Hello all

The East side of my house has a planting bed that is 2' deep and 20' wide. It sounds perfect doesn't it? It gets mostly shade with a little sun. The Eastern property line is lined with tall deciduous trees so it is mostly in the shade. When I moved in 4 years ago I turned the soil and had to remove a lot of feeder type tree roots. Then I added compost and peat moss then planted Hosta, Heucheras, Bleeding Heart and Siberian Bugloss that I had moved with me to the new house. Last fall I had to remove all the plants to different locations. The Hosta got progressively smaller, and the Heucheras and Bugloss didn't grow at all. When I pulled them out I discovered that the ground was solid tree roots again! I removed 5 wheelbarrow loads of roots.

I'm looking for ground cover or perennials that are tough enough to battle the feeder roots and live! Any suggestions or advice?

Lamium

Sounds perfect as long as it can battle lots of feeder roots! I read that feeder roots generally appear in the top 6" of soil so if you plant your plant in a 6" cardboard box without a bottom it should stall the feeders long enough for the plants roots to go deep enough to avoid the feeders. Have you heard of such a thing?

Hi,

I have a garden bed under arborvitae with the same problem, i.e. feeder roots. As in your garden, the roots have strangled hostas, heuchera, astilbe. I'll offer what does thrive: lenten roses - beautiful in winter, lilies of the valley, and, so far, sedge grass. I grew lamium for a while, but it seemed bugs or some other pest chewed the leaves. I would be interested if you've found other solutions to the feeder root problem, other plants that worked?

L Chip

Hi Chip

So far, the only thing I've tried is Lamium which is growing fine. I have a few Lily of the Valley growing but not very many. But thank you for the Lenten Rose suggestion. I've never grown them before but I'll sure give them a try. I still have lots of room in that bed.