51 responses to “Gardening Under Redwoods: Dealing With Dry Shade, Acidic Soil, and Root Competition”

1. Great article, thanks! I live in an old house in the North Bay Area with three groups of redwoods that are about 90 years of age. When I lived in Humboldt County for many years, one of my favorite sites in late spring was a Climbing Mlle. Cecile Brunner rose growing forty feet or so up the south side of an old redwood, in Arcata Community Forest, right in the heart of the park. I loved it so much, I repeated the performance here in my garden. I think it’s the only way to grow Mlle. Cecile Brunner! I hardly water it now that it is ten years in the ground, planted about twelve feet from the tree’s base. Right now it is in full bloom and the scent makes me feel like I’m in Eden.

   I also have a few other, older types of roses on the south edge of redwoods, specifically Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals. I haven’t had luck with Rhododendrons, but I see I’ve been choosing the wrong kinds. Now I know what to look for! There is a native Hawthorn tree well under the shade of some of our redwoods that volunteered there. I never water it, so I’m sure anyone could grow Hawthorn under a sequoia.

   • Oh, awesome! Yeah, gotta love those giant Cecile Brunners. Almost as epic as the redwoods, in their way.

     Thanks for the tip on which roses seem most able to handle the acidic soil near redwoods. Older roses are lovely. I see so many straggly, horrible ones around here that it does color my judgment of what they can take, but the old varieties are so much tougher, and in my opinion, more beautiful than the newer, more disease-prone hybrids.

   • Great information. We live in San Diego county and when we bought our house 20yrs ago the builder put 5 of these trees in our front yard. We immediately moved one and gave to a neighbor. Then about 10yrs ago we removed one close to the house. We still have 3 and want to save our trees. This drought in California is making us remove our lawn. Our trees are a little brown, husband has been hand watering to make sure they get water until drip system in. Any suggestions????

     • Do a google search for “dripline of trees” and make sure you are watering in the areas where the roots take up moisture and not at the trunk where it cannot be used. Good luck!

2. Yeah, redwoods are very tough, especially if, like me, you live in an area where they don’t naturally grow. My neighbor and I have water all through the dry season to prevent the tree from getting sick. I agree with your plant choices. I’m also doing OK with hellebores, ginger lily, clivia, and climbing hydrangia (not in deep shade, but under the redwoods. At the edge, I’m trying to grow blueberries, it’s sort of working out. And I have Salvia cacaliifolia at the edge as well.

   BTW, my soil is naturally alkaline and even after 30 years of “leaf” litter from the redwoods it’s barely over to neutral. Maybe in another 30 it will start getting acidic. So, as always, you mileage will vary. Great post!

   • Rockin! I just started a few climbing hydrangeas under some redwoods (not too-too close, but close enough), so I’m glad to hear you’re having some success. I think for them, success will be all about the water and mulch.
     I’ve had mixed luck with Hellebores. Great success with H. argutifolius, somewhat less with orientalis, though I think the distance from the trunk and amount of compost added is key.
     Why haven’t I thought of Clivia? That seems to thematically “go” with redwoods. Sort of a jungly woodland tropical thing.

3. How about a list of veggies that can handle the acid soil a all those leaves. I don’t have redwoods, but I do have Oaks. They are also a big problem.

   • Oh dear. Blueberries like acid soil, but not shade or root competition. Huckleberries and Ribes both produce fruit. But honestly, I’d do your veggie gardening someplace besides under redwoods or an oak. Even if that means containers in another part of your property. I’m no expert on veggies though, so maybe your local agricultural extension will have some better ideas? You could also try Ask Garden Girl:
     https://www.facebook.com/AskGardenGirl?sk=wall
     Good luck!

     • i have a huge fig tree that thrives near the redwood. half of tree is under the redwood branches

4. I only have one Redwood (that I planted), but I do have several large Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedars that are also very thirsty trees. Most of the trees are on the North side of my lot, so some places I have bright sun, and other places are shady under the trees. : ) So far, my favorite shrub to fit the bill is Symphoricarpos albus, Common Snowberry. For shade, I’m also loving Oxalis, Cyclamen hederifolium, Oregon Grape, Evergreen Huckleberry, and Salal. In the sunny dry areas I use Nodding Onion and Cascade Penstemon. It is so nice to not need excessive water for these plants! I only water a few times in August when there is zero rain and 90+ temps.

