I use organic methods and means only, and I plant groundcovers to discourage weeds, mostly violets, I bought several Victorian era violets from Canyon Ranch to plant beneath my O.G.R.s, and they formed a tight mat that kept weeds from spreading. Here each violet plant grows to be a mound of 1 foot X 1 foot and then they spread by sending runnners underground, to form a carpet. Although snails love to munch on violets, they are easily controlleld with iron pellets, I use "Sluggo", in spring and summer. Berkeley Horticulture nursery recently started selling a corn product that is said to prevent weeds from sprouting. The documentation I read about it seemed promising, but I didn't keep it, sorry. Luxrosa.

I am a consulting horticulturist and I deal with horsetails constantly. Pulling does NOT compound the problem as long as you keep at. I have horsetails in my own inherited garden and that is how I deal with them and fairly successfully as well, I might add. The roots run quite deeply and pulling does not remove all the roots. New growth can emerge from these but if you keep pulling ALL the new growth before it develops much height (less than 8"), the plant is unable to photosynthesize and will eventually weaken to the point where it will not return. And only a few of the plants produce spores and only in early spring - they are very distinctive compared to the typical horsetail - and these should be pulled as soon as they appear so the spores do not develop. Most of the horsetails' spread can be attributed to the rhizomes, not the spores. I do this for a living and this is a very accepted and relatively efficient way of dealing with these pests. The lime will have NO effect so save your money and your effort. Horsetails can and do grow in a lightly alkaline soil. Increasing the pH any more than that would make the soil inhospitable to most anything else as well. Any low growing or spreading perennial that shares similar growing conditions will serve to protect the clematis roots. I like hardy geraniums. But unless the horsetails are eradicated first, you will be dealing with these weeds indefinitely. And attempting to remove horsetails from within the root system of an established clematis plant is asking for unnecessary trouble.

Hi RJR1, I donÂt think youÂd be happy with ÂDragonÂs Blood or any of the other sedums. TheyÂre pretty much sun plants, and while theyÂd probably grow in part or even full shade (they grow almost anywhere!) I really donÂt think youÂd like the way they look. Even in sun ÂDragonÂs Blood can sometimes get real leggy looking. I wasnÂt familiar with the other two, so I looked them up. The one you suggested, Bunchberry, might be a possibility, but I donÂt know your soil conditions, so I canÂt be sure. HereÂs what I found. Bunchberry - Cornus canadensis Family: Dogwood (Cornaceae) Height: 3-8 inches Habitat: Cool woods, mountain slopes Shade, well drained sites preferred Cool, acidic soil (ph 3.0 to 7.9) Hardy to USDA Zone 3 Northern North America, south in mountains Southern limit of range may be due to its preference for cool, acidic soils and its inability to survive in summer soils warmer than 65 degrees F. ItÂs definitely hardy where you are! Do you have acidic soil? I wasnÂt familiar with it because apparently itÂs not grown out here because of our warm and very alkaline soil! The one creatrix suggested, Partridgeberry, sounds like a pretty good possibility. HereÂs what I found out about it. Soil Type - Well drained, humus rich, sandy loam Soil pH - Neutral Water - Moist to Dry Light - Full shade Height - 1-2 inches Time of Bloom - June - July Propagation - Division, slow spreading creeper I donÂt know anymore about this one either, but if the fallen oak leaves can stay on it and the birds like to eat the berries, that sounds like a really big plus to me. Since you have a large area, you might want to put in several different things for variety. Hardy ferns could be real pretty too. You also might want to post this on the New England Forum to see if you can find other things that like your local conditions. The things I suggested will grow pretty much anywhere and under any conditions. Have fun making your decision and watching them grow, Skybird

I agree that the dog and son will create more than just light traffic. Some parts of the yard will get little or no traffic, but other areas will be trampled bare. The best plant for a situation like yours is grass. Why not plan for grass with some compatible native plants in the grass? Lots of smaller wildflowers will grow well with grass, and you can add some non-natives as well to create a nice woodland meadow sort of effect. Natives that grow well with grass include violets of several species (violets also serve as larval food plants for several types of butterflies), spring beauties, perhaps trout lilies if you have a moist area, and many others. I am sure that the members of the list could add many plants to this list. I an thinking mainly of plants that are low enough that a mower won't damage them too much. For ideas you need only look in the grass at places like state parks, larger city or county parks, church camps, and similar places where there is grass under trees that is mowed but never treated with chemicals. You could also also add smaller bulbs like crocus, snowdrops, grape hyacinth, etc., as well as english daisies. These aren't native but won't spread outside your yard. With the spring bulbs and wildflowers you should delay cutting in the spring, or cut with a mower set as high as possible, to give the plants time to grow and store food for next year before they are cut down.