted several in potted form which we purchased from Outack Nursery as well as bareroot. It is a fairly fast growing shrub with attractive dark green serrated leaves that turn a nice orange in the fall. It's considered a colonizer as it sends out new shoots to form thickets. We planted several about 4…

A surprising variety of these understory trees is waiting to make a statement in your shade garden

When you choose the right tree, you save yourself the future headache of roots damaging your home’s foundation or fallen leaves constantly at your front door. Make the stress-free choice by learning about the best and worst trees to plant near a house below.

Exposed tree roots are an unsightly safety hazard that aren’t easy to fix. Learn what to do (and not do!) when dealing with roots growing above ground.

Find out which ground covers, ferns, perennials and shrubs will thrive under the canopies of these West Coast giants

Dressing up plain areas under trees can be challenging. These options for planting under trees will solve issues of landscape boredom!