In many of our gardens, some situations prevent the successful growth of the rank and file of popular garden plants.
Most of us are familiar with such trouble areas as shady spots. wet spots, banks, and the like—areas which mar our gardens’ beauty if left completely bare, especially if they are within view of the house.
Although shrubs can be found that will grow tall under such conditions, low-growing plants are often preferred so that the view will not be obstructed.
For these situations, we must call on our knowledge of ground-covering plants and select those that most perfectly suit our needs and give proper cover to the soil.
Importance Of Low, Rapid-Growing Plants For Coverage
First of importance for the gardener who is always in a hurry and simply can’t wait for nature to take its course are those low, rapid-growing plants which can cover bare spots in short order.
Some of these are vicious pests once they “escape” to the garden proper, but there can be a place for them in areas where they can be restrained.
Such fast-growing ground covers are:
- Bishop’s goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria)
- Carpathian bellflower (Campanula carpentry)
- Lily-of-the-valley
- The dwarf Japanese fleeceflower (Polygonum- cuspidatum compaction)
Each of these, however, can quickly reach the good parts of the garden and create trouble for years unless rigidly restrained and kept in the area where most needed.
Each one of these dies to the ground in the late fall, so throughout the winter, the ground is still hare and subject to erosion from the rains and melting snow.
Where twigs and foliage are needed to prevent erosion, such plants might be used.
Examples are:
- The Hall’s honeysuckle
- Memorial rose (Rosa wichuraiana)
- The evergreen purple wintercreeper euonymus (Euonymus fortunei coloratus)
In the South, the following are very satisfactory:
- Aaron’s Beard St. John’s Wort (Hypericum calycinum) which is a low shrub about a foot tall
- The ribbon-grass (Phatarts arundinacea picta)
- Several dwarf bamboos like the ground bamboo (Pleioblastus pumilus)
- The extremely fast-growing kudzu vine (Pueraria thunbergiana)
Many low plants can easily qualify as evergreen ground covers, especially for those conspicuous situations in the garden near the house where conditions must be presentable throughout the winter.
For instance, the low-growing bearberry (Arctostaphylos te-a-ursi) never is over a few inches tall and thrives in dry, sandy soils.
Heaths And True Heathers Category
The heaths and true heathers are also in this evergreen category and can be grown wherever the soil is acidic.
Some of the cotoneasters, such as:
- The small-leaved cotoneaster (Cotoneaster microphylla)
- The rock spray (C. horizonialis)
They are especially evergreen in the South, as are several low-creeping junipers and, finally, pachysandra and vinca or myrtle.
In the South, the galax and English ivy, dwarf lily-turf (Ophiopogon japonicus), Canby’s pachistima, a truly excellent evergreen even as far north as New England, and the Chilean pernettya are only a very few of the possibilities.
These are not the only ground covers for winter display, but there are many different types in this group that the homeowner might consider before investigating others.
Different Uses Of Ground Covers
Flowering Ground Covers
One of the reasons various plants are selected to cover the ground in place of grass is that some have brilliant and conspicuous flowers.
Where ground covers of this nature are wanted, some might be selected from the following:
- Bugle (Ajuga reptans)
- Bellflowers
- Heathers
- Rosy creeping gypsophila (Gypsophila repens rosea)
- Hypericums or St. Johnsworts
- Evergreen candytuft (iberis sempervirens)
- Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia)
- Mahonia or Oregon holly-grape
Several of the phlox and especially the moss pink and its varieties (Phlox subulata), some of the primroses, memorial rose (Rosa Wichuraiana), Allegheny foamflower (Ti-arena cordifolia), and finally the myrtle and the violets.
Covering Banks
Bank covering is a special kind of problem which is not always easy to solve, and as a result, only the most vigorous of ground covers should be used.
The steeper the grade, the more important it is to obtain the right plants and to space them closely enough to prevent erosion.
Most of the plants already suggested in the fast-growing group could be used on banks.
In addition, several shrubs have considerable merit because they either have fast-growing underground stolons that send up new suckers, or their branches have that desirable rooting quality wherever they touch moist soil.
Some of the shrubs or vines in this category might be the following:
- Five-leaf akebia (Akebia quinata)
- The winter creeper and its several varieties
- Forsythia ARNOLD DWARF
- Canada sumac (Rhus aromatIca)
- Rose acacia (Robinia hispida)
- Virginia rose
- Indian currant or coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus)
- Lowbush blueberry in acid soils
- The yellow root (Xanthorhiza simplicissima).
