Evergreen trees or large shrubs with surface root systems bully smaller plants trying to survive beneath them by robbing them of nutrients, moisture and light. And so do the huge hedges and screening plants we have to plant for privacy. They cause the top layers of soil to become lifeless and bone dry.
Dry shade can also be caused by the overhang of a building preventing rain from reaching plant roots especially against south-facing walls – areas that we sometimes neglect to water, believing that a rainy spell would have sorted it out.
As always, there is a lesson to learn from Mother Nature. In dense
