[MicahB]

Hello! I moved into a rent house around the end of summer last year. The house has a large area that is bricked off in the back yard that has decent sized trees (holly trees and another type) with monkey grass surrounding them. This area has not be kept up w/ for the past 5-6 years. A lot of baby trees have started to grow.

I have started the process over getting rid of the baby trees. I am basically cutting them off as low as I can on the root. I didn't want to dig them up because it would destroy the monkey grass. I am assuming it will take the same time for the roots to decay as it would take for the monkey grass to grow back. Any opinions on that?

I live in Dallas, Tx where it gets hot and the trees give a lot of shade to this area. Any suggestions for different colored plants that I could plant around the trees? Something festive and fun but low maintenance. Are there some bright colored ferns perhaps? And I heard that planting right at the base of a tree could be bad?
Thanks for the noobie advice!!
Micah

[Stonehenge]

Sounds like you've made you decision on the trees vs monkey grass, so I don't know that there's a need to go into that further.

As for plants with color in Texas, I'm in Wisconsin, so I don't think I can offer much info that would be of value.

Good luck!

[Cochran]

What type of holly trees are those you are talking about? Can you get more specific--yaupons, Nellie R, Savannah.....

I'm a little deeper south in Texas than you are--near Corpus Christi--so the vegetation that grows will vary quite a bit, but if you are interested in ferns (do you get ample amount of shade from those holly trees?) Japanese Painted Fern do great in your area and they have outstanding color.

Also, it sounds as if the Monkey Grass (Mondo) has filled in quite well, so do you really want to attempt to work around that grass to plant new varieties? If the grass is full you sure would have to thin it out a bit to plant some new plant varieties under your hollies.

A few colorful types that I like in South Texas for their shade tolerance and low maintenance are:
Japanese Painted Fern
Coleus (an annual though, needing to be replaced yearly)
Caladium (also an annual)
Variegated Ginger--if you're looking for something with height, and these will die back each year in your area, you get too cold
Copper Plant--same as above
Ajuga (or Bugleweed) if you want something of more of a creeping variety
Society Garlic in the variegated form-Silver Lace
Alternanthera varieties (aka Joseph's Coat) although may be too spreading for mixing with Monkey Grass
And there are also many many more that do well in Texas....

My best recommendation would be for you to visit a local nursery such as Nicholson-Hardie and describe your situation to them and if you could provide pictures to better describe your situation that would help tremendously.