Create a Soft Landing Around a Sapling

In our last blog post, we shared the concept of soft landings: the vegetative layers beneath trees that provide safe haven for caterpillars in their pupal and most vulnerable state (as well as other insects and wildlife species).

In this post, we’ll cover how to create this critically important habitat below and around a new sapling. In our next post, we’ll share tips on planting under mature trees.

While a young tree may be standing in full sun today, as it matures, the canopy will gradually cast more shade, changing the conditions beneath it. That's why it's important to choose companion plants that can make the transition from full sun to full shade as your tree fills out.

Here are some keystone perennials that will transition as the canopy fills in:

• Big Leaf Aster (Eurybia macrophylla)

• Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

• Blue Stem Goldenrod (Solidago caesia)

• Crooked Stem Aster (Symphyotrichum prenanthoides)

• Short's Aster (Symphyotrichum shortii)

• Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)

• Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus)

• Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

Together, these plants provide flowers from spring through fall. Wild strawberry gets the season started, woodland sunflower carries the show through summer, and asters and goldenrods provide critical late-season nectar and pollen when many other plants have finished blooming.

Mix in a few additional species for even greater diversity and visual interest, and to provide host plants for specialist insects.

Be sure as you plant to leave the root flare exposed so your tree can breathe. If you’re trading grass for sass, and want to save your back, put down cardboard and mulch for 6-8 weeks prior to planting, or simply surround your new plants with carboard and mulch to blot out the weeds around them. Bare spots made this way work amazingly well for establishing a new planting area.

As your tree matures and begins casting shade beneath it, spring ephemerals, ferns and other shade plants can be added for a broader array of colors, textures and benefits.

Including a shrub layer significantly boosts the wildlife value of a soft landing area by providing nesting, food and valuable thermal and protective cover. Consider these full sun to full shade woody species that can thrive in full sun, and adapt as the canopy closes overhead:

Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatis)

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata)

Mapleleaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

With a few thoughtfully chosen companions, your sapling won't just grow into a tree. It'll grow into an entire ecosystem!