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Groundcover
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Posted by Robarba z5 Chicago (My Page) on Tue, May 17, 05 at 9:08
| I have an area under low trees/tall shrubs that is shady. I like Vinca Minor (blue flower) but think English Ivy may be a better choice. Which do you think would grow better in such conditions? Any other groundcover suggestions? Thank you. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Groundcover
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I would have to go with Vinca- as Ivy isn't hardy here- Vinca is easier to remove should you change your mind, I am told. The pretty blue flowers are an added bonus as well!
Julie |
RE: Groundcover
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| Just something to think about. I have sweet woodruff as a ground cover. Pretty white flowers show up better in shade than blue. Spreads quickly, uniform height, not fussy about soil or moisture. Wild ginger is a nice groundcover too, like little hosta. Or you could put a patch of one here and another kind there. |
RE: Groundcover
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| I have some creeping phlox that grows very happily in a sunny spot. I don't know how it does in shade. I've just heard that it doesn't like to be too wet. I think it's kind of evergreen and then gets really green in the spring, with pretty lavendar flowers. Supposedly you can trim it with a weed wacker and it will rebloom. I'd be glad to share some as I think I'm moving mine to a smaller spot to make way for an herb garden. I'm just north of the city. |
RE: Groundcover
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- Posted by Sheri St. Louis/zn 6 (My Page) on
Thu, May 26, 05 at 14:44
| Also, consider mazus reptans. It's a tiny-leaved, low-growing growncover that blooms masses of purple flowers in the spring and sporatically all year. |
RE: Groundcover
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| Don't go with the ivy. It's terribly invasive and difficult to get rid of. I prefer sweet woodruff, lamium, and/or wintergreen. Maybe you could plant a couple of different groundcovers. Lamium spreads quickly but is easy to control. |
RE: Groundcover
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| IT MAY BE TOO LATE BUT DO NOT PLANT IVY. it is terrible to get rid of and creeps everywhere. I vote for vinca. |
RE: Groundcover
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| Triple the vote on NO ENGLISH IVY. You'll be pulling it out by the barrels. |
RE: Groundcover
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| I have become a HUGE Sweet Woodruf fan. Planted some two years ago under a large Crimson Maple. It has filled in well, and is starting to inch beyond the bedline I established- my only complaint. Very nice texture, and looks great with Coral Bells. wdheller |
RE: Groundcover
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| We planted five "groundcover" forsythia shrubs, and they have done very well. The flowers in the spring are as bright and welcome as their bigger counterparts, and they have a dense, light-green foliage afterward. They seem to take drought and clay soil very well. I haven't watered them much, even with the drought. |
RE: Groundcover
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I notice that no one has mentioned Liriope(Lilyturf). Works well in both sun and shade. Produces little blue flowers in August. Reaches a height of about 12". I would consider it a less formal groundcover, due to it's "grassy" appearance.
I agree with those folks who recommended Sweet Woodruff. I've been meaning to work in a patch of it somewhere. |
RE: Groundcover
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| I'm also amazed that no one has spoken of Hosta. The low varieties are often excellent as ground-covers because they fill in so quickly, but stay in a nice mound. Allen P. McConnell and Twist Of Lime are two adorable miniatures that I got for the first time about 2 years ago, and they have multiplied at a very healthy rate ever since! |
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