Tag Archives: groundcovers

flowering shrubs, gardening tips

What Works in your Garden?

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I’m vacationing next week in southern Mexico traveling east from the state of Chiapas to the Yucatan peninsula.  In addition to exploring ruins, waterfalls, cenotes and flamingo breeding grounds  I’ll be especially interested in the local plants which vary from  hardwood forests of mahogany and cedar to tropical.  I always study how people landscape around their own homes whenever I travel.  You can get some great ideas this way.  I’ll be sharing all that I discover in next week’s column. 

Around here this is a good time to pull plants that have been struggling now that we’ve had some rain to soften the soil a bit. Pay careful attention to and which aren’t. Be realistic about plants that don’t suit the conditions you have to offer. Replace them with plants that have proven themselves adaptable and well suited to your own garden. Thoughtful editing and repetition are the key to a successful garden.  Such self-sufficient plants require far less work, water, fertilizer and pruning.

Your own personal palette of good plants for your yard are the ones that look most at home planted right where they are. They do best in the soil, sun, wind and weather your garden offers and the maintenance is a snap. These plants don’t have to be the kind of dull and monotonous shrubs that you see around some freeway ramps. They might be the shade-loving native Western swordfern for year round interest.  Planted in masses these ferns aren’t water hogs and look like nature planted them.  Or how about the easy-peasy bergenia cordifolia which will be blooming soon planted as groundcover under the trees? Large, heart shaped leaves grow to 12 across and turn beautiful bronze color in the fall. Pink to rose-red flowers on red stalks appear in late winter.

Camellia sasanqua, with glossy evergeen leaves and showy flowers in fall and winter, can be grown as a shrub or espaliered against a wall. Camellias are easy to grow and an established shrub requires only a deep watering every 10 days or so in the growing season.

Elfin thyme is the perfect groundcover between cracks in pavers paths or other areas that get light foot traffic. And if you want any planting to look better, just pop in a black mondo grass and you’ll have instant sophistication.  Not all "go-to" plants are quite so glamorous, though. Modest, fuzzy little lamb’s ears are high on my list because they grow happily in sun or shade and any kind of soil. Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’ grows only 12" tall, blooms with purple flowers and spreads to make a beautiful edging or low border

The key to preserving both our backs and the earth’s resources is to choose the right plant for the right place. Keep the plants that are thriving and replace the unhappy plants with a smaller palette of plants that have proven themselves successful in your own garden. Whether these are California natives or plants from other regions that perform well, you’ll be happy you got rid of the malingerers.

California Native Plants, drought tolerant plants, erosion control, groundcovers

Groundcover Tips for Fall

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The autumnal equinox happened this week. It’s the official start of fall when the sun crosses the celestial equator and moves southward. The earth’s axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the earth and the sun on this day. Many people believe that the earth experiences 12 hours each of day and night on the equinox. However, this is not exactly the case.

During the equinox, the length is nearly equal but not entirely because the day is slightly longer in places that are further away from the equator ( like where we live ). Also the sun takes longer to rise and set in these locations as it does not set straight down but in a horizontal direction.

Take advantage of fall planting weather by looking at what’s covering your ground. Be it the small lawn for the kids to play on, ground cover to keep the weeds at bay or erosion control to keep the hillside intact, this is an excellent time to plan for winter.

Let’s start with the lawn. If you still need a space for recreation, this is a good time to reseed those bare spots. Also to keep the lawn healthy, remove underlying thatch with a thatching rake. Then aerate the lawn by poking holes in the sod and fertilize with a complete lawn fertilizer like an organic all-purpose. Your lawn needs the phosphorus in the fall to encourage deep, strong roots for the winter.

If the kids are grown and no one is using that lawn, why not rip out the water guzzling grass and replace it with a walk-on groundcover? There are many to choose from like dymondia, lippia, potentilla duchesnea strawberry and several kinds of thyme.

