What to plant under oak trees

Hope this is the right place to post. I searched using several different phrases but didn't come up with anything.

I have 2 big old oaks in the front yard. One Pin & one *I believe* Red. It's very shaded until late afternoon, faces west,. I have a few bulbs planted but the soil is horrible. 18 month old wood chips on most of the yard now.  I was hoping to add some other plants. Flowers, shrubs but unsure what will work well with these big oaks & terrible clay/dead soil. I will say the grass (wire grass) grows really well except close to the house. The yard is sloped, runoff takes away any good soil in a few spots and we have a path way from the neighbors (family). Is there a cover that will work and lend stability to those areas? Shrubs, flowers, perennial edibles for the other areas?

Thanks

Do you have a pic of the area? I know that wild geraniums will grow darn near anywhere Also, saffron crocus bulbs grow well on the west side of our house, most of the year they look like grass, and come September we get to harvest saffron threads (zone 7a).

I have a similar situation regarding clay, oak trees, and runoff!

I have tried wood chips all over the area where the water goes through our yard into the neighbors' yard during a heavy rain. The wood chips seem to have stayed put in spite of that water, so that has been good. (Somewhere on the forum someone once observed that clay is amazing at taking in organic materials and making them disappear, and that is certainly true here. The wood chips decomposed quickly--I suspect that may have something to do with the 17 or so different mushroom species under the oak trees and all around the house.)

Crocuses and jonquils always come up by themselves under my oak trees this time of year, and a forsythia is still small but definitely alive after four years under one of them. But this is the "good time" for the front yard, before the leaves are out, so everything is getting sun.

Soon there will be so. much. shade. My clovers, chickweed, grasses, violets, etc., all stop right  where my oak trees' canopies begin. There's TONS of moss on and under the trees, where the grass would otherwise have been. So I haven't tried planting anything directly under them because the shade is so dense in the summer, but at their canopies' edges I have my vegetable pots and now a micro-meadow going for the pollinators.  

Denise Kersting wrote:Do you have a pic of the area? I know that wild geraniums will grow darn near anywhere Also, saffron crocus bulbs grow well on the west side of our house, most of the year they look like grass, and come September we get to harvest saffron threads (zone 7a).

I have thought about adding saffron somewhere maybe it will work here. I planted giant crocus in the grass area but only a few came up. Did I mention how terrible the soil is? Lol.

Rachel Lindsay wrote:I have a similar situation regarding clay, oak trees, and runoff!

I have tried wood chips all over the area where the water goes through our yard into the neighbors' yard during a heavy rain. The wood chips seem to have stayed put in spite of that water, so that has been good. (Somewhere on the forum someone once observed that clay is amazing at taking in organic materials and making them disappear, and that is certainly true here. The wood chips decomposed quickly--I suspect that may have something to do with the 17 or so different mushroom species under the oak trees and all around the house.)

Crocuses and jonquils always come up by themselves under my oak trees this time of year, and a forsythia is still small but definitely alive after four years under one of them. But this is the "good time" for the front yard, before the leaves are out, so everything is getting sun.

Soon there will be so. much. shade. My clovers, chickweed, grasses, violets, etc., all stop right  where my oak trees' canopies begin. There's TONS of moss on and under the trees, where the grass would otherwise have been. So I haven't tried planting anything directly under them because the shade is so dense in the summer, but at their canopies' edges I have my vegetable pots and now a micro-meadow going for the pollinators.  

The power company came thru and cut straight down on the west (front) side 3 yrs ago and we had the trees thinned 2 yrs ago when we got the home so a little light get thru but not much.  I was thinking of trying wildflowers on that front strip of grass it gets brutally hot there in late afternoon summer but wildflowers may be able to stand it.

That does seem a little tricky. Most of the shade loving plants I can think of might not fare well until the soil improves. Speaking of, what is usually done with the oak leaves in the fall? If you aren't already, leaving them under the trees would probably do wonders for the soil condition. Running a lawn mower over them or otherwise mulching them can help so they break down faster and don't just blow away. Another thought, if you could get more wood chips under there and possibly some winecap mushroom spawn, that might get you a yield of tasty mushrooms and be a huge help to the soil.

Wildflowers at the edge could certainly be helpful for the soil too.

I’d second leaving the leaves, ideally shredding and inoculating them with mushrooms. Gaia’s Garden has a white oak-hazelnut guild described in it. Other species included are:
mazzard cherry (sunny edge)
black hawthorne
saskatoon/serviceberry
oceanspray
snowberry
thimbleberry
Trailing blackberry
Sweetbriar rose
Strawberry
Yerba buena
Sweet cicely
Vetch

Ive also heard hostas can handle dry shade.

It helps in providing answers, especially species suggestions, if the question poster has a general location description in their profile or signature. Best of luck.

I would recommend hostas.  When we lived in the Piney Woods of East Texas one of my neighbors had a whole front yard of several different varieties.  I thought hostas were so pretty in her yard.  There were lots of trees so her yard was shady.



from here: Edible Hostas

Here are a couple of other threads you or others might enjoy:

https://permies.com/t/125970/Shade-tolerant-edibles#1036915https://permies.com/t/32937/Edible-hostas

https://permies.com/t/125970/Shade-tolerant-edibles

Thank you for your suggestions. I am in zone 7b northern NC piedmont. I thought that was in my profile sorry about that.

The sweet lady who owned this home for 50+ years left us a beautiful array of perennial flowers and 2 huge pecan trees in the back but she dutifully raked the leaves up & put them in bags every year, they used to seed and fertilize the yard so up until the last 8-10 years when she could no longer manage that they somewhat had grass there.  We tried to leave them under the oaks last year but the wind and water run off stopped that. Maybe we'll have better luck this year with mushrooms.

I have hosta planted along the edge of the woodchips but they didn't do well last year. Not sure if it was the afternoon sun or the soil. The power company really did a number on that side although the limbs are coming back so it maybe be better this year.

Definitely agree more woodchips are needed. We did the same under the pecan trees and have beautiful black soil under them now, I plan to plant a cover so the pecans are easier to get up. Also had more pecans than we could get up, the first harvest from these trees in years.

I would love to plan something beautiful for this area not only to honor the previous owner (my husband lived beside her all but 2 yrs of his life) but also for my disabled stepmother to enjoy. Her bed sits in front of a picture window looking out over the area.

To keep leaves from blowing away I always raked them into corners of my yard where a fence protected them or under the shrubs.

Some flowering ground covers might work for something pretty for your stepmother to look at:

Here are some suggestions:

https://permies.com/t/142754/Favorite-Plants-Grounding

https://permies.com/t/110988/Grass-replacement-child-play-area

Anne Miller wrote:To keep leaves from blowing away I always raked them into corners of my yard where a fence protected them or under the shrubs.

Some flowering ground covers might work for something pretty for your stepmother to look at:

Here are some suggestions:

https://permies.com/t/142754/Favorite-Plants-Grounding

https://permies.com/t/110988/Grass-replacement-child-play-area

Thank you looking at these threads have me going in a totally different direction than what I first envisioned. Creeping thyme, mint, catnip, a few bushes and wildflowers on the front may make for a lovely yard.  If I can get them to grow!