   • Gina, thank you so much for sharing your experiences with some of these other lovely plants! I’m excited to try your suggestions.

5. Awww… if this was only out when I was a student up there at Humboldt State! Lived under the Redwoods many a time! My time seemed a bit away from landscape gardening in those days! Loved the Rhododendrons of Eureka and Ferndale…not quite under the Redwoods…but thriving like none I’ve ever seen!

6. Great post! Good information for those who live under our native Douglas Firs. I especially like the Pacific Bleeding Hearts. They make great companions for shade loving dwarf conifers also planted under the giants.

   • I’m with you, Ed. I love Pacific Bleeding Hearts. Must find someplace to plant them in my own home garden!

7. […] for me, I am going to post this and let my neighbor know about some of the other plants for dry shade that she can try out in her rather shady back yard.  Some areas of her back yard should still do […]

8. hi
   iam glad to see this article, though way later than it was posted-
   i can say i have been working on this for 7 years now, what to, and what not to grow under and around redwoods,
   i have a row of redwoods which blocks us from the freeway and the eastern side of the row i have planted a tapestry hedge,
   all definitely within ten feet from the trunks of the redwoods.
   i will list the plants that seem to be doing well under there, though they do get a couple of hours of morning sun, though being in arcata, there may not be sun sometimes:
   some native/ some not native
   crinodendron
   black lace elderberry
   black elderberry
   azara ( andean golden saw toothed)
   a friendly pittosporum
   prolific and not trimmed camelia( like them more wild looking)
   purple hop bush
   wax myrtle
   port orford cedar
   oregon grape
   pieris
   rhodies ( though have other things around it and keeping it all dense due to their sometimes stragliness)
   azaleas
   elkhorn cedar
   flowering currant( pink i think)
   hydrangeas
   big leaf maple

   other things behind it tend to do fine with very little light, calal lily,
   acanthus,
   hmm
   im sure a few more-
   anyway, growing directly under has been quite the experience and frustrating most of the time.
   just give em love and let em grow.
   move things around if need be, experiment.
   peace

   • Be Root, thank you so much for your contribution. I will definitely find it useful myself, and I know that other readers will as well. I would never have thought to plant an Azara, so that is a very neat tip. Same with Crinodendron and black elderberries. Thank you so very much for taking the time to post this very helpful comment. -Gen

9. Glad to see your article, it’s got a lot of great information! I moved into my home located east of San Francisco less than a year ago which came with two large redwood trees that were poorly placed in the middle of the front yard. I’ve been struggling to know what to plant under them. Is there any type of grass that can survive under redwood trees? Would you recommend that? We had a gardner tell us that there are grasses that are shade loving and drought resistant that could work. We’d also toyed with the idea of doing a drip system, forgoing the grass and doing mulch and putting plants that would thrive under redwoods. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

10. Thanks so very much for the original article and for the ongoing discussion. I’ve read it and re-read it over the past couple of years as I planted small areas under redwoods. We bought a tiny cottage, very much in need of TLC, in Sonoma about 2 years ago. The yard included 2 remaining plantings of redwoods probably about 60 years old. Because each of the areas consists of only 1 or 2 trees, the areas underneath are actually fairly open, moving in and out of bright sun throughout the day. The new plantings rely substantially on Salal and Huckleberry; because they receive considerable sun, I’m expecting them to stay relatively low. Their companions include oxalis oregona (white flowered form), sword fern, rhododendrons yakushimanum and pachysanthum, inside-out flower (vancouveria hexandra—love the foliage on this), white flowered hybrids of western bleeding heart, salal relatives gaultherias hookerii, miqueliana, and numlaroides minuta. The edges of the “redwood zones” are defined by hakonechloas. It’s still a very young planting, of course, but, so far, everyone is growing well together. Again, thanks so much for the article.

