Planting around base of trees

[PattyMcGinty]

Hello all your green fingered people can you help me? We've just moved house and have a (council owned) tree at the end of our driveway which is shouting out for some seeds to be planted around it.

I don't know how good the earth is but it's a pretty small area surrounded by concrete and I'm happy with buying new potting material.

I'm a complete novice so what could I plant/sow for some some colourful blooms? Would prefer not to have to do much work once things are planted and established.

Usually tree roots suck the moisture away from anything planted round them. I'd go for a packet of wildflower as they tend to grow better in poorer soil conditions.

chuck in a few crocus bulbs abs leave them to spread, you need to be careful of adding plants to the base of trees as pp said they will just take up the moisture during summer months

how long will wildflowers bloom for? I think crocus bulbs only flower in spring time don't they (told you I am a novice)

A wildflower mix will depend on the flowers in the mix. I still have marigolds flowering now, from last summer and they have flowered all winter. You leave wildflowers to self seed and then chop the stems back once brown and they will come back year in year out.

This is a really tough spot. If there aren't weeds growing there already that tells you how tough it is - nothing wants to move in. What kind of tree is it?

Oh, I like the sound of the wildflowers. There are weeds/grassy bits growing around the tree trunk and I see there is actually a crocus. I don't know what kind of tree it is except it's a huge one with some kind of blossom that only lasts a short time. (we only moved in 3 months ago and it's bare just now)

Cyclamen are also good for areas around trees. They will spread naturally or can be helped along by scattering the sticky seeds from the ripe capsule fruits.

They tend to be autumn flowering, though I read you can get varieties for every month. Even after they have died down, the beautiful 'marbled' leaves will remain for many months.

Tubers may seem a bit expensive at first, but you will get hundreds of plants within a few years. Colours mostly pink or white, but also darker mauve ones. Don't plant them deep, but just roughen soil surface and 'sit' them on the ground, so the top of the tuber is still exposed.

Explore this site, and all the variations of cyclamen: www.cyclamen.org/indexCS.html