Knowledgebase

ground cover under deciduous tree #885323

Asked September 15, 2024, 4:16 PM EDT

I’m looking for a ground cover to plant under a pomegranate tree.  The tree is growing in front of a south-facing brick wall.  The site has full shade from the pomegranate in summer, but almost full sun in late fall, winter and spring when the tree has no leaves.  During the full sun period there is also considerable reflected heat from the wall.  There are strawberries there now, but they are not doing well.  They flower but don’t fruit and become quite sparse in the summer.  As the years have gone by the become more and more sparse overall.  Something low growing is desirable so I can put in stepping stones for moving about to prune and harvest.  I’ve thought about wintergreen, but I don’t know if it can tolerate the winter sun.

Montgomery County Maryland

Expert Response

Wintergreen could work if the soil is rich and acidic enough for it. Sometimes it has difficulty adapting to home landscapes. It gets winter sun in a woodland setting so it should be ok but the reflective heat may be a bit too harsh for it. 

The strawberries (see the tab on the link for Training and Renovation) are probably not getting enough sun and they are a plant that benefits from being thinned out once in awhile too. 

You can refer to our groundcovers page for additional ideas. Perhaps partridgeberry or Green and Gold? (both under the shade and drought tolerant tab). A sedge could work too as it would be easy to have stepping stones around them. 

Let us know if you have further questions. 

Emily

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