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shadara_gw

Sweet Woodruff OK?

shadara
14 years ago

I have a small triangular spot on a slope that is behind my son's giant rose "tree" (I swear it hates me, LOL). It's on the NW side of the house, just outside the basement patio by the end of the break-wall. It's full sun in morning, full shade most of day from house, then partial sun in evening due to high trees.

I wanted a backdrop for this lone rose bush. Soil is a sandy mix, but not totally sure (right now there's scarce clumps of grass and moss).

Do you think sweet woodruff would do? Does it need lots of watering or just during dry summer months? I wanted something "not too tall" (like 1 ft or less), slow spreading, fragrant flowers, and manageable without aggressive cutting back.

Whatcha think?

Comments (3)

  • bogturtle
    14 years ago

    It seems best in light shade or half day sun. It likes soil that never get bone dry and I must water mine during the Summer droughts. The water you give the other plants would be enough, especially without full Sun.
    It is highly invasive here and must be contained.
    It is also not an evergreen.

  • shadara
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Well, as far as evergreen goes, that's usual and not necessary here since we get several feet of snow in the winter and can't see anything but white most of winter and sometimes into April (calling for possible snow here on Sunday... GRRRR!). I'm used to stuff dying back for winter, LOL.

    I just looked about 6pm and the area I wanted to plant it is full sun right now. But once the many tall oaks and maples leaf out, it will be considered "dappled shade" I believe. We live in a pretty forested area. Basically... surrounded by large trees.

    My mom has a separate faucet/hose set up so that I have access to watering this side of the house when needed.

    And forgive me if I'm wrong, but I saw lots of moss growing there. I kinda assumed that the soil is moist because of this. Unless we have some kind of "dry" moss living throughout our forested area. Not sure?

    Soil is mostly sandy (my mom calls "sugar sand" or "blow sand") past 1/2 to 1 inch below surface. But I have lots of aged manure to mix in if needed. Do I need to?

    Do you think there is a better ground cover choice? I just wanted something as erosion control, backdrop for huge rose bush, and something that is fragrant. Is there such a thing?

    I'll try to take a picture of the area tomorrow.

    Thanks a bunch for your input, bogturtle! :-)

  • bogturtle
    14 years ago

    There is a moss called the 'hairy cap moss' Polytrichum, I believe, that grows in our pine barrens with sugar sand and is extraordinary in it's tolerance of drought.
    For groundcover ideas look for a website called 'stepables'. I grow many groundcovers, but none bloom for extended periods.

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