It has been a cool, wet spring and the one thing that has flourished has been the weeds. Almost any idea to slow down the weed growth seems like a good one.
Mother Nature abhors a vacuum
First we need to understand how things work in nature and then in our gardens. Mother Nature abhors a vacuum. She’ll go out of her way to fill up an empty space, even in the most inhospitable locations and climates.
Because she succeeds so well, when Mother Nature plants she often chooses something that is so hardy that it is difficult to eradicate it and is tailored to fit those exact locations.
Ground covers
In the garden our answer to curtailing weed growth may be to plant a ground cover.
But gardeners should be wary and do their homework before deciding on planting ground covers as weed inhibitors.
A fine line between a ground cover and a weed
Ground covers by nature have the ability to be a pest. To be a good choice as a ground cover, it must be a prolific grower. This is most often done by a stoloniferous root system and/or a seeding habit. These plants have all the ingredients to become thugs if used in the wrong locations of your garden. I should point out that quack grass grows this way and only a lunatic would want it in his garden.
The very nature of these plants means that they need to be sited amongst other plants that are as hardy and tough as they are. Otherwise the ground cover will move in, cover and choke out your favorite plants. (It is always the expensive, tender ones that require the most work that are the first to go under the chopping block in this case.)
Work well in a shrubbery
If you have a collection of shrubs that are well established, a ground cover may be the ideal plant for this location.
Ground covers come in a wide variety of plants meant for sun, part sun, part shade and shady areas.
Emphasize more than one season
There are a number of varieties in some species. This will give you an option to choose for leaf variegation or perhaps between two flower colors. Look for the most bang. If you can find a plant that has variegation, flowers and good fall color, it will give you something for every season of the garden year to appreciate.
Sprucing-up qualities during the season
Something else to look for is how tidy the plant remains. Some lop all over their neighbors, some have the ability to climb and some remain as ground huggers. If they tend to lop, will they tolerate having a weed whacker or lawn mower used to give them a haircut? And if they tolerate being clipped back, will they quickly leaf back out and fill in any bare patches?
Before I talk about the usual variety of plants, used for ground covers, I want to mention clematis. We tend to think of clematis as a climber on a trellis. But it will wiggle through all kinds of plants, pairing and making itself comfortable in a wide range of conditions. What it hasn’t done for me is to make a thick ground cover. So if you want some ground cover but not a complete one, clematis may be a good choice for you.
Clematis
Clematis is easily propagated by layering. Cover the stems with soil between the leaf nodes. Spreading out a runner and layering this time of the year will give you half-dozen plants ready for transplanting by next spring.
Next, I’ll give you a list of ground cover plants that might suit your growing situation.
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