Perfect For Shady Spots
Often it is difficult to force plants to grow properly in the shade, especially dense shade, not only because the plants get little sunlight but also because dense growing trees or shrubs cause the shade and their roots to permeate the soil where it is desired to grow other plants.
In such cases, the tree roots are even more harmful to plant growth than the shade.
Be that as it may, the following ground covers are noted for their ability to withstand some shade:
- Bugle
- Bishop’s goutweed
- Sweet woodruff (Asperula odorata)
- Lily-of-the-valley
- Longspur epimedium (Epimedium grandiflorum)
- Galax
- English ivy
- Hosta species or plantain-lilies
- Creeping liriope (Liriope spicata)
- Mahonia species
- Canby’s pachistima
- Pachysandra or Japanese spurge
- Ribbon-grass
- The low bamboos
- Mother-of-thyme (Thymus serpyllum)
- The lowbush blueberry.
Ideal For Dry Soils
It is challenging to establish some plants in dry soils, but there are a few, such as the brooms (cytisus) and the bearberry, which do better in dry soils than in moist soils.
Naturally, it is usually advisable to mix organic materials and good compost with such dry soils and mulch the plants well after they are planted to conserve as much water as possible.
Then plantings should certainly be watered through the summer droughts and all precautions taken to keep the plants alive.
Among the following plants are some excellent ones for planting in dry situations:
- Bishop’s goutweed
- Ribbon-grass
- Any one of several sedums
- the creeping junipers
- bearberry
- sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina)
- rosy creeping gypsophila
- three-toothed cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentata)
- tawny day-lily (Hemerocallis fulva kwanso)
- plantain-lilies or hostas
- lowbush blueberry
- taller shrubs like the Canada sumac, rose-acacia, and bayberry.
For Wet Soils
In soils on which there is standing water, it is practically impossible to grow anything properly.
However, some plants will survive several weeks in wet soils.
If possible, such places should be properly drained before any planting is contemplated, but where the soil is wet or very moist for only a part of the growing season.
Some of the following ground covers might be selected:
- Heathers
- Sweet woodruff (Asperula odorata)
- Galax
- Hosta species
- Moneywort
- Peppermint
- Forget-me-nots
- Self-heal or heal-all (Prunella vulgaris)
- Certain species of violets
- Yellow-root
- The red-osier dogwood (Corpus stolonifera)
For Seashore Situations
Ground covers in seashore plantings must be able to grow in sandy soil and withstand salt-water spray.
None are perfect for these situations, but anyone who has observed seashore gardens knows that the brooms do very well, as does the little low bearberry.
The creeping junipers are almost as good as the more difficult-to-obtain shore juniper (I. conferta), and the memorial rose, fragrant sumac, and several hypericums are always dependable.
Cotoneasters also seem to do well, and there are several of the low flat-growing types that are well worth planting.
The dusty miller or beach wormwood (Artemisia stelleriana) is highly prized for its rugged growth and beautiful gray-green foliage, as is the snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum).
These are only a few for seashore exposures, but they are among the most rugged that you may choose from.
Between Stepping Stones
There is always a need for diminutive plants to place between the stepping stones in almost every garden.
The sandworts (arenaria species) are most popular for this purpose.
The pearlwort (Sagina subulata) is another widely used, for it does not grow more than 4” inches in height and, when properly grown, looks very similar to a low clump of moss.
Sedums, especially the low Sedum acre, are easily grown and do not die if the soil dries out materially in the hot summer.
Mother-of thyme and moneywort, as well as creeping speedwell (Veronica repens), are all suited for this particular use.
In contrast, the low small-leaved varieties of the wintercreeper euonymus have been used and the evergreen three-toothed cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentata).
Ground Covers’ Durability Underfoot
Finally, it is important to note some ground covers that can be walked on.
No ground cover can take the terrible abuse grass can—to be walked on or played on and still look fresh and green at all times.
Some of them can take a certain amount of mistreatment, which should be noted.
They can be walked occasionally, and some—the bishop’s goutweed, ground ivy (Nepeta hederacea), three-toothed cinquefoil, self-heal, mother-of thyme and creeping speedwell—can even be cut occasionally with the lawn mower without serious results.
Among others that can be walked on occasionally are the bugle, sand-worts, bearberry, winter creepers, junipers, moneywort, moss pink, and the periwinkle or myrtle.
These are a few serviceable ground-covering plants that can be called upon to help solve difficult planting situations in the garden where a low cover is needed on the ground but where the growing conditions are such that only the best plants should be chosen.