Ground cover with hostas or not?

17 years ago

I've been thinking of putting a ground cover in the hosta bed to help reduce the amount of mulch I purschase every year. Should I do this? And if so, what do you recommend?

Thanks!

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Comments (9)

kept
17 years ago
Hi,
I asked the same question not to long ago. I have creeping jenny growing around my hosta but I have the hostas in containers to keep jenny out. So far so good. Looks beautiful.
Vic
Hosta_Haven
17 years ago
Daylily lover: There was a similar question a couple of days ago involving vinca with hostas. The consensus of the forum was that it works out great and doesn't choke out hosta. If you like bright leaves and variegation, I recommend Vinca "Illumination". It also has very pretty blue flowers.

Char
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
17 years ago
most hosta wont care... perhaps some tiny ones will need help ...

the problem i found is that it is a magnet for slugs .... more places to hide....

and creeping jenny was a nightmare with chipmonk holes ...

ken
janetpetiole
17 years ago
I've seen photos of Lamium with as ground cover around hosta. Although I am only just starting to collect several kinds of Lamium, to see how each one looks with each different hosta, I have no worries that it will do any harm. Some people think that Lamium is agressive, but it's easy to keep in check.

I have never grown creeping jenny but I've seen similar photos where it is used as a ground cover under hosta. The effect is very pretty when the colors work together.

There are several photos around here somewhere that show vinca being used as a ground cover with hosta. I think if hosta can survive vinca, it should be ok with creeping jenny and Lamium.
dobesrule
17 years ago
I vote no. I'm trying to get rid of yellow Archangel. It gives the d@$#^% voles cover to run in and ambush hostas.

Lisa
tedbug
17 years ago
I have creeping jenny planted right in the containers with several hostas. It looks beautiful trailing over the side of the pot and so far have had no problems with it all.
Michele
arcy_gw
17 years ago
I have creeping Jenny and a vine that gets blue flowers. The small hosta get over run at times and I have to pull any trails away from them. This spring I found it difficult to see and avoid the Hosta as they began emerging because the jenny was everywhere hiding them. Now that they are up all is fine. I am slowly becoming less sure this ground cover deal was a good idea.
Annette Holbrook(z7a)
17 years ago
Here's the bed by my front door. The creeping jenny is all volunteer, it was in a planter up on the porch. I plan on removing the hostas (along with everything else) from this bed and put in a seating area. The creeping jenny will probably end up staying out of laziness at this point.

Annette
lisasmall
17 years ago
That's a helpful photo, Bocron, thank you for posting that one.

Arcy, your vine with blue flowers is almost certainly vinca, also called periwinkle. Take a look. Hosta-Haven is right, vinca 'Illumination' is more vivid than what I've got; its gold edge almost glows in the shade.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta 'Francee' & Periwinkle (Pic)

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Ground cover with hostas or not?

Comments (9)

kept

Hosta_Haven

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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