Isn't Mazus the one with the pretty purple flowers?

Are you planning to plant the entire 4x25' with this material..gonna get pretty costly and you'll be fighting weeds until it fills in as it spreads.
So, this material is going to bump up against your neighbor's fescue lawn?

How is the drainage to this parcel and why is grass not an option?
Have you considered ajuga.Not that I love the stuff but I bought a house last summer , an old one, and there are clusters of dark purple leafed ajuga growing in clusters all over the place..in full sun and in full shade.Same height as the turf it's in.
From what I read it is practically indestructible to walk traffic. I know I've run it over with the car tires several times and it doesn't seem to care.

Whatever you choose short of sod, prepare yourself for a couple years of it looking ratty and patchy.
If you've got the right growing conditions, in about three years of continuous weeding you'll have the effect you want.

Grass is an option...that's what has been there for 12 years. It's a hassle to maintain, though, which is why I want a groundcover. Running down one side of this area (the other side from the driveway) is a berm. It's a pain to mow, water, and use a spreader on. I'm looking for low maintenance on this section.

I was thinking of starting the groundcover from seed indoors, to minimize the expense.

I can look into the ajuga. Does it have advantages over the mazus?

I thought some of these groundcovers filled in quickly. I really didn't expect three years.

You could consider periwinkle (vinca minor), too. You'd want some sort of barrier to keep it from ending up in your neighbor's grass since it does runner, but if it's surrounded on all sides it's a well behaved ground cover that is evergreen and looks nice and can tolerate a little foot traffic. It may not tolerate full hot sun here, though. Ajuga is nice, too- but same caveat about the sun- at least mine prefers part shade. and mazus is good as well- i've seen it wild in mats on the ground at nurseries, which is always a good sign. I do have to note that in my one area that i've tried several ground covers, the ajuga has done better with foot traffic than the mazus. Another to consider is creeping jenny- lysamachia reptens. It comes in green or golden green and spreads but does very well in the conditions you list. If it's full sun it will probably need some supplemental watering. Another thought is if you did stepping stones, you could widen your net by a lot b/c there are tons of groundcovers that will do very well if you can keep the foot traffic off. That would open it to sedums and other things that wouldn't need any water or fuss, and spread faster. Almost any groundcover you consider will be somewhat invasive unless it's super slow which will mean it's super expensive, like mini mondo grass. It's part of what makes for a decent groundcover.

Clover would be a good, kid friendly groundcover, though if you worry about bees, you'd have to weed whack the white blooms off a couple times in late spring.

Sadly, corsican mint won't hold up in our heat. Consider pennyroyal- another mint, instead. You may have to weed whack it when it tries to bloom but otherwise it's well behaved and smells nice. You can find seed for it, too. One caveat- it is an abortifeacant, so if your wife is, or gets pregnant, don't let her walk barefoot or handle it much. Like corsican mint you don't cook with it. Ajuga will do well in shade, too, as will the periwinkle and lysamachia. Something to consider for shade is actually the wild violets we have around. They are tough little guys, can deal with shade and will bloom prettily in spring. I'm currently getting a colony going on my own 'north side of the house, strip of pavers' that is always abused and never watered. They will seed themselves into a decent carpet once they are established.

Good luck!

Tamelask, thanks for your reply. I would have replied sooner, but mulch was delivered Friday and I turned my attention to that for a few days.

I am actually planning stepping stones for the shady end of this area, alongside the house (north side), leading to the back yard. This is the main entry to the back and the area I wanted to plant corsican mint (among and around the stones). The area toward the front (the sunny area where I'm considering mazus) would probably only receive foot traffic on occasion, now that you've got me thinking about foot traffic more. That might help the case for mazus. I like some of your alternatives, but am concerned about the sun in that area.

About the Corsican Mint -- since this would be in a shady area, only receiving early morning sun, plus a short exposure around mid-day, do you think that would help? Or is it not likely to do well, even in those conditions? I'd rather not do the pennyroyal if it's risky in any way...no more babies for me, but others will use this path, so I'd rather avoid the risks. Thanks for that bit of info!

I so want to switch this area to groundcovers, mainly for low maintenance, but am starting to think it will be difficult to find something that works in my conditions. I do feel rather discouraged at this point.

