Do you have mature conifers in your yard that things struggle to grow beneath? It can be a surprisingly difficult growing situation, as tree canopies intercept the bulk of falling rain and accumulated needles make an acidic and persistent mulch.

This kit features nine species that are adapted to dry forest understory. A mix of grasses and flowers add biodiversity and pollinator value to an otherwise limited landscape. There are some excellent crawling ground covers in this kit, as well as more prominent flowering plants with good seasonal bloom coverage. These are also good naturalizers (reseed readily, or creep via rhizome). 
 
These plants will do best in bright shade, or where they get an hour or two of morning or evening sun. And of course, they aren't just magically going to thrive in dry soil. Plan on watering these guys weekly (and deeply!) that first season, and again when it's very hot and dry. Their magic lies in very efficient use of the water and light they do get, not in doing without. 
 
Shade in this case means bright shade, under trees that you can comfortably walk under and around. Think dry ponderosa/doug fir forest, not cedar/hemlock grove. If you want to plant under a massive Norway spruce that hasn't been limbed in 50 years...do some trimming first. If your shade is very dark, consider adding irrigation and choosing the Moist Shade Kit instead.
 
More light tends to equal more flowers, so for darker shade you might see your plants making more foliage and doing more creeping. Not a good/bad thing, just an fyi.
 
 
Small Kit: 26 plugs covering ~ 25 - 50 sq ft.
Regular Kit: 49 plugs covering ~ 50 - 100 sq ft.
 
Kit contains (small) (regular):
Muttongrass - Poa fendleriana (6)(12)
Smooth blue aster - Symphyotrichum laeve (3)(7)
Field chickweed - Cerastium arvense (4)(7)
Wild strawberry - Fragaria virginiana (4)(7)
Harebell - Campanula rotundifolia (3)(6) 
Field wood-rush - Luzula campestris (2)(4)
Raceme pussytoes - Antennaria racemosa (2)(3) 
Slender cinquefoil - Potentilla gracilis (1)(2)
Showy aster - Eurybia conspicua (1)(2)
 
Plants come mostly in 10 cubic inch plugs, with a few 7 cubic inch plugs.
 
Refer to our plug planting guide for planting instructions.
 
Plant in full  to part shade with well-draining soil. Low to medium water.
 
It is important to remove existing grass and weeds either mechanically or via chemicals before you plant plugs. If using chemicals, ensure soil residence time is exceeded before planting. The county extension folks can help with that. 
 
Space plugs 1 to 2 feet apart. Water deeply every week during the first growing season, and weekly in hot dry weather thereafter. Keep area between plants clear of weeds and lawn grass. Plants will come back year after year, and will readily reseed into bare soil!