Native Ground Cover for Northern Plains
jehaller
5 years ago
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jehaller
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Ground Covers For Slope
Comments (3):) I'd look no futher than the local highway... since most of the medians in the bay area are covered in something called 'ice plant'... a succulent that grows like a weed if you water it ever other week, and makes nice fuscia or red flowers in february. one of the other most used groundcovers is prostrate rosemary- which flowers in august or september, and if the slope's not close to the road, you can harvest it for shish kebob stakes and seasoning :) I would check around the nurseries for local groundcovers in the succulent families- drought toerance IS an issue in most of NoCal, and there are quite a few foliage colors (silver, blue, purple, red) to incorporate (my 'lawn' was about 6x10, so I didn't have much room to fill in) but ideally, you want a shrub or three with roots that go down deep, then a shorter shrubby thing- lavender is a natural choice that does really well on a slope, which will prevert crown rot when it rains for 28 straight days ;) and a truely prostrate or short creeper. the varied root depths will hold the slope together better than anything else...See MoreGround cover in shaded area
Comments (7)I am trying Pigeonberry for the first time this year, to be planted in my dappled shade garden. I've read they can go dormant in the heat of summer if they get too dry but since this is a Texas native, I'm not certain how dry DRY needs to be before this dormancy kicks in! :-) Red berries for the birds, blooms from early spring through fall for the pollinators and butterflies, pretty fall color, height 1 to 2 feet on average. Not certain if the height is too tall for you. There are many discussions about this plant here in the garden forums, if you think you might be interested in taking a look. Just do a search for Pigeonberry or Pigeon Berry. The proper name is Rivina humilis aka Rouge plant. I currently have small seedlings I started from seed and they're growing well. Can't wait to see how they do this season. Best of luck with your new plantings. Mary...See MoreNeed most water saving grass or ground cover recommendations
Comments (16)There's a lot of microclimates in the SFBA, and the CA Gardening forum is pretty heavily weighted towards SoCA. But specific questions for NorCA plants usually get a fair # of answers - but again, you need to be more specific about where you are. In SF, for example, the soil is sandy and water runs right through it. In the EBay where I live, the soil is adobe clay. Half of the EBay is still in the fog belt, while anything east of the hills resembles SoCA in climate. If you are anywhere near state/county parks or swaths of grasslands, be very very careful about what you plant, if there is any chance of invasiveness. "Iceplant", generally meaning Carpobrotus edulis, is listed as invasive, while Delosperma cooperi, which looks very similar, is not. I was just reading the threads on kurapia (Lippia nodiflora) and it looked like this plant needs summer watering. It is not a true drought resistant plant. If you are only planting a very small lawn, once-a-week watering sounds fine. But if you've got a third of an acre, that's quite different, LOL. Personally, we got rid of the lawn decades ago. No kids and no reason to keep it. I wanted a localized version of a cottage garden, adapted into multiple beds separated by the usual concrete walkways, driveway, patio, etc. Totals about 2300 sq. ft. garden. Not only do we have flowers year round, I only water with soaker hoses every 4-6 weeks, depending on how much fog we get. I cannot conceive of watering every week - the potential EBMUD bill staggers my imagination ;)) I have been searching for the ideal groundcover for years. The two best drought-resistant ones I found for my area are aptenia and groundcover lantana (there's a shrub version of lantana; you don't want that). Both are full sun, however. Both have their negatives. Aptenia IS invasive, so I plant it only where it is confined by concrete. It does appreciate a little bit of summer water, especially during those extended heat spells that seem to be happening more often these days. Lantana once established will survive without any summer water at all. Zip, none, nada. However, it mounds upwards (similar to ivy) as well as outwards, so it rewards being cut back/whacked down periodically, which can make it go through an unattractive stage, depending how drastic you had to be. The white lantana is extraordinarily vigorous. I once let one plant trail down a concrete wall and across our driveway just to see if it would stop growing at some point. I finally chopped it back after it reached 17 feet without any indication it was slowing down! Width was fairly even at about 2' across all the length. Lantana is supposedly also deer resistant; it has a rather unusual smell when crushed. Aptenia is greatly appreciated by our local bees, who love the flowers. Anyway, hope my experience helps the OP a bit. Go to a good nursery and see if you can talk to someone, too - I've always found it a good way to get solid advice. Golden Nursery/San Mateo and East Bay Nursery/Berkeley are the best sources for both advice and plants, IMHO. Cocoa hull mulch is the premium mulch - breaks down (relatively) quickly compared to bark, and really enriches the soil. Thus it is also the most expensive, as well. The chocolate smell is nice but fades rapidly. Remember not to let any mulch pile up around shrub/tree trunks. Cocoa hull mulch, if watered by sprinkler, will develop an unattractive but apparently harmless greyish-white fungus on the surface....See Moreground cover zone 4b
Comments (6)Lush greenery beneath a big tree may be a tall order. Do any weeds grow there? If not that’s an indication of the challenge. It may be a question of trial and error. Can you show a picture of the area? btw, if you leave the fallen leaves you won’t have just dirt....See Morejehaller
5 years agoWoodsTea 6a MO
5 years agodbarron
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agojehaller
5 years agodbarron
5 years agoWoodsTea 6a MO
5 years agojehaller
5 years ago
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