Shade plot ideas

[Jeff H]

I've got three 1/4 acre plots that are now mostly shaded. Two are tucked into wooded areas. The third is an old clover plot that is mostly grown over with grass. It has several walnut trees in it that have canopied. Taking the trees down is not an option. What would be your recommendations for small shaded plots?
My thoughts are white clover and PTT's but open to any ideas.

 

[Drycreek]

I don’t plant turnips as “my” deer don’t eat them, but white or red clover are the only things I’ve had any luck with in shaded areas. The trees are sucking up a lot of your moisture, that’s probably gonna hurt anything you try to grow there.

 

[Jeff H]

I don’t plant turnips as “my” deer don’t eat them, but white or red clover are the only things I’ve had any luck with in shaded areas. The trees are sucking up a lot of your moisture, that’s probably gonna hurt anything you try to grow there.

Any particular variety of clover work for you better than the others ?

 

[THE LLC]

White clover is about the only thing I can get to grow around walnuts.

 

[Drycreek]

Any particular variety of clover work for you better than the others ?

In the past I had a couple plots of Whitetail Institute clover that did well in partial shade all day and full shade in the mornings. Last year I planted medium red in two plots like that and it did better than I expected. Small plots that got a lot of pressure. I rarely even saw any blooms, the deer kept it pretty low, but it did grow fairly thick. I haven’t seen it in a couple weeks but it was still going pretty strong at the time.

 

[coolbrze0]

I've had pretty good luck w/ Durana in my shaded mountain plots here in VA. I don't have any Black Walnuts here but they produce an organic compound called juglone which occurs naturally in all parts of the tree, especially in the buds, nut hulls, and roots. The leaves and stems contain smaller quantities of juglone, which is leached into the soil after they fall. The highest concentration of juglone occurs in the soil directly under the tree’s canopy, but highly sensitive plants may exhibit toxicity symptoms beyond the canopy drip line. Juglone has an allelopathic effect on some other plants, meaning it can stunt their growth or even prevent them from growing... But give it a go & let us know how it works out!

 

[Drycreek]

I never thought about it before, but I know that the crushed hulls, (the green outside hull), of walnuts when thrown in a hole in a creek, will do something to the fish that makes them come to the top. At least that’s what I heard from several older guys when I was a kid. They must have something in them that deprives fish of oxygen because the fish were edible, not poisoned. I never had enough walnut hulls to try it myself, walnut trees are few and far between here.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Clover is great for shaded areas. But nothing much grows under the field edge canopy of oak trees.

 

[Tom Naumcheff]

I’ve got a few hickory trees on the south side of my plot that cast a pretty big shadow as the days get shorter. I used to plant turnips and radishes in the whole plot but what was planted in those shaded areas never grew more than a foot at best. I have noticed that rye, wheat and oats do really well in those shaded spots. I think some of that has to do with those areas not drying out as much during hot dry days of late august and September.

 

[Jeff H]

I've had pretty good luck w/ Durana in my shaded mountain plots here in VA. I don't have any Black Walnuts here but they produce an organic compound called juglone which occurs naturally in all parts of the tree, especially in the buds, nut hulls, and roots. The leaves and stems contain smaller quantities of juglone, which is leached into the soil after they fall. The highest concentration of juglone occurs in the soil directly under the tree’s canopy, but highly sensitive plants may exhibit toxicity symptoms beyond the canopy drip line. Juglone has an allelopathic effect on some other plants, meaning it can stunt their growth or even prevent them from growing... But give it a go & let us know how it works out!

I've grown Durana in the plot. Juglone has never seemed to have an effect on any of my clover plantings.

 

[Jeff H]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Definitely going to go with white clover, maybe mix in some red and a few brassicas. As mentioned before the trees are probably sucking up moisture so I think timing with consecutive rain days will be my determining factor.