I'm looking for a groundcover(or very short plant) that will be in the front of my blue/white and yellow garden. I had Grace Ward Lithodora for a few years and it slowly stopped flowering. :(
I bought Arabis Snowcap, to put there we'll see how that does....
Anyone have a favorite groundcover?
Does it have to flower? I like sedum Angelina....it's yellow, but does not have flowers for me.....
No doesn't have to flower if it's your favorite
I do have Angelina, I can always take some pieces and spread that around
I like creeping speedwell, but it does creep really well.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/87635/
perennial vinca .. easy to pull out where it might spread where I don't want it.. and doesn't spread too fast
My favorite is ajuga.I like the dark folliage and the blue-purple flowers that stand up like little soldiers.
I like all of the above except for the ajuga. It is really pretty, but it took over the grass in my yard and made dark patches since the mower kept whacking it. I'd like it in a confined area though. Lysimachia is pretty too. I bought some last summer at a nursery in Vermont. It has chartreuse leaves and pretty bright yellow flowers. I brought it down here, and I'll probably bring it back.
Another vote for vinca...it does everything "right."
Pachysandra can wander, and appear leggy at times.
it does.. I didn't pull any bittercress out of that patch.. it kept it all out
Remember that all parts of a vinca plant are in the highest category of deadly poison for dogs, but that is only a problem if you have puppies who are teething and picking up everything in sight to chew. LOL. Been there, done that! It is not a problem now that our girls prefer to dig up grass roots instead. Oh my! :)
Have a number. What area and conditions? Must it take foot traffic? Be drought tolerant?
What your favorite for each area?
This message was edited Mar 25, 2012 2:11 PM
thanks for the reminder Louise.. the dogs don't go near there
I like vinca - shade to sun, moderate foot traffic.
Hosta and hellebore - obviously shade, minimal traffic. Hosta more water needy.
Geranium macro - part shade best. Minimal traffic.
Golden Creeping Jenny - shade to sun. NEEDS water. Slower spreading than species. Takes lots of foot traffic.
Fern - shade. Minimal traffic.
I've got a huge bare circle under the hydrangea tree I pruned.....guess I need to plant some shade-loving groundcover there.....I have lots of vinca that I could transplant....
pixie - what kind of conditions is your or creeping speedwell in? I'm having a hard time getting it to flourish.
Only gets morning sun until about 10am then it's pretty much in full shade all day. Also, this big patch is near where the outside hose spicket is so it's almost always moist.
Vinca has been taking over my yard. It's bad enough that I just take the shears and hack it back. I'm trying white clovers on my garden paths this year. I need something that will handle foot traffic. Hopefully this doesn't become invasive too.
I have golden creeping jenny that takes foot traffic.....easy to pull out if too invasive.....nice to see Foxboro represented as one of my best friends lives there....
Vinca easy to remove here. Spreads slowly.
Yes, it spreads pretty slowly here, too, but now it seems to be smothering my shade plants.....
Vinca is my favorite by far
I love the sedums.
The Arnold Arboretum (a must-see in the Boston area), plants ajuga and grape hyacinth around their stunning, world-class lilac collection, so that the area has a more natural, less precise appearance.
I guess mine would be native Ginger- Asarum Canadense. Although, mine has colonized so well that now I'm starting to get rather afraid. That is the downside to me of ground cover- at some point you want it to just stop and that is not always easy to do. On my long to do list is reign in the Sweet Woodruff, and I don't look forward to it.
Of course my absolute favorite ground cover is hosta, but I don't really think of them as such. They are more specimens to me.
I'll find a pic of my Ginger from last year. The other one with the small dark shiny leaves is pretty too.
I like Ginger too. (MaryAnn, even more!) Has only grown sporadically for me.
I like sedum too, but cannot take any foot traffic. Best for traffic is creeping Jenny.
That's true, you can stomp all over that stuff. My favorite sedum is the one that I can grow in the shade, sedum ternatum. I've got others here and there but don't thrive in my shade garden. John Creech does ok and I have stepped on that from time to time.
I need to plant something under my hydrangea tree.....I was thinking of trout lily....
That Asarum is nice and I do love the shiny leaves yet I don't consider it something I could walk on at all.
The low sedums mix together nicely and I can step on them without a problem but wouldn't consider them in place of a path or stepping stones or slate.
Marilyn - I have a few Duchess of Albany growing under my hydrangea tree, Tardiva. They love it there.
Thanks, Pirl.....are those the low growing clems?
They grow into the tree, no tedious work required since they die to the ground each winter and then rebound.
That is pretty, pirl.
Here is a pic from last year- my dog pooping in the Sweet Woodruff! That stuff is now on the other side of the chain link fence....I may have to use Round Up this year to stop it from getting into the neighbors yard.
In the foreground is the native Ginger.
I like sweet woodruff!
I do too, and it's not too aggressive in dry shade and smells so good.
I like it, but think it spreads like wildfire... I meant to coral the back edge last year but didn't get to it with the new puppy and now it made it to the other side of the fence- not good.
Mine never spread fast - to my disappointment!
bbrook gave me a bunch of sweet woodruff and it is in a dry shade and does well - noticed it has spread some although just in to some hosta that will tower over it.
growing some wild ginger from seed - will see how that does.
Debi gave me some Sweet W. at one of the RU's, think it was Bill's house. Anyways it came back last year but haven't seen it this year yet.
Well, I need something that will fill in quickly....the space looks awful right now.....the clems are pretty, but I'm afraid my mowing crew would mow them down.....they have destroyed several bushes.....
