Groundcovers as Problem Solvers

Periwinkle (Vinca minor) grows fast and tolerates shade.

A well-chosen groundcover solves what might at first appear to be a difficult landscape dilemma — a steep slope, for instance. Use groundcover plants on irregular terrain to prevent erosion and runoff. Where water conservation is a priority, choose from among the numerous groundcovers that tolerate dry soil. If gardening time is limited, consider groundcover plants as a lower-maintenance alternative to a lawn and most other landscape elements.

Handling Slopes

The aggressive growth of goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) suits it to difficult areas. It's also called bishop's weed and snow-on-the-mountain.

Groundcovers provide a practbishical solution for slopes. Carefully selected and properly planted, they can transform a hillside into a gardening asset. For a multi-tiered effect, you can first terrace slope to limit erosion and then plant it with your choice of a wide variety of possible groundcovers. Or turn a hillside into a living backdrop for color displays of interplanted bulbs, flowering shrubs and trees by protecting the erosion-prone soil with a groundcover carpet. It holds the topsoil in place, thereby strengthening the entire planting.

Quite a few attractive groundcovers effectively protect a hillside against erosion. Most require minimal maintenance once established. Vining groundcovers, such as ivy (Hedera), are excellent soil protectors. In many cases, you can plant cuttings directly on the slope. With heavier groundcovers, such as juniper, yiou might need to build individual terraces to hold the plants in place until they become firmly established.

Erosion remains a threat until a groundcover has fully developed its root system and foliage to cover the bare soil. In the meantime, cover the slope with netting (jute, available in retail nurseries) to stop the runoff. Install a drip system to water the groundcover most efficiently.

Conserving Water

Lawns require more water than almost any other type of planting. In some areas, certain types of lawn grasses, when found in their natural state, go dormant during the heat and drought of high summer. Keeping these grasses green requires frequent and heavy waterings, particularly in the western and southwestern United States.

Groundcovers, like all plants — even drought-resistant ones — need some water some time. And all plants need careful watering until their root systems become well established. But even during this initial period of several weeks to months, groundcover plants thrive on a fraction of the water needed for a new lawn. Soil that has been enriched with organic matter and has been well mulched after planting makes better use of natural rainfall or of the water applied, further conserving this precious resource.

Once the groundcover has put down its roots and begun to spread, give it deeper but less frequent waterings to encourage deep rooting. Given this moisture as needed, an expanse of groundcover plants will suffer no periods of summer dormancy as grasses do. Rather, the groundcover will continue to thrive with rich color from spring until freeze, or the year around in frost-free regions.

Saving Maintenance Time

Liriope is adapted to shady Southern landscapes.

Home landscapes should offer rest and relaxation to busy people, not more work and more stress. Limiting lawns to a workable size and using groundcovers elsewhere is one way to achieve this.

Invest time at the outset, preparing the soil. Thorough soil preparation is as vital to a groundcover planting as it is to any other planting. The plants must be carefully planted, and then watered as needed until they settle in and show new growth. After that they need some additional watering and perhaps some fertilizer on occasion. Weeding can be a problem for the first few seasons until the groundcover spreads enough to crowd out the weeds. Mulch reduces weeding — and watering — to a minimum and makes any weeds that do come up easier to pull.

Groundcover plantings give satisfaction as they spread and grow. Homeowners will have more time to rest and enjoy their yards and gardens.

Republished with permission from The Scotts Company, www.scotts.com .