We have a large California bay laurel (or Oregon myrtle, if you’re from Oregon) in the back corner of our yard, and I’ve read that they saturate the surrounding soil with terpenes that kill or stunt many other types of plants:
We’re planning to remove the old fence at the back of our lot (the one with all the “treehouse building materials” leaning against it in the photo below), and rather than replacing it with another fence, I’d like to plant a hedge or at least a row of something that might be able to grow well next to this tree.
The only plant I’ve found referenced anywhere as being able to tolerate these terpenes is Vitis californica, but that is more of a groundcover than hedge plant.
Does anyone have experience with growing anything in close proximity with Umbellularia californica, or know of any better way to research this than googling?
This is the most detailed information I’ve found , which even includes the following list of associated species, but the text says few of these were actually found in the bay laurel understory (without specifying which):
I shared your post with my wife, a garden designer who specializes in California natives, and she suggested that you consider silk tassel (Garrya elliptica) or toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) for this situation. Both can tolerate some shade, though you may still need to limb up the bay tree a bit to provide enough sun. You can control the height of both via pruning.
Thank you (and thanks to your wife too)! It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the bay is actually cut pretty close on the far side because of the power lines, so anything planted there should get decent afternoon sun, mostly shaded only in the morning.
The main problem will be the poor drainage there (the dirt alleyway it borders on usually has standing water almost year-round), but I may build up mounds for planting because it’s probably impossible to find anything that tolerates both wet feet and Umbellularia terpenes.
The Silk Tassel and Toyon mentioned above are somewhat tender. There is a G. elliptica doing well long-term here in SE Portland and it is now in full bloom.
Various shallow-rooted perennials have done OK under our Bay Laurel.
I had a Toyon freeze-die out from 18 degrees in the early 1990s here.
Suzi says: if drainage is an issue, you might also want to consider wax myrtle (Myrica/Morella californica). It’s more tolerant of wet feet. Of course, you should check these options against your local climate conditions to be confident that they’d be winter-hardy there.
