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Overheard a landscaper say 'plant for the shade you'll have in ten years, not the sun you have today'
I was at the garden center in my town last weekend picking up some shrubs, and I heard a landscaper giving that exact advice to another customer. It really stuck with me because I'm planning a big planting bed along my new fence line. Right now, that spot gets full sun all afternoon, but the maple tree I planted three years ago is getting huge. The landscaper said if you put sun-loving plants under a young tree, they'll just fry or get leggy trying to reach light as the canopy fills in. He told the guy to look at plants that like part sun to full shade instead, even if it seems too dark right now. I went home and looked at my plan, and I realized I had a bunch of lavender and Russian sage on the list for that exact spot. Now I'm rethinking the whole thing and looking at stuff like hostas, ferns, and maybe some coral bells. Has anyone else had to switch up their plant picks because of future shade from trees?
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piper7796mo ago
My oakleaf hydrangeas are perfect for that transition zone, they handle the changing light really well.
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the_linda4mo ago
Oakleaf hydrangeas are gorgeous but they don't always translate well in that transition zone. Once the tree canopy fills in and drops the light levels even more, they'll start getting leggy and barely bloom. Spent three years babying mine before I yanked them out.
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paul_taylor216mo ago
That's actually really smart advice. I used to just plant for the conditions right in front of me, but it makes total sense to think ahead like that. My neighbor's oak tree has basically turned my sunny side yard into a shade garden over the last decade, and I wish I'd known this back then.
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