11. Love your article and especially the gritty part about admonishing people to “…do a meditation about…” LOL!! LUV!! I am a landscape designer in Southern California and I will simply have to borrow this expression for when I really need to get through to clients about what can and cannot be done (or what I simply refuse to do).
    Plant spec is exactly what I had in mind. Another GREAT GREAT GREAT Iris for California and more readily available than Douglasiana, is Iris ‘Nada’, lilting leaves and white flowers great for shade and acid.
    Best,
    Patrick

12. So happy to find this article. I live in portland Or, with a 100+ yr old giant sequoia in the rear corner of the yard (straddling 3 properties). This week, a trim/lift pruner went a little crazy, and suddenly our privacy screen to the adjacent house is gone, and I have a newly visible barren corner of nothing but fence and trunk! I need to get some plantings in there stat! I need some height to obscure, and hopefully grow taller than, the fence- planning on at least one of your recommended tough rhodies- (probably van nes sensation because I am crazy for anything fragrant). Will also try some of the suggested iris, and encourage the sorrel already growing nearby to spread into the newly exposed area. Autumn and ostrich fern spontaneously show up all over the rest of the garden.. now I will move them back here.

    Question- since this area has been nothing but sequoia duff (and occasional raccoon poop) for the last 40 years or more, will I need to amend the “soil”, or is it already wild acidic heaven for these plants?

    Thank you for any insight you might have!

    • I might add a layer of compost if the soil doesn’t seem hospitable. You could do a small 3″ layer of compost, or even up to 10″ of compost/ topsoil mix if you don’t cover the trunk of the tree. You don’t necessarily need to work it in, either – maybe scuff up the soil surface just a bit to break up any potential surface tension barrier, but digging too much might just damage roots. Good luck!

13. Great article and site, overall, thanks Genevieve. I have viewed several list identifying what will grow under redwoods and as a landscape architect and hiker that has been on most areas of the north coast states thinks this list is of what would be best to grow under them, without stretching the envelope. I have/had a ribes speciosum about 8′ from the base of a redwood in my front yard that recently died from what I thought was excessive water from a broken sprinkler (initially broke what I was away for an extended time) in the lawn (sorry). Initially portions of the plant that were directly sprayed started to die, and then the whole plant. This just happened over the last couple weeks so I’m going to try and cut it back and see what happens….ANY THOGHTS???

    • I wish I knew how a Ribes speciosum would react to pruning in that situation, but I don’t. Good luck and let us know what happens!

14. Thank you for your article. In my past, I have not had time to enjoy gardening. But I now do. So, with 21 redwood trees on my property, I am excited to learn of the many beautiful plants that enjoy growing under or near redwoods. Thanks to all for sharing your knowledge.

15. Anyone have any luck with Kiwi vines? Ours are going crazy in the back garden and growing up into the scraggly 65 foot redwood behind the house in Marin. They are about 12 feet from the redwood and seem to be thriving in the filtered shade/sun of its branches.

16. I have a beautiful redwood tree growing on my front lawn in Allentown, PA. It’s about 1 to 20 years old I think (but I don’t have complete information). I’m looking for something to grow here in PA in the shade under my Redwood and most of the ground coverings discussed here are native to the West coast; I could use some advice about planting something here in PA that would work well. Any suggestions?

    • i grew up in bethlehem and now live in oakland, ca. didn’t know they had redwoods back there!

17. Thanks so much for this informative article. I have redwood trees on both sides of my home in the Oakland Hills. I have lost so many plants due to the droppings, acidic soil and shade. Now I have a list of plants I will take with me to the nursery.

    • Can I ask what plant you used

18. I’m further south, in inland Mendocino County. I’ve got a beautiful redwood tree in my yard I’d like to plant around, but I’m wondering A) how will these plants you’ve suggested withstand our summer heat here, and B) where can I purchase the ones you’ve suggested?

19. Will any type of succulents grow under Sequoias s. Aptos Blue?

20. I have some beautiful redwoods that seem to be thriving…..Sacramento valley…..I would love to plant oxalis and viola under them but finding them to purchase is nearly impossible. Also, what is the name of the beautiful bush in the big photo?

    • Those are native bleeding hearts, if I understand your question? 🙂

21. Hi

    I live in France and my garden has 2 huge sequoia trees on the lawn. Under each tree there is a large patch of earth which looks unsightly. Just like Karen (14th March) I like the look of the large bush, which you say is bleeding heart, do you think this will grow in my garden and if so where can I buy it?

    • Hi Karen,

      I can only recommend speaking with a local nursery worker or landscape designer to discern what will grow well there, as I am unfamiliar with France’s native plants and growing conditions. I would recommend planting things indigenous to your region whenever possible.

