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The Best Plants for Under Pine Trees

The best plants for under pine trees must be able to handle dense shade and acidic soil. As the needles that the pine trees drop begin to pile up, problems begin to develop. Too thick of a layer of mulch could build up around the plants, or the needles could become thick enough that water would have a hard time reaching the soil below them. By keeping an eye on the mulch level and removing excess mulch, these problems are easy to solve.

  1. Ground Covers

    • Add color to the winter garden by planting heather under pine trees.

      Heather (Calluna vulgaris), Paxistimi canbyi and wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) are good ground covers to grow under pine trees. Heather reaches a mature height of 3 feet. The foliage is evergreen. White, pink or red flowers appear in winter. Wintergreen has creeping evergreen foliage and bright red berries in the fall that will persist into winter. Both heather and wintergreen prefer moist soil, so regular watering or an automatic watering system is recommended. Paxistimi canbyi reaches a mature height of 16 inches. In fall the foliage turns bronze.

    Ferns

    • New fern fronds unfolding add color, and the foliage itself creates textural interest.

      Northern maidenhair (Adiantum pedatum), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) and royal fern (Osmunda regalis) are good choices for ferns to plant under pine trees. The northern maidenhair fern reaches a mature height of 3 feet tall. The ostrich fern reaches a height of 8 feet. The cinnamon fern reaches a mature height of 6 feet, and the royal fern will grow to 5 feet. Once established, ferns are easy to care for and will spread.

    Herbaceous Perennials

    • A herbaceous perennial is a non-woody plant that will die back in the winter and return from its own root system again the following spring. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda), Canadian anemone (Anemone canadensis) and great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) are good herbaceous perennials to grow under a pine tree, or even a grouping of pine trees. The common yarrow reaches a mature height of 3 feet. This plant will bloom until the first fall frost, making it ideal for season-long color. White baneberry reaches a mature height of 3 feet; however, it does produce poisonous fruit. Canadian anemone reaches a mature height of 2 feet, and great blue lobelia will grow to 3 feet.

    Shrubs

    • Choose an azalea that blooms in spring and fall for double impact.

      Pine trees whose bottom branches are several feet above the ground are ideal for planting acid-loving shrubs. Eastern teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens), smooth azalea (Rhododendron arborescens), flame azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum), torch azalea (Rhododendron kaempferi), bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), Daphne, heath (Erica) and the common blueberry (Vaccinium) are ideal choices. Eastern teaberry reaches a mature height of 3 feet. Smooth azalea and the flame azalea will reach a mature height of 12 feet, and the torch azalea will grow to 8 feet. Bayberry reaches a mature height of 9 feet tall. Daphne, heath and the common blueberry range in height according to the cultivar.

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Specialty Gardens
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