Most suitable evergreen bush - Ask Extension
Please recommend to me names of beautiful, fast spreading, flowering, evergreen bushes for the strip land between the lawn and the sidewalk. The stri...
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Most suitable evergreen bush #868841
Asked May 17, 2024, 10:10 AM EDT
Please recommend to me names of beautiful, fast spreading, flowering, evergreen bushes for the strip land between the lawn and the sidewalk. The strip land is in part sun-part shade and has clay soil.
Benton County Oregon
Expert Response
I'll need a little more information to recommend something for this spot.
How wide is the site?
Is the soil genuinely clay (like, you could make pottery out of it) or is it just heavy (cracks in summer when dry)?
Will the site be irrigated in summer?
In winter, is it flooded for lengthy periods, or does it drain well?
About how many hours per day does it get sun? How much does it vary between deep winter and high summer? (Your best guess is fine).
Is anything else growing there? Is it healthy or failing?
How wide is the site?
Is the soil genuinely clay (like, you could make pottery out of it) or is it just heavy (cracks in summer when dry)?
Will the site be irrigated in summer?
In winter, is it flooded for lengthy periods, or does it drain well?
About how many hours per day does it get sun? How much does it vary between deep winter and high summer? (Your best guess is fine).
Is anything else growing there? Is it healthy or failing?
Hello
Thank you for your email.
The border is about seven feet wide and around the corner gets to fifteen feet wide.
The soil is mostly heavy clay (picture). There are areas that are clay and sand and some part has a fine coffee color soil. If I plant anything I always use soil amendments like steer manure or planting soil.
The site is irrigated with the lawn sprinklers. It does not get flooded in winter.
The site is exposed to the sun through the branches of old oak trees. Therefore the plants are all day in sun and shade but mostly shade. It does get more sun in late afternoon.
The plants with white flowers (picture) had been covering more of the area. Recently the twigs are getting scrawny and they go dry. So I have planted this year a rhododendron, a dipladenia, a Shasta Daisy, a rose bush, and the irises that a neighbor gave me (picture). I think deer already ate part of the rose bush. For all of these I have used planting soil.
Thank you for your attention to my question.
Ali Bonakdar.
On 05/19/2024 5:29 PM PDT Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
Hi, Ali,Thanks for the additional info. There is no way to tell if the soil is actually clay from color (it is a texture issue) but people often think any heavy soil is clay even if it is not. In general heavy soils are good at holding nutrients and water. In any case, keeping a good organic mulch on the soil will help it and the plants a lot over time. Arborist wood chips are an excellent choice. Bark mulch is not - it is hydrophobic (rebels water) and adds little nutrition to the soil.
I can see in the photos that there is also a large tree in the area. The roots of the tree will be competing for water and nutrients with anything you try to grow there. In the long run this may be the greatest limiting factor, since the tree is well-established and will win. If you amend the soil and water regularly, it will help the plants you grow, but the tree roots will also make a beeline for those resources.
So, what you mostly need is plants that can tolerate root competition with large trees. If deer come by regularly, they will be a limiting factor as well. The sun/shade situation sounds congenial for many plants, and shouldn't be a big limiting factor.
There are not many evergreen plants that are likely to do well under these conditions, and lovely flowers will be even harder to come by. I suggest you focus more on good foliage.
Here are a few you could try. You may need to do some experimenting for a few years to find out what will succeed, but many of these will spread if they are happy.
Lonicera nitida 'Baggesen's gold' (ever-gold foliage, tough and lovely. No noteworthy flowers).
Mahonia aquifolium (tall Oregon grape)
Mahonia nervosa (Cascade Oregon grape) (both NW native evergreens for part shade)
Rosa gymnocarpa (bald hip rose) (not evergreen, but a tough native rose that will spread if it is happy)
Rosa rugosa cultivars (very tough, deer resistant)
Sarcococca ruscifolia (evergreen with tiny but highly scented winter flowers)
A mix of groundcovers, some EG, some not – see what does well.
Ajuga reptans (bugleweed)
Asarum caudatum (ginger)
Campanula portenschlagiana
Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley)
Dicentra oregana (western bleeding heart)
Epimedium species, especially the evergreen ones
Euonymus fortunei (Wintercreeper)
Fragaria chiloensis, (beach strawberry)
Fragaria vesca (Wood strawberry)
Galium odoratum (Sweet Woodruff)
Ophiopogon cvs (Mondo grasses)
Persicaria (Tovara) ‘Red Dragon’ and others
Polygonatum biflorum (giant Solomon’s seal)
I can see in the photos that there is also a large tree in the area. The roots of the tree will be competing for water and nutrients with anything you try to grow there. In the long run this may be the greatest limiting factor, since the tree is well-established and will win. If you amend the soil and water regularly, it will help the plants you grow, but the tree roots will also make a beeline for those resources.
So, what you mostly need is plants that can tolerate root competition with large trees. If deer come by regularly, they will be a limiting factor as well. The sun/shade situation sounds congenial for many plants, and shouldn't be a big limiting factor.
There are not many evergreen plants that are likely to do well under these conditions, and lovely flowers will be even harder to come by. I suggest you focus more on good foliage.
Here are a few you could try. You may need to do some experimenting for a few years to find out what will succeed, but many of these will spread if they are happy.
Lonicera nitida 'Baggesen's gold' (ever-gold foliage, tough and lovely. No noteworthy flowers).
Mahonia aquifolium (tall Oregon grape)
Mahonia nervosa (Cascade Oregon grape) (both NW native evergreens for part shade)
Rosa gymnocarpa (bald hip rose) (not evergreen, but a tough native rose that will spread if it is happy)
Rosa rugosa cultivars (very tough, deer resistant)
Sarcococca ruscifolia (evergreen with tiny but highly scented winter flowers)
A mix of groundcovers, some EG, some not – see what does well.
Ajuga reptans (bugleweed)
Asarum caudatum (ginger)
Campanula portenschlagiana
Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley)
Dicentra oregana (western bleeding heart)
Epimedium species, especially the evergreen ones
Euonymus fortunei (Wintercreeper)
Fragaria chiloensis, (beach strawberry)
Fragaria vesca (Wood strawberry)
Galium odoratum (Sweet Woodruff)
Ophiopogon cvs (Mondo grasses)
Persicaria (Tovara) ‘Red Dragon’ and others
Polygonatum biflorum (giant Solomon’s seal)
Thank you for your knowledge packed response.
Ali Bonakdar
Ali Bonakdar
On 05/21/2024 10:43 AM PDT Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