      Hope that helps,

      Gen

22. Hi – My husband and I live in Livermore, CA (hot, dry, Napa-like weather). We just planted new redwoods with about 10 ft spacing. I’d like to fill in some of the spacing with plants. The problem is until the redwoods grow, it’s basically full sun. Most of the articles I have found recommend shade plants assuming the redwoods are full grown. Do you have any recommendations for plants that wouldn’t interfere with the redwood roots, but could survive with full-sun? I’m guessing I might be better just planting full-sun perennials now until the redwoods actually provide some shade many years from now? Thanks!

    • How about a bed of heathers, which have shallow roots and like full sun and acidic soil? You can easily rip them out in ten years or whenever. Ericas and Daboecias might tolerate partial shade later and not need removing.

    • I read that the Vaccinium Ovatum Huckleberry can tolerate full shade to full sun, also regular watering to drought, and zones 8-11.

23. I live in a Sacramento condominium and look out at 5 redwoods at the gated entrance medium. Last Monday I walked outside to landscapers loading 1.4 ton of river rock around these trees. When I said that won’t be healthy for these trees, no one seemed to hear me (Landscape Committee, complex manager). When I moved a few of the rocks away from the base of the trees, I was cited for a violation. Could you let me know if this will be detrimental and what source I could site to protect these wonderful trees.
    BeverlyB

    • It will certainly be detrimental – could you contact your local Master Gardener’s group and see if any of their volunteers would be willing to talk with your complex manager?

24. I planted purple japanese ferns, not real name & I forget the name but I hope you know the plant. They come back every single year thriving like my hostas do. I’m would like to do something different in how I place the plants under the tree. It’s a HUGE redwood tree smack in the middle of my garden. Thank God I have a very large garden. My main problem is what to plant and how to plant directly under tree. I have redwood bricks surrounding this area but I’m thinking of raising the soil about 3 ft. and then planting.

    • Ghost fern?

25. Geraniums. When we bought this house, with two redwoods, there were geraniums under the redwoods. Also privet. I’m ripping the privet out, as much as possible and planting smaller things, (more colorful geraniums) so I was glad to find this article. But the geraniums do seem to be happy there. There are two straggly rose bushes in there, but I don’t know if it’s the acid soil or the fact they were smothered by the privet that has made them straggly. I will be pruning them sharply back and hope they recover now that the privet is gone.

26. One of the BEST. Great help.If you ever get to Sacramento, I’ll be happy to take you to lunch. THANX……

27. Genevieve

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
    I looked hard for a reference to cultivation of blueberries under or near
    redwood trees. I know that blue berries require acid soil. Will redwood “feathers” create too much acidity? Also, do you think that the redwood’s
    roots will sap to much of the nutrients from the berries. My little patch of blueberries is about 30 feet to the southwest of a clump of second growth redwoods that are about 30 inches in diameter. The border fence of Humboldt Redwoods State Park is about a hundred feet to the North.
    The plants are three years old and did not seem to put on much growth this summer.
    What do you think?

    Thanks for your time.

    George Monroe
    Miranda, CA

28. We live in San Jose California 30 minutes inland from the coast and have 30 Redwood trees between us and our neighbors. Our problem is with the front lawn. We have a towering Redwood tree protecting the house from the baking afternoon sun. However, the tree is not protecting our lawn. The grass is on the sunny side of the tree and nothing will grow there. Acidic soil, extreme sun. We do have some Mexican Sage, Lavender, Manzanita, very small lemon tree closer to the street and geraniums in a few pots that surounding the area they are surviving. We currently have no curb appeal. Any thoughts as to what we can plant in this waistland of heat? We are happy to abandon the idea of a small lawn. I would like some color and height. Currently all we have are bushes. The area is only 20ft x 20ft. Very small.

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30. I have 3 large 30 year old redwoods.They are shedding heavily and leaving lots of yellow leaves on top of my dark brown garden bark. My problem is the leaf debris. The gardeners want to blow the leaves and rake them up and in doing so they take the bark with them. Do you think I can let the leaf debris fall and leave it alone? Will it turn brown and blend in with the dark bark? I like a natural look . I recently had all grass removed and new plants installed even though my home is in a northern Ca. development of 1/2 acre lots.

31. Spider plants do well under redwoods as ground cover

32. What are your thoughts on Dogwood, specifically Florida Dogwood or Red Twig dogwood. I’ve seen the Florida ones growing wild in Humboldt County, just now sure how close to the redwoods they grow and how much sun they may need?