suggestions for ground cover???

Technically, it isn't even my ground - it belongs to the apartment complex i live in. But, this is not an area anyone pays attention to. (The "landscaping" company doesn't do much - cuts the grass every couple of weeks in the summer.) It is at the edge of a grassy area, where there is an artificial concrete and rock sided waterway - i guess for drainage or runoff except there is always water in it. I'm in New Haven, CT.

I want something that will grow down this slope to the "creek." The ground is rocky and sandy, and far too steep to get too far down on. But some wildflowers and/or weeds do manage to pop up there in the summer.

I don't want to have to buy a LOT of something - i don't have a lot of $ for this. I would just really like to make it look a little nicer. And i don't want something invasive that will attack the rest of the yard. Something that could concievably be native would be even better - i don't want it to look "gardened."

I'm guessing some kind of moss or ivy, but there are so many... Help!

thanks for any suggestions!
amy
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This message was edited Apr 2, 2007 3:20 PM

How much sun? Will it be walked on?

This message was edited Apr 2, 2007 2:31 PM

the area is mostly sunny, and it is too steep to walk on.

Lamb's Ear, Vinca, Hardy Geranium. I'll think of more.

Welcome Amethystsm! I used to live in New Haven. Lamb's ear sounds like a good inexpensive way to go. I'll give you some divisions if you want.

Anything Dave has for free - that was my next suggestion.

Wow Dave has free plants to give away woohooo! LOL What a great guy!

Ajuga should work well.

Not to be an ungrateful newbie, rejecting the offer of free plants, but the lamb's ear sounds scary. i worry about the extreme invasiveness i read about.

the vinca minor looks nice.
i think i planted some vinca major (?) plants in another spot last year - the kind with the varigated leaves. they were labeled as periwinkle, but never did bloom, and i was convinced that i'd bought the wrong thing. the vines grew ok, but the leaves were definitely being eaten up by some kind of bugs... after reading about them here, i'm curious to see if anything comes back this year - nothing is there now.

basically, i want something that will grow downhill, and can be discouraged from growing in the other direction - into the yard. I don't want to cause a worse problem than an ugly, rocky slope. Plants that creep up i can deal with - plants that will spawn all over the place i cannot...

What about scotch moss? Or some kind of ferns?

thanks...

amy
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ferns won't like full sun.

I see low gro sumac on slopes like that. No probably not cheap, but cheap equates to spreaders that you don't want.

One of the easiest native ground covers I grow in a sunny spot is Phlox subulata (moss phlox, also called creeping phlox ). Both hay scented and New York fern grow in sun and are too invasive in moist shadier areas. Chrysogonum virginianium (golden star, green and gold) is available in several selections from completely prostrate to 8". Geranium maculatum(native) wild cranesbill, or non- native macrorrhizum, Stokesia laevis (stokes aster ), Coreopsis auriculata (dwarf coreopsis 4" ) or the taller 24"-36"( thread leaf ) Coreopsis verticillata with maybe wild columbine ( aquilegia canadensis ) might work also. I'd add a few different plants and see what works best.You'll have to figure out how to water the young plants until they establish. As for the vinca, I spend many hours pulling it out of my garden where it creeps under the fence from my neighbors yard. I also see in your first post you asked about ivy, this is a very invasive thug that does a lot of damage.
I don't know your zone and I'm in 6 so you might have to check hardiness.

I think a nice cheap bag of clover seed would do the trick. Throw it and walk away. No watering, No weeding.

Amy, No problem. My experience with lamb's ear is that while it requires dividing every couple of years, it doesnt spread into my lawn or pop-up in random spots. Great drought tolerance too

Hi Amy...from another ex New Havener.
I haven't found lamb's ear to be too invasive--you can rip it out easily by hand--but be sure you like its rather odd flowers before you put it in. And before considering English Ivy, check the plantings in the "moats" around the Yale dorms. The ivy there doesn't look particlarly good in the fall, but it does have gobs of daffodils growing through it in spring. Vinca minor is usually recommended for shade, and I would put some barrier between it and the grass.

My thought is that you might like to try low shrubs. Heather/heath is pretty on slopes, especially if you use several colors. You can get small plants from Rock Spray Nursery, but it will take a few years for it to spread. I got some Saybrook Gold junipers from Musser Forests a few years back to cover a slope and they are covering it very well, spreading to 2-3 ft wide. They have a nice light green color in the sun.

What about naturalizing rudbeckia that will reseed each year?

watersedge - i like the way you think! silly me - i didn't even know you could buy clover seed, but that may well be just the thing!

i also found something called snow-in-summer i'm liking, though i'd like it more if it was a CT native. i've found a few things on CT plant websites, like bearberry, also.

i cannot believe how helpful people here on this website are - thank you all for your suggestions! i'll post a picture when i get something going there...

amy
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You could always put in some ajuga, as pirl suggested or some lamium or for faster results, some pachysandra.(I don't think I spelled that right, but you get the idea). That doesn't require a lot of $$$, because you just cut off the tops and plant in some soil to root more of it.

I'd stay away from Snow in Summer. I had it and it gets real ugly because it flops to the outside leaving a bare center. To avoid this, you have to cut it way back - too much work! I would go with Ajuga or Lamb's Ear.

One important thing you may not have considered. You're not simply dealing with a barren area with rocky / sandy soil. That slope means rain will be racing down it. You may want to consider putting in some river stones to slow that flow down - at least near the top where it's not so steep.

I would consider Pachysandra to be invasive and somewhat hard to get rid of, at least around here. But if you wanted some, I could dig some up for you. I thought it was more of a shade thing too as it grows under my trees and in the woods. What about a low growing ornamental grass? I don't have a specific one to consider, but I know I've seen on gardening shows and such it's been suggested as a grass that doesn't have to be mowed.