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Horse Chestnut trees

Lusiya asks:

Question

I have 2 VERY large and very old horse chestnut trees in my garden and the soil underneath is very bare (i.e. no lawn will grow there). I want to plant something underneath the tree and have done lots of research on plants for under trees (i.e. lots of shade and possibly also quite dry soil). However I have heard from someone that there is something in particular about Horse Chestnuts that makes it hard to grow anything underneath them. Others say they are just like any other tree. Can anyone shed any light on this? If they are different from other trees can you explain why this is? Does it affect the soil ph? or are there root toxins like with black walnuts? Any advice on what I can do to improve the chances of anything I plant, or on what the best things to plant would be? So far I am thinking of vinca, lily of the valley, snow drops and other bulbs and maybe heathers or some alpines. There is a pretty big area to cover so I don't want to buy masses of plants and then have them all die. Please help if you can.

Answer

Horse Chestnut trees don't produce any toxins that to inhibit competition that Im aware of, you're having a hard time growing plants under your tree because of the direct competition for resources. Plants need water, nutrients and sun, without a sufficient amount of any of these it will ultimately lead to the decline of most all plants.

You might consider planting some trailing vines like the vinca in decorative pots under the tree. The pots will provide the plants with their own soil and there will be no digging possibly damaging the roots of your large Horse Chestnut Tree.

Hope this helps, happy gardening!

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