Hello to all, I just stumble across this thread and happen to have Mazus in a 4x12 ft. Area. 3rd summer and it is choking weeds out nicely (pulled 4 weeds all summer so far.) I'm new to ground covers as I liked the look of mulch. However this little area of Mazus that I have us rapidly changing my mind do to it's VERY low maintaince (weeding) that I want ground cover in 4 other beds. However, I'd prefer not to duplicate by using the ground cover. I'm looking in the Vinca Minor, Thymus and Phlox families. What I understand from Tametask's response that Vinca Minor and Thymus will choke out weeds as well as Mazus does once established (2/3 years). Did I understand that correctly? Also I'm looking for recommendations for shade ground cover that 1. Chokes weeds out, 2. Will cascade over small(8 inch)
wall, 3. Is low growing (traffic is not a problem, raised bed drains well) thanks for any ideas.

Kenny

Hello to all, I just stumble across this thread and happen to have Mazus in a 4x12 ft. Area. 3rd summer and it is choking weeds out nicely (pulled 4 weeds all summer so far.) I'm new to ground covers as I liked the look of mulch. However this little area of Mazus that I have us rapidly changing my mind do to it's VERY low maintaince (weeding) that I want ground cover in 4 other beds. However, I'd prefer not to duplicate by using the ground cover. I'm looking in the Vinca Minor, Thymus and Phlox families. What I understand from Tametask's response that Vinca Minor and Thymus will choke out weeds as well as Mazus does once established (2/3 years). Did I understand that correctly? Also I'm looking for recommendations for shade ground cover that 1. Chokes weeds out, 2. Will cascade over small(8 inch)
wall, 3. Is low growing (traffic is not a problem, raised bed drains well) thanks for any ideas.

Kenny

Lawn replacement is one of major objectives in our garden development. Here's a summary of our experiences so far:

Dry areas in full sun are the biggest challenge to fill with steppables (for paths between beds). Sedums and delospermas grow well there but even their shorter varieties are definitely non-steppable. Sedum acre is particularly low-growing and listed as traffic-tolerant but it doesn't seem to handle the Southern heat very well. Thymus serpyllum, often named as the lawn substitute for full sun, has a tendency to melt as well. We managed to establish a few patches and it seems to help if it is planted in the fall not in the spring. Taller thymes, such as Thymus citriodorus, seem to grow better here. This season, we started testing Herniaria glabra, which resembles creeping thyme but is claimed to be more drought resistant because of deeper tap roots, and it looks promising. We are also scaling up Rubus pentalobus and Muehlenbeckia axillaris.

In wet areas in full sun, we see good growth of Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' and Pratia pedunculata (a.k.a. Isotoma/Laurentia fluviatilis); they both do also well in drier shade. Pratia is a particularly low and compact grower.

In part shade (still a hot Western wall exposure), we've had good success with Veronica peduncularis 'Georgia Blue' - grows taller with time but can be mowed occasionally. It filled a 40' x 3' area in two seasons (with repeated layering) from a 1 gal container and this spring it was already a dense carpet covered fully with blue flowers. It was less successful in full sun in a wetter location - a small patch was established over winter but attempts to expand it by layering killed it.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.my understanding is all of the ground covers you've tried do well with weed control. I'll have to find different cultivars of different types and see what will work for me. Thank you again

Ajunga.
Only thing I would plant there, I love the stuff.

Are there any more follow up for the ideas in this conversation? I in the the RTP area and have grown dwarf mondo for many years. I am just now thinking of making a small area off my patio (15 x 10) entirely in mondo grass.

coming back to this thread, keeval I hope you did not go with vinca minor. It cannot be controlled because it runs both above and below ground. You want something that will not invade your neighbor's fescue lawn.
You didn't mention the 'berm' raised aspect of this boundary between yards until describing later why grass is not preferred (due to difficulty mowing).
May I also suggest that you add simple iceplant among where your other choices are planted. It thrives in the sun and well drained areas and is everblooming a rosy fuschia color flowers that close in the late afternoon. Keep one plant potted and from that you can root in simple cup of water as many more plants as are needed. It even stays semi green during the winter.

Hi, ok, 3 years later, I see your post - it's probably too late - but here's my 2 cents. I'm skipping reading the rest of the post, I just saw your question.

I have a third of an acre, and have replaced most of the grass that was there when I got it with either perennial beds or ground cover.

