One of the problems that a new northern landscape may encounter is a lack of plant material to fill the landscape with. Young plants are small in the beginning and you may wonder after the landscaper departs how you ended up with a mulch pile instead of a garden. So instead of looking at mulch for the next three years, get pro-active and plant some ground cover! The more the merrier. Use ground cover to help fill in between plants, fountains and garden decor, or around stepping stones.
Before you start planting just anything you need to choose your ground cover based on the light, water, and traffic conditions in your garden. These are some great ground cover suggestions to fit just about any northern garden need.
Plant some sedum if you have a very hotgarden. It comes in a variety of color shades and growth habits. Sedum will thrive in hot sun and poor soil. Sedum is used on “green roofs” which are very inhospitable to highlight the kind of conditions it can take: hot, dry and horrible. The hotter the better! Sedum is not a good choice if it is going to get stepped on.
Thyme, the popular kitchen herb, is another great ground cover plant for a sunny landscape. It is great for an area that gets walked on, such as a path, because of it’s aromatic qualities. Your landscape will have an English Cottage feeling with this kitchen herb that comes in many different varieties to suit your needs…there are so many types.
Pachysandra can be a great ground cover for your shady landscape. Pachysandra is a good deep shade ground cover that can handle some partial sun. Pachysandra is a good choice under a walnut tree which can be difficult to plant under. It has a neat growth habit that is easy to control.And it is less invasive than it’s popular nemesis called vinca: vinca is a garden no no because of its rampant invasiveness into woodland areas-so when in doubt choose pachysandra.
If you are a fan of native or woodland plants and your are looking for a shade loving ground cover consider wild ginger. It has handsome dark green circular leaves and forms a dense matte with little ground hugging flowers that are popular with toads and woodland critters. Plant it around the base of a [bird feeder|recycled glass bird feeder] to hide the cast off seeds. It is rumored that there are some evergreen types in more southern climates.
Whether you have shade or sun a ground cover is always going to enhance your garden landscape. They cover up all the ugly areas in your garden and also improve the vigor of existing plants by shading their roots. Harmonize your garden design with ground cover. Put some [recycled glass gazing globes|gazing balls] in a patch of ground cover for an easy garden decoration idea and just enjoy!
