Ground cover

21 years ago

I'm looking to plant a ground cover near my woods and need help. The wooded edge gets morning/afternoon sun and stays pretty dry because of this. I'ld like something that grows quickly because the area is very bare. I'm hoping to find one with flowers. There's plenty of wildlife around so something to make them happy would be perfect. (not that I want them finishing it off! LOL) Perhaps berries? Any suggestions on plants/where to purchase? Thanx!

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Comments (5)

ArborBluffGirl
21 years ago
Wild gingers and/or green and gold would work. The wild ginger (asarum canadense) has flowers that are under the leaves so aren't particularly visible. Green and gold has yellow flowers which are right on top. Blood root is another choice, although I am not sure how dry it can take it.
Treedoc66
21 years ago
Mitchella repens, Antennaria, Aster divaricatus, Physostegia, Sedum ternatum, Parthenocissus, Oenethera and Waldsteinia are possibilities.

Rx
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fredsbog
21 years ago
Pachysandra procumbens - our native pachysandra. Has great mottled leaves, white to pale pink flowers and berries if you have both sexes. It can also take dry conditions.

it's far nicer and less invasive than the japanese P.
eroush
21 years ago
You could also try creeping phlox (phlox subulata)
well_drained
21 years ago
Phlox stolonifera may do better than subulata in shady conditions.

Any of the wood asters will give you lots of flowers, if you don't mind waiting until late in the season: white wood aster (Aster divaricatus - already mentioned), blue wood aster/heart-leaved aster (Aster cordifolius), whorled wood aster. (The Latin names are changing, but most nurseries still use the old Aster generic name.) They spread by reseeding, need very little sun and don't mind dry conditions.

The virginia creeper is an excellent idea -- very fast grower, nondescript flowers, but beautiful red fall foliage, and the birds love the berries. Although it is thought of as a vine for climbing up things, it makes a nice ground cover (I've seen the leaves get huge in shady locations.)

Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) is said to grow quickly, with nice pink/lavender flowers.

The trick with any ground cover is -- if it grows quickly where you want it, it may also grow quickly where you don't want it. My practice has been to put the aggressive natives in difficult conditions (dry shade), where they are supposed to be tamer. In better conditions (more sun, more moisture), I put the slower growing ground covers (partridgeberry, wintergreen, Canada mayflower, etc.) and try to control the weeds until they spread.

Can't help you with the nurseries in that area. Is there a native plant society nearby? For a directory of mail order places, try Gardenwatchdog.com.

-- wd

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Ground cover

Comments (5)

ArborBluffGirl

Treedoc66

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fredsbog

eroush

well_drained

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