The two types I use most for sun or part sun are herniaria glabra and mazus reptans. Here's what I know from personal experience about each:

- If you want to avoid bees, the mazus does bloom. It blooms a big flush in spring and then sporadically throughout the summer, and then a little increase again when the weather cools. I have not noticed bees on it, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. I have noticed an occasional butterfly, even big ones like black swallowtails.

- If it's alongside of a lawn, I've read that it will invade the lawn. So that would be a consideration with regards to neighbors.

- The main reason I love mazus so much is it chokes out every single solitary weed, and that almost immediately. Truly awesome! :-)

- Another nice thing is that it does not spread by seed, so you aren't always pulling seedlings of it out of you beds.

- In winter, up here, it goes to a dark bronze but you're much further south so I'm sure yours would be a greener color.

Herniaria glabra is the bomb:

- It does not choke out every single solitary weed immediately like mazus does. But in time, it will keep the weeks to a minimum.

- It does not grow as fast as mazus, but still spreads at a good clip. It's so gorgeous year round.

- Visually, it's stunning. I'm in zone 7a, washington dc area, and it is the same gorgeous emerald green in the dead of winter as it is in summer. Way greener than stupid turfgrass! :-)

- It lays nice and flat, and feels absolutely glorious under your bare feet. As for foot traffic, I have it planted between my edible garden beds and stomp on it all the time, no problem. It's very tough. Probably if you played football on it you'd tear some out, but even then, pretty tough.

- It blooms tiny green flowers that are too insignificant to see, and I've never seen bees or butterflies nectaring off them.

- It's very drought tolerant and can handle afternoon sun just fine. It can also handle a lot of water. It will not do as well in shade or part shade as mazus will.

- It won't invade an adjacent lawn.

I also have portions of my lot covered in creeping thyme. Yes it does bloom, but what I don't like about the bloom is after it's done, it looks ratty for a long time until the flowers finally rot and fall off. One year I mowed it close to get rid of that, and then I said to myself "this is for the birds". Another thing is that creeping thyme will get woody in time, and can't tolerate too much wet. Much pickier than mazus or herniaria.

Very useful observations, Alexavd.

How much sun can in your experience handle Mazus? We have several very robust patches in dapple shade, both dry and moist, and would like to expand it to sunnier areas as well. We think it would require more moisture in full sun and wouldn't be able to handle much drought.

We like Herniaria very much and believed we had an established patch in fairly dry full sun (on a slope next to a row of Lavandula stoechas) - so we didn't water it any more, but it wasn't able to survive several weeks without rain in late summer last year. So we've planted it now in more shaded or moister locations. Surprisingly, Thymus serpyllum managed to survive in those dry areas, in spite of showing blackened patches in earlier years.

Hi CasaLester,

I think you have the right idea with the mazus. I had a patch in full south-facing sun last summer, 10 hours of sun, and it did great, showed zero signs of flagging. But it was a low area so it had a tendency to be a little more moist. It also was downhill of the sprinkler on my edibles garden. Not that I water it that often, I don't - I mulch thickly with wood chips and that helps the garden to not need to be watered much.

I actually think though that it might be worth trying in full, dryer sun, just to see what it does. I've read that it's drought tolerant once established. It would be worth trying because it's such a fabulous ground cover. Perhaps if you noticed it struggling, there might be a way to swale near it to keep it's feet moister.

I was surprised to hear you had trouble with the creeping thyme handling the hot sun, but then again, you're further south than me. That would have been what I would have suggested for hot dry. Maybe as you said, it does better if planted in fall.

I have some creeping thyme in an area that can get pretty wet (dumb choice of location on my part) and it has some trouble as a result, but overall still does ok. It's pretty tough.

As for the herniaria glabra, I have found that to be superbly drought tolerant once it is well-established. Yes it's that long taproot, and also the foliage makes a nice dense huge mat that must help keep the surrounding soil from drying out. I have herniaria all over my property. The only place it has any trouble at all is right up against the brick wall of my house, where it gets little to no rain, and where the heat from the bricks radiates on it. Even there though, it still survives and still keeps the ground covered. It's not very often that I see it having a slightly challenged look, maybe once or twice a summer.

That having been said, it's hotter where you are. I wonder if again, swaling would help it, since it's on a slope.

The wonderful thing about ground covers is, even if they can't handle a drought very well, neither can stupid turfgrass! So if you had a lawn, you'd have to water it anyway!