Groundcover for shaded, near-vertical slope?
krenster
4 years ago
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krenster
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Sidewalk strip groundcover for full shade, not watered
Comments (13)The vinca could work but you'll find it will spread and cover much more satisfactorily if it gets regular water. Being a PNW resident myself, I know we tend not to be short of rain for a large portion of the year, but summers are notably dry. And tree cover can prevent rainfall getting through easily. A number of the other suggestion made are less suitable, simply because they they are herbaceous or die to the ground in winter. When not present, weeds will appear (weeds grow here even in winter) and then you have deal with the issue of cleaning out the bed at least on an annual basis. And some of these tend to be less adaptable to dry shade, which can be a very limiting condition. My suggestion would have been Euphorbia robbiae, which is both evergreen, extremely tolerant of dry shade and a nicely aggressive spreader. But the vinca should work......and most of it was free :-) Just keep it properly watered until well established....See MoreGroundcover for full shade, wet, clay
Comments (11)I would probably also go with a mix of shrubs and perennials (with pine straw in between) and avoid the ground-covers, for fear of them being aggressive. You could also make a simple path (bark chip or gravel) to occupy some of the space. I agree that you need to pull out the ivy first. We have cleared now about 1/3-1/2 acre of solid, knee-deep ivy, and if you don't get the roots out, it will come back. My husband "strimmed" the tops off as much as possible with one of those machines, so that we could at least see the root area (he's not very sensitive to poison ivy, which we also had a lot of). Then we've pulled it out by hand. Because the roots are so woody, you can pull them out quite successfully (unlike Mondo, which breaks off and leaves little pieces in the ground that then grow back). Here are a few other possibilities for perennials/shrubs (some evergreen): - Tiarella (Mobot says it needs constant moisture but that wet soil in winter will be fatal). I have some in full shade that is doing really well. I believe it is evergreen here (but not certain). Its native. - Big-leaved architectural plants like Fatsia japonica, Ligularia, Farfugium, Rodgersia (some of these are evergreen). - Actaea racemosa (same as Cimicifuga racemosa or Bugbane, this is native) - Lobelia (native too) if you have a spot with some sun There's also a dwarf form of the Sweetspire Esh suggested (Itea Virginica Little Henry), which gets only about 12-18" high. I bought an Illicium floridanum "Shady Lady" recently (at Pike, and HD has them at the moment too). It says it can tolerate full shade (I'm thinking of putting mine in full shade) and Jeff_AL on this forum told me his needed constant moisture, so that might be an evergreen shrub possibility for you (it gets about 6' tall). I'm linking below to a thread on the Perennials forum with a similar question. Here is a link that might be useful: perennials thread...See MoreGroundcover for Slope in Full Sun
Comments (12)You've gotten some good plant suggestions so far, including to do a mixture, which is usually my preference if the area will be visible. T2D's front slope mixed planting is gorgeous. Perhaps she'll add a photo or two. Vinca should be fully hardy for you since it is for me. However, I find it crawls over my barrier (a 5" deep band of edging material with a row of bricks alongside) and roots in the lawn, so I wouldn't recommend it. This might be a good spot for variegated bishop's weed(Aegopodium), which is normally a pest since it doesn't play well with others, but if you want just one kind of plant, put a barrier around the bed and it should be OK. You could plant bulbs to come up through it. This might be evergreen for you, not sure. Ajuga would work and you could try some of the more resiliant coral bells(Heuchera) I have a rather steep bed in an area behind the house that isn't in our normal traffic pattern that I needed to fill quickly to prevent erosion, and since I had a bunch of the old-fashioned daylilies that I had dug up elsewhere in the garden, I used those. I'm now adding a few shrubs and other hardy perennials that I think will be willing to duke it out with the daylilies. Old-fashioned daylillies aren't evergreen, but they might be something you'd want to throw into a mixed bed as they are fine with full sun and don't need lots of water. Regardless of what you end up planting in the bed, prevention of weeds while your plants get established is really important. You want to kill everything that's currently growing there, whether by smothering it (do a search for lasagna gardening) or by covering it with black plastic for a couple of months or whatever method you choose. After planting, you might want to put down corn gluten which will discourage seeds from germinating and then a heavy layer of mulch on all the bare soil areas both to keep moisture in and prevent light from reaching the weed seeds and bits of roots that are in all soils and will sprout with light. Mulch will also prevent erosion until the soil is covered with plants and make any weeds that do come up easier to pull. Also, install your outer barrier either before you plant or just after since if you delay and grass crawls sideways into the bed, you will battle it forever. Here's a previous thread that might help you out: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/neweng/msg0317034129496.html Here is a link that might be useful: New England groundcover FAQ...See MoreGroundcover for hill in zone 6b needed
Comments (46)Cleveland select pear - Noooo o o o o . . . For many reasons it really isn't a great tree. It's invasive in native woodlands in much of the country (something you said wanted to avoid), the blossoms smell dreadful, and the wood is prone to winter damage. Here are some pears near me after a wet autumn snow. I had a few broken lilac branches, but none of my trees other than some of the scrappier white pines had broken branches, and I saw no other trees that were severely enough damaged to need to be removed as these needed to be. If you search these trees on the tree forum you will only get a very few positives vs. many many negative comments. The dogwoods I mentioned in the post yesterday would be much better choices. My Kousa dogwoods have color that rivals the pear and mine has been healthy until last winter's -22 (at least) killed the buds, though it is still working on leafing out now. That shouldn't be an issue for you. If you do go for the crabapple, do a web search to be sure it is a disease resistant variety. As far as the holly - I much prefer holly over yew. I can't grow it here without winter damage, but at least some varieties are hardy in your area. Be sure you get an appropriate boy holly to pollenate your females to get berries. China Boy is supposed to be appropriate for China Doll, but I couldn't find specific hardiness info on China Doll. I think the combination of holly and Hydrangea will be handsome, with the Hydrangea providing summer bloom and the holly providing winter green along with berries for the first part of the winter (before the birds eat them.) I don't know what you mean by barn stone, so I can't answer that part. Where ever you plant the hedges, be sure they are set back far enough so you can see oncoming traffic as you pull out of your driveway....See MoreUser
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)