Does it exist? Oh and it needs to be short, the shorter the better. We have a covered patio with a concrete floor. For some reason the builders left 1"-2" expansion joints between each section creating a grid on the entire patio. It looks nice as is but is "heck" to keep clean. The joints are basically holes that not only has their own dirt but is a catch all for more dirt and such. It also will grow weeds in spots. Uggh! If we clean the joints out then they just look like holes. Not very appealing. Due to the patio being completely covered and bordered on one side with a carport and the other with the sunroom, the patio gets no direct sunlight. Since it is a patio, we will need to have whatever we plant to withstand foottraffic and not be too tall. Oh and due to the patio being somewhat unlevel, we can't water alot. The water pools down near one corner of the house and harbors misquitos! Being in Louisiana, zone 8b or 9a depending on which map, I fear West Nile virus. However, I can water from time to time with a watering jug but it still needs to be somewhat drought tolerant. So, does this plant exist? Any other ideas if not?
Complete shade, drought, and foot traffic tolerant plant
Oh, I thought I would add that there are 8 squares total each bordered on all four sides with the joints.
What about sweet woodruff. Very good in shade, I never water mine and my dogs run through it.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55///
I use this for my lawn and I like it a lot. Fleur de lawn
http://www.protimelawnseed.com/fleur_de_lawn.htm
I'll second the sweet woodruff recommended by Mobi. I have it in several of my more difficult spots. I watered it enough to get it established, and have left it alone since.
By the way, Mobi - I am originally from Denver. Beautiful place to live. I think the drive from the city up through the foothills into the mountains is probably one of the prettiest things I've ever seen. I wsa just telling some friends about dinners at The Fort last week.
I would think black dwarf mondo grass would look great!
Another option is bishop's weed, and may be great in your situation. I NEVER water mine. Even in the last 5 years of drought we have had. In other instances it can be invasive so you will have to determine if it suits your needs. Just water until established. Very pretty too.
sstateham: I live about 15 minutes from The Fort. But it is getting expensive to live here now.
When I was little they used to have a pet bear at the Fort. There used to be another place near there (I think) called the Hidelberg Inn that I loved as a little kid.
How about lamium? I never water mine, the dog is always running over it, and it's still going gangbusters. Ajuga might be good for dry shade there, too.
Lamium is a good choice. Pretty and flowers.
kahlanne, creeping thyme might be something to look at, but I dunno about total shade. It's tiny, it's evergreen and it can stand the foot traffic. You might put a light meter in there and discover that you don't have enough light to grow anything. That has been my experience with covered patios.
I agree with Pinns dwarf mondo grass (Ophiopogon) great! also mazus repens.
I love mazus repens and have it in a couple of areas. It spreads like crazy and has such beautiful flowers all spring.
Veto on the bishop's weed unless you want to weed it out a few times a year to keep it contained (This plant IS an invasive, it will spread into native areas if it happens to be transported there, and it can travel right underneath concrete given enough time. I spent three years trying to eradicate if from a rental property I lived at until this year... sifted all garden soil to remove roots, etc. Still had to weed it out constantly from tiny root pieces.. and once it gets into lawn forget about getting rid of it ;). I went back to look at the gardens yesterday and with no weeding they're overrun with it... nasty nasty stuff. Though great if you don't want a garden, just a green and white mound.)
You might want to become an expert on moss gardening... there are hundreds of thousands of varieties of moss, not all of them want wet conditions, Bryum argenteum is the sidewalk moss, it grows on roofs, in cracks in pavement, and is very tolerant of foot traffic. Many mosses will dry completely out and go dormant until the next time they get enough water, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem... and there have been several articles in horticultural magazines the past few years describing ways to promote moss growth, with various blender recipes calling for pieces of moss (variety of types if you don't know what'll work) and buttermilk or beer... depends on the recipe you use. Then you just paint the mixture into the cracks and mist it daily for a bit... the moss can regerminate from a single leaf (tiny) and it grows rather fast, never needs fertilizer (actually high nitrogen will kill most moss) and is adapted to living at light levels that most vascular plants can't tolerate.
Sorry to knock bishop's weed... I'm on a small crusade after my experience.
Cheers,
Byron.
I had the same problem with bishop's weed at our old house. The prior owners had planted it, and despite fighting it for over 10 years, it was still popping up all over the place. I even round-up'd it a few times.
