Ground cover options
ehits
10 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (11)
Fascist_Nation
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agotomatofreak
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
low ground cover on poorly drained clay
Comments (1)Did your weed control person say which weeds are regarded as pest plants for your area? And why? If you want any sort of success with your yard - you will HAVE to put back the soil you've been scraping off. That's where the food and water are for the plants and soil life. Gardening on clay: there is a 'best time' for cultivation. It's like Goldilocks' porridge. Not too wet. Not too dry. You could either use a heavy-duty spading fork - or a mattock, or a big, long-handled shovel with an oval tip. The last two are good for putting in shallow drains, too. Does your local civic administration allow you to cover your yard with mulch? You'll still get weeds. No doubting. Birds and wind - and even the rain, will bring in seed. The mulch makes for easy weeding, though. At the moment, because you've scraped off the top/humus layer, all that will grow are pioneer species - mosses, liverworts, annuals or tough shrubs/trees. And they'll be small for a long time, until the food levels rise. Maybe five years and more. I like your idea of the rushes. Are you obliged to have a monoculture? Or could you create an ephemeral wetland? I think they're called 'rain gardens' This link might help: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/.../raingardenconstructionguide.pdf. There are plenty of others on Google, though. The main hesitation I would have lies around using shingle or pebbles as a mulch. Weeds and busy annuals love it! Seed madly in it! Takes way too much time to keep looking tidy... First step, for me, would be to return the soil you've removed as evenly as possible. If it's not a huge area you could solarize it to kill emerging weeds (clear plastic plus enough damp to get them to germinate, and let the sunlight sizzle them). Or lightly and regularly (weekly) cultivate to disturb the emerging seedlings, adding a thin layer of bought compost - no more than half an inch deep and ruffle it through the top soil. Do that compost adding two to four times over the rest of the summer, and water once a week or so. If wind is a problem in your yard - you'll have to mulch to protect your soil. Stop it from flying away when it's dry. Can you get mulched leaves from your tree feller fellas either free or cheaply? Lay them on so the ground is covered and there's about two inches thickness. Not too much. You want it to rot away over summer. Stay away from the glyphosate. You want (well, maybe not, yet you NEED) your soil life to restart, and poisoning is not going to help. I didn't pick up whether your yard is very sunny, or quite shaded. If it's shaded, the Creeping Jenny should be fine though the rushes might protest and show their displeasure by dying. While you're waiting for the soil to restart into health - you could also be bulking up your chosen ground cover. Little offsets in pots ready to make plugs of your own. Check out Freecycle or similar for a source of small pots. When you've got your cover going again - annually add that thin layer of compost in and around the plants and on any bald patches. So long as you don't smother them or their growing points they'll be fine. It will build your soil, help hold the moisture for longer over summer, make removing weeds easy, and feed your groundcover, as well as help it to spread. Good luck....See MoreGround Cover options?
Comments (13)Thanks for the suggestions. I was able to spend a couple of hours working on the ivy patch, and got about half the vines and some of the roots out. I think the most concerning roots are going to be the ones right up against the house, I think that's where the plantings were started. It's not a huge patch so I think manually will be best for now. I did discover that there is more terracing in that little area than I thought. The lower part has a retaining wall, but there were THREE very narrow terraces hidden under the ivy instead of a natural slope like I thought we had. So I'm rethinking the straight groundcover and I'm thinking about planting a small perennial garden. I love peonies, I just don't know if that area gets enough sun. If we go with the groundcover option, creeping phlox was one of the ones I was looking at. If it's not too invasive I might use it for the parts that are hard to reach (right above the retaining wall). Once we're farther along with the eradication I want to go to a nursery and look at the options in person. Anyone have any experience with Squak Mt. Nursery?...See MoreGround Cover options around a patio
Comments (2)Besides periwinkle (vinca), there's ivy (no flowers but there are some varieties with white marbling), lamium (dead nettle)(pink, white, purple or yellow flower depending on variety and some have a silver stripe on the leaves), snow-in-summer (bishop's weed), pachysandra, goldenstar (limited season bloom), or Geranium sanguineum Tiny Monster or Geranium Cantabrigiense Biokovo/Cambridge/Karmina/St. Ola (these are often lemony scented, bloom well all summer, and the leaves turn reddish in fall, and the plants stay low and do not flop and naturalize well... I use Geranium Cantabrigiense Karmina as a ground cover around my roses because I hate weeding around thorns). There's also chameleon plant and ajuga if you don't mind something invasive. Ajuga will easily get in the lawn despite any efforts to stop it. I think all of these are pretty low maintenance....See MoreHelp please! Ugly backyard
Comments (8)Since it’s a rental I’d get some potted plants that you can take with you. Not sure you can do anything about the ground cover however without permission from the owner....See Morecold_weather_is_evil
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoFascist_Nation
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoMaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoiandyaz
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoehits
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoFascist_Nation
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoonap1
10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
Related Stories
GROUND COVERSGround Force: 10 Top Ground Covers for Your Garden
Protect your soil from weeds and drought this summer with a living mulch of ground covers
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES6 Deer-Resistant Ground Covers to Plant This Fall
Learn about some of the only low, spreading plants that are reliably deer-resistant
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESGreat Design Plant: Bugle Weed, a Quick Ground Cover
It’s highly adaptable, suppresses weeds, reduces erosion and provide weeks of bright flowers. Just watch for invasiveness
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES5 Weed-Smothering Ground Covers
Let these landscape plants do the dirty work of choking out weeds while you sit back and enjoy the view
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGN9 Popular Stovetop Options — Plus Tips for Choosing the Right One
Pick a stovetop that fits your lifestyle and your kitchen style with this mini guide that covers all the basics
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGN6 Great Ways With Garden Ground Covers
Use them as problem solvers, weed killers, color and texture providers ... ground cover plants have both practical and visual appeal
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES6 Native Ground Covers for Tough, Dry Spots
Sun beating down on your sandy gravel? Thick shade darkening your clay soil? There’s a ground cover here for you
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES6 Dependable Ground Covers for Warm Climates
Swap some lawn for these drought-tolerant clumping plants — and watch your maintenance efforts diminish while they easily grow
Full StoryGROUND COVERS10 Succulents That Make Pretty, Easy-Care Ground Covers
These low-growing succulents create interest in the drought-tolerant garden
Full StoryGREEN BUILDINGThe Big Freeze: Inventors Break New Ground to Keep Things Cool
Old-fashioned fridges can be energy guzzlers, but there are more eco-friendly ways of keeping food fresh, as these global innovations show
Full StoryMore Discussions
ehitsOriginal Author