Ground Covers in Home Grounds

It sometimes requires a year or more for a ground cover to become established. The time is determined by the growth rate of the plants, soil types, availability of water during dry periods and the spacing of plants in the planting.

Ground covers can be one of the most useful and attractive plantings in the home landscape. They serve many useful purposes that can make grounds maintenance less demanding and much safer.

Useful varieties…

Ground covers when carefully chosen will grow in areas where turf will not grow or will be difficult or unsafe to mow such as on steep slopes. They are used to cover bare areas of ground, prevent erosion, tie together unrelated shrub or flower beds, and used in fairly large plantings to reduce the amount of turf in more extensive home grounds.

Ground covers range in size from plants as short as grass to shrubs 3 feet or more in height. Creeping or Dwarf Lily turf (Mondo) cover the ground like grass while Cotoneaster and Juniper depend on the matting of stems and leaves in the interlocking of branches to cover the ground. Some are low and mat-like, others are somewhat tall and spreading and of a shrubby character.

Minimum of care:

Ground covers usually maintain themselves with a minimum of care once they become established. A ground cover planting can be used as a pleasant foreground planting in front of shrub borders. They may be of particular value when used among plantings of broad-leaf evergreens, such as, plantings of Azaleas, Rhododendron, or Boxwood which are shallow rooted plants and do not like to be disturbed by cultivation.

Just as important is the cooling effects of the ground cover in hot weather. Also, the ground cover can reduce rapid drying of the soil during windy or extremely hot weather.

As the size of residential lots continue to decrease these often narrow or odd shaped small areas can present maintenance problems. Ground covers can be most useful and attractive in these areas.

There are some ground covers which grow well only in partial shade; others thrive in full sun and some are tolerant of both sun and shade. Some prefer moist soils rich in humus, others are particularly well adapted to dry soils.

Shade tolerant…

Among the shade tolerant are Ajuga or Carpet Bugle, Liriope, Lily of the Valley, Cotoneaster (Rock spray-spreading), Winter Creeper Euonymus and other types, English Ivy, Japanese Spurge or Pachysandra, Vinca or Periwinkle. Sun tolerant types include: Junipers, St. Johnswort, Candytuft, Moss Pink or Phlox, Wichura Rose, Thymes, or Rosemary.

Study your use of ground covers carefully, be prepared in the beginning to engage in considerable labor in soil preparation, planting, and mulching and careful watering to get the plants established. Ground covers can be the answer to many landscape problems.

For more information on ground covers in home grounds, contact your local County Extension Office.