I have had the purple and pink lamium for years and love it. I don't find it invasive and it is so easy to pull up. I will watch for the yellow, though, and not plant it. Thank you for the warning. I had snow-on-the-mountain once and creeping buttercup too! Wow, now those are invasive! Marcia! Goutweed! That stuff if almost as bad as the buttercup! You'll never get rid of it! I have some that was planted before we moved here and it still comes back. I have had it for years previously and just accept that it will always be there. I love lily of the valley and am getting some in a trade this week for my shade garden. I have a little of the pink and it is not spreading either :-(

You bet! Seems there is too much to do in July & August outside of the garden. We had four weddings to attend in the last two months! I'm still hoping to get projects done in cooler weather. *Plants to be planted .... somewhere! *Hyertufa to be constructed for a dozen rock garden starts. *Renovate a rock garden. That means digging out what plants are still retrievable after three years of twitch grass infestation! *Move ornamental grasses to a more suitable area. Find a pleasing plan for the dozen or more species I've grown or bought. *Make a new garden for the three dozen Hibiscus plants grown from seed. And so on, and so on.......I'm trying not to stress too much about it! sam

Something I am trying new this year is using roofing paper with wood chips over it. I started a new planting down my lawn fenceline and wanted a border of shrubs and perennials. DH dug large holes for the plants and then I laid the roofing paper out giving a generous space around each plant and then covered with several inches of wood chips. I will have to do some weeding around the base of the shrubs and plants this spring. I had seen this in another forum and hope it works as it has saved me alot of work..savona

If you're doing a cover crop then part of the sequence is to actually cut the crop before it comes to flower so you get plenty of juicy material that rots down quickly - and has enough fibre to not make a felted mess (like you see with heaps of grass clippings.) The roots stay in the soil and, as they rot down, add even more humus to the soil. It is really important to not bury the cover crop deeply, It can combine with clay to make a bit of a toxic brew for a while. If you live in a rural area observe how the farmers disc in the crop residue (hoping that they don't burn off.) You might also notice that some farmers turn stock onto the crop residue to clean up and add manure before they disc. You'll need to have an acceptable process to add extra nitrogen to the soil as the cover crop rots down. Something slow acting, such as blood and bone could be useful, although it can attract animals. Perhaps dried animal manure would be an alternative. Your biggest hassle would come if you have a perennial weed (like dandelions, dock, twitch grass, or whatever your local nightmare/s happen to be) growing in your cover crop. The darned things LOVE being disced. It spreads little bits of root everywhere - and, being weeds, they usually all grow. A cover crop can be highly useful in a poor soil - and to give protection if wind or heavy rain moves soil in your area. You might also want to consider growing a cleaning crop such as potatoes, or rows of peas that need regular weed control and/or hilling up. If you were to lay down a mulch between the rows, along the lines that lindac has suggested, then you could have 'the best of both worlds'. If you do decide on doing the cover crop - and leaving it over winter (a ryegrass, mustard, lupin, barley, clover, vetch crop would probably all be suitable) remember to leave enough time between the cutting back, digging in - and your planned planting date - for the material to rot down, or plant crops that will tolerate quantities of partially rotted material in the soil. Also think about any fertiliser/liming that needs to be done, too. Those additions need time to become effective in the soil for following crops - and some crops don't like them too fresh.