What to plant / put / do with the garden under the oak tree?

PhoneGuru

The previous owners of our house had a vegetable patch at the back of the garden. Last year we tried to grow stuff there and it didn't do too well (well nothing in fact), mainly I guess because we have south facing garden with a huge great oak tree over the rear portion, so most of the day this part is shaded and any other time never really gets more than dark and dreary.

I'm a bit lost as to what to do with this area of the garden, we can't grow much there. It almost seems like a waste of the space.

Anybody any ideas?

peter_the_piper

Check the acidity of the soil, being under an oak will make it acid from the leaves.

SallyW_2

there are lots of plants which will thrive in shade - in fact some of the most beautiful gardens you can have are shade/woodland gardens. What's your soil like there? dry or damp?

Primrose

Could you not get some of the branches of the tree trimmed back to allow more sunlight to penetrate? Even so, I suspect the tree's roots will still continue to take most of the moisure and goodness out of the soil.

Money_maker

Put one of those super tree benches round it and a few pots. Instant haven.

wotnext

We have an oak tree in our garden and I've created a rockery underneath it as the ground was naturally raised due to the trunk anyway. Alpines only need shallow earth anyway so the tree root system isn't a problem. Also, once you have planted a few alpines, covering it with shingle or other nice stones will lift it quite considerably and make it feel a lot lighter and brighter! I've also planted a Black Eyed Susan right by the trunk and it's nicely climbing up to also add colour.

I'm a firm believer in working with what you have. We've recently had the tree lopped and I've used some of the large and interesting branch stumps in the rockery and am growing plants on them. :money:

cootambear

strawberries

billycasper_2

Dont write off the veg just yet. try spinach or rhubarb. Or even potatoes.(depending on depth) The key would be to get the soil right. that tree is obviously sucking all the nutrients up. but with a little bit of prep work you could grow something.
clearly the previous owner grew something.
interestingly i saw a clip for gardeners world this friday about veg that can grow in the shade.
if you grow say beetroot, kale or cauliflower start them of first to give them a start and then transplant them..they will be fine.
the other thing to consider is growing veg that you plant in the autumn and harvest in the spring like spring cabbage, winter lettuce etc they will be then well established by spring before the tree is in its full glory. or try herbs, lots of herbs will happily grow in shady areas.
As for flowers, any woodland plants like foxgloves which bees love.
http://www.mytinyplot.co.uk/planning/what-to-grow-in-the-shady-bit/

PhoneGuru

Thank you all for the hints here. I've got to do the plot rotation next year, so will be interesting to find out if / what grows in that area. I can tell you the garlic didn't succeed, we had to pull it out.