Yep. Roundup killed the leaves (it's the only thing I've used the stuff for... prefer not to use chemicals if at all possible but it drove me to it!!) but in about a month they all came right back. I took to just pulling what I could when I saw it... I've read it takes three years of covering with black plastic to totally kill it.. The stuff seems like a dream to anyone wanting to fill in space fast, until you want to grow anything else ;).
I had it for years in and out of everything and several years ago my husband pulled it all (well most of it) out root by root and we figured it was about the only way to be sure it was gone. A few still pop up..but nothing like we had. Same with Lamiastrum and gooseneck loosestrife.........you just have to get down there and pull! Roundup didn't do much good and what about violets?????? Can't get rid of them!
Try this link: http://tinyurl.com/c9mgh
They have three or four suggestions.
Dichondra is great for that kind of situation. It can take sun or shade, and is one tough plant.
-T
I am I correct in understanding this is in the middle of your patio? anotherwords you walk over this and furniture is sitting over these areas? I hate to sound like a 'non' gardener, and I hold my breath as I say but....what about astro-turf?? It will always be green, it will wear well under the foot traffic, it will always look good (even long after you die) and you won't have to worry about watering, trimming, weeds, LOW maintenence!. I'm not a fan of it, but if I am understanding correctly, this just might be a place for it.
If you plant something in these 'cracks' you will need dirt there for the plants to grow and if the plants die because there is not enough sunlight and then it rains.... you'll have mud on your patio...
Sorry for suggesting such a thing, I hope the forum forgives me! (smile)
S
I would rather have the mud.....there are plenty of things as suggested above to try and I think they would work.
I read an article a month or so ago about people here in Atlanta actually replacing their whole yards with Astroturf!! The neighbors went balistic!!
Now that would be terrible.
S
I'd never heard of mazus repens but I looked it up and agree that it's really pretty and ok for my Z5b location in Wisconsin. However, it's recommended for sun/part shade. Since I'm also looking for a ground cover for a shady location, this would be terrific IF it will be thrive in mostly shade. What do you all think?
This message was edited Mar 7, 2006 12:50 PM
It will be fine.
gosh I must have the wrong idea about Bishops weed. I thought I had some at a prior house. It grew in a damp dark corner and I really liked it - worked fine - looked great - never ever needed anything. Even survived a rebuild of some stairs. My sister called it snow on the mountain but later I looked it up and it was similar but not the same. I asked daves garden what it was called and they called it Bishops weed. So I was going to get some for some very dry under tree shady area I have but now I think I should not.
AGGHHHHHH!
Are talking about Bishop's Weed aka False Qeen Anne's Lace or Bugleweed ie Ajuga? It seems to me that Bishop's Weed would be too large to be a groundcover at 15"-36". Also, it is just plain weedy looking with no positive feedback. The Ajuga "Caitin's Giant" is also really invasive, but I understand that some of the more recent cultivars are somewhat less so, especially so those with dark colored leaves. And, they are pretty. Dotti
well it wasn't ajuga I know that. It was a 12 - 15 inch variegated decidious groundcover that had pointed ragged leaves and sort of a bloom in white that was more of a spire than a flower. It bloomed in deep summer. It thrived in the shade with only a short spot of light in the very early morning.
I looked up false queen anne's lace and that is not that either
it looks like Aegopodium podograria (bishops weed) mostly but never left its orignial spot and never was invasive. However it was planted at the base of burford holly bushes
Is there anything else that looks like Aegopodium podograria but isn't?
could it be a variegated filapendula? That doesn't have a spire either but neither does Bishops' Weed (which is definitely like queen anne's lace).
How about viola cornuta - can take very dry shade, only needs a trim every now and again and has lovely white or blue flowers. Another suggestion is arenaria balearica (sandwort) which has starry white flowers.
Hi G -- Viola cornuta is really pretty -- but alas not hardy enough for our SE Wisconsin 5b climate. Will consider it as an annual in smaller garden areas where perennials aren't a necessity. Thanks.
How about variegated Lirope if you like the variegated look? You could always go for a tiled floor look and put black liriope in the corners with a green plant on the edges. I would think ajuga might be the lowest growing thing I can think of and is available in many colors. One worry if you are a barefooter, is bees on the flowers of anything you plant.
