What Can Grow Under Conifer Trees?

Perennials

• Most perennials prefer sunny sites with well-drained soil, but a few, drought-tolerant varieties can grow or even thrive in shade. These include bugle weed, a low-growing perennial that blooms with purple, blue and white blossoms in early to late spring. This tiny flower only grows between 6 and 9 inches high, but spreads quickly to cover bare spots. Bugleweed prefers partial to full shade and well-drained soil.

  Wild ginger also prefers shady spots. Another small perennial, wild ginger grows from 6 to 10 inches tall and has purple spring flowers and attractive, heart-shaped foliage. Both of these species grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 to 8. Other good choices include bergenia, cast iron plant, primrose and stonecrop.

Ground Covers

• Shade-loving, drought-tolerant ground covers offer a low-maintenance option for under-tree sites. The clumping and creeping liriopes both thrive in shade and dry soil. These evergreen plants grow up to 18 inches tall with similar spreads and have attractive, variegated foliage. Clumping liriope produces showy, white to purple spikes of flowers in late summer, while creeping liriope blooms with more subtle lilac-colored blossoms. Creeping liriope is hardy in zones 4 to 9 and clumping in zones 6 to 9.

  Creeping mahonia, another evergreen, tolerates shade and a range of soils. This spreading plant grows to 10 inches tall but spreads up to 5 feet wide. Hardy in zones 5 to 9, creeping mahonia blooms in late spring with small, yellow blossoms followed by black berries. Other options include English ivy, Carolina jessamine, Corsican violet, periwinkle and sweet woodruff.

Evergreen Shrubs

• Like coniferous trees, evergreen shrubs keep their foliage year-round. Choose small species to avoid root competition. Several boxwood varieties thrive in dry sites, including the English, Japanese and littleleaf cultivars. All prefer partial shade and well-drained soils. The slow-growing English boxwood has deep, lustrous foliage, grows to 3 feet tall and is hardy in zones 5 to 8. The Japanese boxwood has glossy, oval foliage and grows from 3 to 6 feet tall. Littleleaf boxwood grows from 3 to 4 feet tall, has light-green, dense foliage and produces fragrant spring flowers. The Japanese and littleleaf shrubs are hardy in zones 6 to 9. Other small evergreens include butcher's broom, Oregon grape holly and yeddo hawthorn.

Deciduous Shrubs

• Deciduous shrubs that tolerate dry shade include the blue spirea, a 3-foot-tall shrub that produces butterfly-attracting blue flowers in late summer. Blue spirea has fragrant foliage and is hardy in zones 6 to 9.

  The black chokecherry blooms with clusters of white spring flowers, followed by black berries. A slow-growing shrub, the black chokecherry grows from 3 to 5 feet tall and is hardy in zones 3 to 8. Other small deciduous shrubs include Bulmade spirea, black jetbead, fragrant sumac and yellowroot.