Hi, 

With shade gardening, its all about the spring ephemerals (spring blooming flowers that die back to the ground when it gets too hot) then adding texture with foliage for the summer and fall. 

With the large trees you will have to work around their root systems and adding supplemental irrigation for any new plants to become established. The trees will provide a canopy for rain and also soak up any ground water first.

You should choose plants for dry shade. We can provide a short list but you could also use some website tools to help you research: 

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

Xerces Society: Native Plants for Pollinators and Beneficials for the Mid-Atlantic

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Society: Recommended Maryland Natives

National Wildlife Federations: Native Plant Finder (you have to register to create a list but it is free and easy)

Below are some ideas for plants that tolerate (or prefer) mostly shade as well as the drier conditions that come with living underneath a tree. Some suggestions are native and others are not (but should be non-invasive). Not all of them will flower showily or for a long period (especially if heavily shaded), but they will at least help out-compete weeds once established.

• White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata, formerly named Aster divaricatus) - native

• Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) - native

• Black Huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata) - native

• Coral Bells (Heuchera americana) - native

• Green-and-Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) - native

• Pussytoes (Antennaria) - several species are native

• Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) - native

• Wild Bleeding-heart (Dicentra eximia) - native

• Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) - native

• Sedge (Carex) - multiple species, native and non-native

• Barrenwort (Epimedium)

• Multiple species of ferns - native and non-native

• Astilbe species - non native and some can handle dryer conditions.

From a practicality standpoint, installing young plants will be simpler and less potentially damaging to tree roots than planting more mature specimens. Since planting holes should ideally be dug twice as wide as the current root ball size, this involves disturbing a lot of root real estate for the tree if an extensive area is being planted and if perennial pots are a typical nursery container size of a quart or gallon.

Instead, plugs may be the ideal plant size. Plugs are plants that are older than seedlings but younger than most nursery perennials, often with a root mass only about 4 inches deep and a couple inches wide. Although rising in popularity due to ease of planting and a lower cost per plant, plugs may be harder to find at local stores. The best species diversity and depth of inventory tends to be available from native plant specialty nurseries (including mail-order companies).

Assuming you have deer pressure around your yard, the list we provided should be mostly deer resistant or tolerant of deer pressure once established. In some of the links we provided you can set your search parameters to dry shade and look to see if they mention deer resistant. 

Let us know if you have further questions. 

Emily