Not a post in a long time I see,'
thought I would pipe in if anayone is still watching.
how about silver pony foot. I is small sort of rides the gound and puts out a great white to silver leaf that covers in a semi-thick mat. It also handles foot traffic.
calvin
Horseherb (Calyptocarpus vialis) is perfect for dry shade. It's drought tolerant and takes stepping on pretty well. My friends planted it at their old house to fill in where grass was no longer growing because of shade. They just mowed right over it when needed. It spreads and in shade it stays about an inch or two tall. But, it will grow into a 5 or 6 inch tall mound where it gets sun if not mowed and some people consider it a weed.
Moss sounds like the best plan to me, if you get a variety that is up to foot traffic. There are also many thymes that do well between pavers and tolerate traffic; they flower beautifully, as well. There is a dwarf liriope - cannot think of its name - that is very sweet and puts up with any soil and light conditions. I don't know, however, how it would look if people walked on it; the dogs may be less of an issue.
Could you post a pic of the area? That would help others to make useful suggestions.
word of caution on dwarf mondo grass: an attractive ground cover, tough and low maintenance. Please make sure you buy from a reputable source. I made the mistake of buying from Lowes/HD (don't remember which) and what I got was the regular mondo grass. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between dwarf mondo and a "baby regular mondo".
My plan was to fill cracks between stepping stones using dwarf mondo. And it has worked well, but over time I've discovered regular mondo that has reached maturity and now my setup looks funky. I'm constantly having to trim the regular mondo with shears. I've pulled it out but it comes back so quickly, I've resigned myself to just give it haircuts to match it to the true dwarfs. Not the biggest problem in one's life, but annoying.
I have the same problem with an area around my patio...every now and then a taller one will pop up and I just thought it was possibly reverting back to the regular...just like variegated plants revert back to green...I do have the regaular in other places (and it is a nice ground cover) so it is possible it reseeded in there. At any rate it is a great short ground cover.
I planted Bishops weed in a dry shade area at our previous home and it was very slow to take off. After three years, we sold our house so I don't know what became of it. I planted it at the base of invasive aspens and nothing would grow so it had its work cut out for it.
Since then, I would not consider it. I have planted vinca minor praying I don't regret it in areas where I wanted big coverage. But I hope I can rip it out if it becomes a problem. So far, Labrador Violets have been my enemy and I'm constantly removing it.
I love Blue Star Creeper, Irish and Scotch Moss. They are amazing. The mazus repens does not choke the weeds and I'm trying other creepers in their place because they are not invasive enough. I wish I could get my mosses to grow more consistently as I love their look and ability to co-exist with other plants.
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=550861201
Plantcrazy
Hey Crazy,
Your pictures are fabulous, fabulous-Wowsa!!
kahlanne- I was wondering if you ever did plant something, what did you decide on?
My first favorite would be moss (soil needs to be acidic, ph <7). Another favorite would be one of the Leptinella's http://davesgarden.com/pf/search.php?search_text=Leptinella&images_prefs=both&Search=Search but they need at least part sun. As mentioned before dwarf mondo grass is another great one, but I think that needs some sun too.
Vossner-sorry to hear about your experience with Mondo grass. I would have never thought about. I just purchased a pot of dwarf (I hope) that I want to divide up and plant between some stepping stones.
I've posted this picture on other threads, so you might have seen it before. I love our moss paths!
Shady
This message was edited Jun 22, 2006 7:48 AM
The craziest thing just happened. My whole reply did not show up. I tried to edit it and it still did not.
here is the rest of reply:
My first favorite would be moss-soil needs to be acidic ph. Another favorite would be one of the Leptinella's http://davesgarden.com/pf/search.php?search_text=Leptinella&images_prefs=both&Search=Search but they need at least part sun. As mentioned before dwarf mondo grass is another great one, but I think that needs some sun too.
Vossner-sorry to hear about your experience with Mondo grass. I would have never thought about. I just purchased a pot of dwarf (I hope) that I want to divide up and plant between some stepping stones.
I've posted this picture on other threads, so you might have seen it before. I love our moss paths!
Shady
shadyfolks..that is the most fabulous moss path. I think moss sort of grows where it wants to grow. We have mulched paths and have tried to make them moss but it did not work.
What is that blue flower?
-T