School could use some ground cover advice

15 years ago

I set out with my elementary school students to solve an erosion and eyesore problem at our school in the fall. There is an area of the property under trees that won't grow grass, and it really looks dull/boring/tired. Unfortunately, the winter came and we put it on the back burner. I would like to start thinking ahead to this fall and even start preparing the ground over the summer. Here are the photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/9002158@N08/sets/72157602419773741/

I was wondering you you all thought that filling this area with pachysandra would look good AND be successful in stopping some of this somewhat sandy soil from running down the slight incline. I also was wondering if you thought that I might be able to plant some bulbs in this groundcover on the periphery where it gets sunlight. I thought it would be neat if we had bulbs growing through it every spring. If anyone has pictures of a garden with bulbs growing through a similar groundcover, that would be great!

Thank you so much for your help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comments (2)

bullthistle
15 years ago
I see a problem with pachy because of foot traffic, stems are brittle, because kids as well as adults like taking shortcuts and I beleive vinca would hold up a bit better although invasive if not controlled. You might want to look into woody plants like euonynous fortunei varieties, more expensive but I doubt would be trampled like groundcover.
msbumble
15 years ago
If you plan to plant groundcover around a narrower footpath, vinca would do quite well. You can't kill the stuff. With a few taller shade plants here and there you could have quite a pretty little path. Sometimes tree surgeons give away wood chips, which you could use for the foot path (but be careful - some chips are so large and coarse as to be unusable - check first!) And you shouldn't need to buy pachysandra or vinca - it's easy to find for free. When you're ready for it, post a request with your location in NJ. Good luck with your project. MsB
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