When designing new landscapes, I often struggle with the area directly below trees. Often times, at Designing Eden llc, we are installing trees at 2-4″ caliper and 10-18′ tall. At some point, that tree will grow in height and cast a decent shadow on the ground. The problem is the shade these same trees provide is minimal at the time of installation. So what do you do? Do you install sun loving plants and replace them with shade plants down the road? Do you plant shade plants and let them struggle for a couple of years until the tree starts to provide more shade? I often search the globe for plants which will do well in either condition, both sun and shade. One of my plants of choice is Hakonechloa. Recently these plants haven’t been coming through the winter as strong as previous years. The search goes on for other plants to add to my list.
