Planting in the Shadowlands

Pachyphragma macrophylla carpets the understory despite challenging dry conditions. Photo: Richie Steffen

Creating a beautiful and well-designed understory can be a challenging and daunting task in the dry summer climate of the Pacific Northwest. Often, an evergreen canopy adds to the difficulty, but does not make it insurmountable. Through thoughtful plant selection and adhering to a few guidelines, any woodland can be turned into a garden oasis.

A beautiful understory begins with taking note and observing the overstory. Trees are not indestructible, and can suffer if there is excessive root damage caused by rototilling or digging large areas. Work with several small planting pockets rather than digging up large areas to avoid severely damaging or cutting large roots.

An example of the rich diversity that’s possible in a shady woodland planting.Photo: Richie Steffen.

Also, many Western tree species will not tolerate summer watering. The most important part of building an understory is to know what types of trees make up the can...