One of my favorites is Elfin thyme. It doesn’t need mowing, edging or fertilizing or much irrigation. You can walk on it and it stays green all winter, shading into bronze tones when the weather cools. It even blooms in midsummer for several weeks. Bees will be attracted to it at this time. Thyme prefers sun and poor, sandy soil. Autumn is the best time to install from flats cut into 4" plugs planted about a foot apart. It will fill in within 3 years. Plant them closer together if you’re impatient. You’ll love your new lavender-blooming "lawn".

There are also Ca. native and prairie meadow grasses that you can walk on. They need little irrigation and even less mowing. Some can be planted from seed, others from plugs or sod. Good choices include Idaho, Calif. and red fescue, carex pansa, June grass and Hall’s bentgrass.

If you don’t need to walk on your groundcover, low-growing shrubs that are good groundcovers are baccharis, ceanothus maritimus, cistus salviifolius, grevillea lanigera, creeping mahonia, rosemany prostratus, rubus, manzanita, creeping snowberry and ribes viburnifolium to name just a few.

It’s time to enjoy fall weather and cover that ground before winter.

groundcovers, perennials

Groundcovers

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Ground covers are like a fancy carpet in the garden.  They add richness and beauty under trees and become the stars of the show in sunny apots.  Ground covers reduce maintenance by preventing weeds and reduce watering by acting as a living mulch.  

 

When choosing ground covers, assess the conditions of the area you want to plant.

  •  Is it in the sun or shade?
  •  Is it a naturally moist area or dry?
  •  Do you intend to water it or go with our natural cycle of wet in the winter and dry in the summer?
  •  Matching the plant to the site conditions will ensure success.

When designing a plant layout I consider whether I want a sweep of the same plant or a tapestry effect with a variety of plants.  Using more than one type of plant allows me to work with foliage contrast adding pattern to my composition. 

Splash color and texture on the ground under trees and shrubs with shade-loving ground covers like   Serbian bellflower.  It needs little water, blooms with star-shaped 1/2" blue flowers in spring and summer and spreads vigorously without becoming invasive.  Heart shaped foliage covers this mounding plant.

Lamiastrum is another perennial ground cover for partial or full shade.  Silvery variegated foliage can lighten up dark corners and small yellow flowers are a bonus in late spring.

To preserve good visibility along a walkway or lawn, use low-growing, long blooming perennials like diascia, Santa Barbara daisy and achillea.   All prefer full sun and moderate to little water.

 

Diascia is a So. African native with 1/2" wide flowers that appear on the ends of spreading stems.  Pink used to be the only flower color but now hybridizers have developed apricot, coral and lavender, too.  Diascia’s are hardy to 0 degrees and bloom nearly continuously if old flowers are cut off after flowering.

 

Santa Barbara daisy has become a popular ground cover as it reseeds readily and can cover a large area fairly quickly.  This 10-20" tall trailing plan spreads rapidly to about 2 ft, making it a great filler between larger shrubs and perennials.  Dainty 1/3" pinkish white flowers cool down hot sunny spots.  Trim this plant several times a year to keep tidy and encourage blooming.  

 

Achillea or yarrow are among the most carefree perennials for summer and early fall bloom.   They spread by underground runners and make great ground covers. Keep this in mind if you have a limited space.   The most common variety is Summer Pastels but if you want to add a punch of color to your garden, plant Cerise Queen with it’s cherry red flowers.   

 

Rockrose provide large-scale cover for expansive sunny areas.  Their dense strong root systems help prevent soil erosion.   Choose from white, pink or magenta flowers on plants varying from 1-5 ft. high depending on which variety you choose.  This Mediterranean native is fast growing and drought tolerant. 

 

To create stunning combinations of ground cover plants. choose 5 or 6 styles and repeat them in small drifts to carry the eye through the composition.

 

Add grasses for linear texture.  Good candidates are Blue Oat grass, a non-spreading clumping grass with silver leaves.  Carex Ice Dance is a spectacular evergreen ornamental grass with dark green narrow foliage edged with a pure white border.  Ice Dance spreads by underground runners in partial sun or shade.

 

Take the opportunity to survey your garden for bare spaces that can come alive with added texture and color.