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Need groundcover suggestion

12 years ago

We currently have a hill alongside our house and I am looking for a groundcover suggestion. I am interested in something that grows pretty fast, easy to take care of, and will surpress the tons of weeds that just seem to grow on the hill now. We live in Ohio and the hill is on the East side of the house. It gets partial shade since it is right next to the house. Thanks!

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Comments (4)

bgaviator
Original Author
12 years ago
Oh, I should also mention that we do have indoor/outdoor cats, and I have a small child, so I need something that is non-toxix if ingested. I was about to go with Periwinkle, but then I read it is toxic! Yikes!
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
12 years ago
There are various listings of groundcovers suitable for the Ohio area, typically provided by your local extension service. I've included one for you to review. You will need to determine sun/shade suitability for your specific needs.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about toxicity - way more plants are toxic to some degree or another than those that are not. The cats are not likely to bother them at all and now is a good time to start training your child not to put anything in their mouth that mom or dad did not OK first! Besides, unless it produces berries or some sort of fruit, munching on garden plants is not all that appealing to kids either - just try and get them to eat their veggies :-))

Here is a link that might be useful: groundcovers for Ohio
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You do seem to have a large property although it's not shown in the photos. I thought perhaps you could take some examples from English landscaping. More than a hundred or so years ago, the English hillside was bare and they decided to create vistas by adding trees by the hundreds. In your case, I thought perhaps you can take this idea and add lilacs in the far horizon to create a view from afar. When you've done that, you could connect your garden to the far end by making trails. You can create areas of sweeping flowers (think meadow look) Closer to your patio, you can do an extension by creating terraced gardens - meandering iris or day lilies. I didn't mean to be abrupt about trimming your maple tree. I just couldn't see the trunk of the tree and I know from many Japanese garden views that you have a great tree there. I have done bonsai before and sometimes I can't help myself and think of ways to prune trees. I like shaping trees.
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I was able to get a lirope or mondo grass that does not exceed 3 inches in height. Cannot tell you a name or source as it was at Loew's at the very end of the season on a clearance rack. It stayed evergreen here in Zone 7. Two other worthwhile plants are sweet woodruff (Gallium odoratum), which is not evergreen and Asarum europeaum, which, though evergreen, can get tattered looking. None are tolerant of foot traffic. Ajuga is evergreen, quick and easy, and there are more dwarf sorts. Easily pulled up, if unwanted. Nobody could ever get me to plant periwinkle, because of my experience here with it.
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I've researched Leptinella quite a bit. It is from New Zealand. Everything I have read suggests it will be fine in full sun as long as it stays reasonably moist. It should stay evergreen year round in your zone, but it doesn't reliably do so in Zone 9. Platt's Black is a very interesting cultivar. You might want to try a small amount to see how it does. I am unsure of its toxicity but I doubt it is non-toxic (the vast majority of plants are toxic if consumed in large amounts). It probably will feel great to walk on, though. The mint advice is definitely right on -- full sun is a no go. The thyme I believe has smallish flowers, so in theory they wouldn't be huge bee magnets. I do not have experience with it though, so I would recommend doing some more research on it. Mazus does need some moisture. Though it prefers some afternoon shade, it would probably (like Leptinella) do okay in full sun if you water vigilantly. I doubt that Mazus is non-toxic. I know the blue star is reported to be a skin irritant (I've touched it a great deal and never had an issue.) It is also toxic if consumed in large amounts, like most plants but I am not aware of it being particularly toxic (like carolina jessamine where only a flower or two can kill a small child or dog). There are few plants that are truly non-toxic -- mostly true herbs. So, if you are worried, I would go with the thyme. That said, I doubt either your kids or dogs would be able to put away enough blue star or leptinella to cause a problem.
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Another good candidate is a non-moss called "Irish Moss". It forms dense but low mats of intense green with small white flowers and can be grown well in between stepping stones. It also will withstand some walking on it without damage. See this website for details.http://home.howstuffworks.com/irish-moss.htm
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bgaviator
Original Author
12 years ago
I would just rather not take the risk though having a little kid. I was thinking maybe about an herbal ground cover, like creeping thyme or mint, but I hear mint is very aggressive and can even go underneath your steps so it starts growing out in the yard. Maybe thyme is the way to go since it seems like it is better controlled?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 years ago
Thyme needs full sun and does not grow all that fast.....small scaled plants like thyme just don't make a big impact very quickly.

If you are that concerned about toxic plants, then I'd take a very close look at everything else that is growing in your garden. As I stated previously, the vast majority of common garden plants - including a good many veggies - are toxic to some degree or another. FWIW, accidental poisonings of children eating landscape plants is pretty darn low - and most of the rest of the gardening population have both kids and/or pets as well and manage to combine both gardening and child/pet rearing without incident. Just saying......:-)

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