An Oak in the Garden (Oak)

Member Name: zebra

Product:	Oak
Date:	29/03/01 (2150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brings a wealth of wildlife

Disadvantages: You have to learn to work with nature - quite hard work

An ancient oak stands in all its majesty at the end of our garden forming a boundary between my world and another wilder one in the field and woods beyond. It is almost certainly a magical tree for either it or the fairies have enchanted me.

When we moved into this house I considered the oak to be a bit of a nuisance. It dominated the view, cast a great deal of shade, nothing grew under it save weeds and it shed millions of leaves which had to be raked up. But a few years on and the tree cast its spells making me appreciate and love it.

Nothing much grew under the tree except stubborn perennial weeds and a forest of annual ones. The area under the tree became the dumping ground for grass cuttings and other garden refuse and a place to have bonfires.

For the children it was a ready made adventure playground and they hung ropes from the branches to swing and carve huge bare patches below. The years passed and during occasional bouts of gardening interest I tried to reclaim the forest encroaching on my garden. Many plants were planted but very few grew successfully but then I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I gave up and let nature take its course.

The English oak (Quercus robur) sustains a greater variety of wildlife than any other species of tree in Europe. Every oak tree is a nature reserve in its own right, supporting for example 284 different kinds of insect alone, plus birds, animals and even plants. The insect life is very impressive if one compares how much other common but alien trees support – the plane tree only one and the horse chestnut only five.

With this diversity of insects the tree naturally attracts insect predators such as birds and bats and the acorns provide winter food for birds and small animals. Alongside the common garden predators like hedgehogs, frogs and toads we have quite a lot more. Because the wildlife drawn by the tree in turn attracts other predators such as the polecat,
fox and sparrow hawk.

Our tree has a resident green woodpecker and squirrels, jays and wrens are regular visitors. Every summer evening at dusk pipistrelle bats make their swooping appearance and we have had the occasional visit of pheasants, polecats, grass snake and sparrow hawk – the latter may not always be seen but his presence is known by the uncanny silence of the garden.

I enjoyed seeing the wildlife but did not realise the tree was the main reason of their visits. I just thought that everyone who lived near the country had the same. But later I discovered that neighbours did not get the same visitors and eventually discovered the attraction of the tree. Having a large variety of birds in the garden does have its disadvantages too for seed bearing flowers are stripped almost instantly. I am lucky if the red hot pokers last much more than a week before being decimated and I have yet to eat a nut from my hazel tree.

Because I was interested in identifying the birds and animals in the garden I bought books on wildlife and then moved on to identify the plants which grew naturally under the tree. Birds had brought with them plants which grew happily under the tree. The first were primroses which is a clear indication that the fairies had a hand in all this, but there were also violets, wild strawberries, foxgloves, columbines, lords and ladies and bluebells all self seeded.

Eventually I realised that if these plants could thrive under the tree so too could others and began to find plants which would be happy in a woodland situation. Vinca was my first success – in fact it was almost too successful but now kept in check by paths of deep shrub shreddings it provides a bed of green in which stands a white sculpture of a couple embracing, known affectionately as the ‘bonking’ statue. I have three species of vinca growing in various positions under the tree Vinca minor , major and a variegated form. Lily of
the valley is also a happy resident and these sweet smelling ‘fairy ladders’ as they are known in Ireland are an absolute treat in late spring.

Another triangular bed, edged with fallen branches, now covered in lichens, from the tree holds several varieties of ferns interplanted with primula species which have interbred with the common primrose to produce delicately shaded hybrids. Here too the lords and ladies have made their home.

Alongside the fence several shrubs have settled including holly, hawthorn and a beech tree. I have planted Sweet woodruff and Alchemilla vulgaris both of which are very much at home and spread prolifically. Lemon balm, various euphorbias, epimedium and various mints also seem reasonably happy.

At this time of year (spring) the area around the small wildlife pond is awash with colour from the bulbs and primroses. Later the hostas will hopefully appear without too much slug damage. Last year I had perfect hostas for the first time ever as the chickens gave us a slug free garden. The only problem was that they later ruined the hostas themselves by jumping up and down on them. Hellebores, astilbes, bleeding hearts, meadowsweet, creeping Jenny, Dicentra, Bugle, Lungwort, lady’s mantle and geraniums also grow here. The resident weed in this patch, lesser celandine, is allowed to stay as it is quite pretty too.

In the corner of the garden an ivy covered fence hides the contained heaps of decaying oak leaves which after about three years rot down to produce a most precious leaf mould.

The area under the tree is now a very special part of our garden – a beautifully restful place to sit in dappled shade on a hot summer’s day. It retains much of its wild feel because there are still many ‘weeds’ growing but it is a sort of controlled wildness.

Although this opinion has been about what I grow under our oak tree I am sure that if you have a similar proble
m of what to grow under deciduous trees that some of the plants I have mentioned would be equally happy in other semi shaded situations. Several of the plants are very poisonous so do check this out if you are worried about this.

Plant List


Astilbe – tends to only do well in wet seasons.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) I have the white variety as it shows better in the shady situation.

Bluebells (hyacinthoides non scripta)

Bugle (Ajuga reptans) the bronze variety ‘Atropurpurea’ is very attractive.

Creeping Jenny (Lysimacha nummularia ‘Aurea’)

Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris)

Epimedium versicolor – delicate looking green and red flecked foliage with small yellow spring flowers.

Euphorbia – I don’t know which species are growing but they tolerate dry shade. Sap is an irritant.

Ferns - various

Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) Foxgloves are mainly biennials so to guarantee them appearing sow or plant every year. Foxgloves are used by naughty fairies. They give the flowers to foxes to wear on their paws so they can prowl silently round chickens. The marks on the blooms are their fingerprints. Poisonous

Geraniums – Cranesbill G. macrorrhizum grows well in the shade - it has scented leaves originally used for oil of geranium. Also Two native or ‘wild flower’ varieties are reasonably happy: G. sanguineum and G. pratense.

Hellebores (Helleborus niger) Christmas Rose or Black Hellebore and (Helleborus foetidus) Poisonous

Hostas - various

Ladies Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris)

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)

Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) Poisonous

Lords and Ladies or Cuckoo Pint (Arum maculatum) Poisonous

Lungwort (Pulmonaria officianalis) – attractive spotted leaves and pin
k flowers which turn blue at the end of the stems.

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) a strewing herb.

Mint – various species

Primroses (Primula vulgaris) Primroses have a magical quality, known in some places as fairy cups which fairies used for shelter in rainstorms.

Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) – glossy dark ‘ruffs’ of leaves and clusters of starry white flowers in spring. Spreads happily forming clusters of dense ground cover. This is a traditional ‘strewing herb’ because the leaves develop a sweet hay scent when dried and can be used in pot pourri and herb pillows.

Vinca - Periwinkle – I have Vinca minor, major and variegated form.

Violets (Viola odorata)

Wild Strawberries (Fragaria vesca) also known as the Alpine strawberry. Lovely fruits if the birds don’t get them first.

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