looking for a small area conifer ground cover
Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b
last month
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (15)
Henry Z6(OH Zone 6b)
last monthRelated Discussions
Should I purchase Mulch OR Ground Covering Conifers??
Comments (21)Rick, I understand completely where you are coming from. I have very large gardens and spent a couple years mulching it all. Now they all need it again and I'm wondering if I will move forward with all that mulch again. First, have you checked the following places for cheaper mulch, the city, any of the tree removing companies? I have a tree removing company that will come out and dump one of their large trucks of mulch for $42. You are right, it does not go far. I did what you've come to the conclusion of. I worked one bed at a time, mulched it, planted it up and then moved on to another bed. I think that is a terrific plan, if it were me, I would not waste the amount of time it is going to take you to place ground covers in all your beds, it is GOING to be more work. They do still get weeds under the plants and especially because it takes 4 or 5 years to get any real growth on them. Regarding your method of digging in your grass. I'm a little worried about that because you don't want grass to grow up through your conifers. Grass roots are pretty aggressive. I have clay soil too, when I started I hoed my gardens and seriously broke hoes from the cement the rain created (this was before I learned about mulch). Here is a cheap suggestion for you. It may not look as nice but it was very cost effective for me and a great way to get started when I was still spending TONS of money on plants to fill in my large gardens...Take your grass clippings and use them as mulch. Put it on real thick and that will also mat down during rains and assist in weed control AND most importantly it provides wonderful tilth to your clay soil. Also, during the Fall, I collected tons and tons of leaves and placed a thick layer of them on my gardens too. I don't know about your area, but in town they people will rake or mow and place their bags of leaves and grass the curb, I would come buy (in the cover of darkness because I was a chicken) with a pickup and trailer fill it up and spread it on my gardens. People would tell me if they used weed killer it would kill my plants, I never lost one plant. Also, they say you should chop the leaves up but I did not do that it worked so well for me. Once you are no longer buying the number of plants you are now starting out, then you can concentrate on purchasing wood chips and come back around and place wood chips over your grass/leaves. I think you are doing an awesome job making sure you know where all your beds will be, how they will meander around your yard. If I were you, I would just keep mowing the beds as you currently are until you get one bed at a time done and start using the free mulch you already have on your property :). I think you are going to have one beautiful yard once everything grows. Keep moving along, I love how you are so forward thinking and asking those questions up front. I wish I had done that as I would have eliminated a LOT of mistakes. Good luck....See MoreRecommended ground covers beneath dwarf conifers.
Comments (20)Where do you get your heaths and heathers? Do you have any erica or is that the same thing? ===>>> none of them will live in z5 ... well.. to be totally correct.. they will live until a z5 winter ... unless you just want to play the zone pushing thing .... though i would not be surprised for someone to roll in here and claim there is ONE that will ... you better learn quickly .. to read a responders ZONE .. before you go off.. half cocked on their recommendations .. let me suggest that Will FFB has thousands of things in his zone 7/8 garden .. that you can dream and drool over.. that will never be good for you in z5 ... just like i have lots of things in my z5.. that dave cant grow in his z5 st louis .. or kansas city.. or wherever he is today .. lol ... [how in the heck can you have a town in two different states .... with the same name .. WHAT .. the peeps on the other side of the river could not come up with a different name.. what.. was sobriety an issue back then ... well dduuhhh.. i cant think of anything original .. lets just use the same name .. whats that all about.. but i digress] ken...See MoreSuggestions for small ground cover in front of walkway
Comments (20)Hi, This summer I planted about 12 heathers. They have started to grow but I thought they would have grown a lot more by now. I have tried my best to water them at least twice a week and we've had some occasional rain. There are a couple of heathers that show small purple buds but a couple of days ago I noticed they were gone from one of them. The lack of growth and flower bud disappearing concerns me along with the fact that they are growing very slow. Any ideas? The groundcover bed also quickly gets covered in weeds (particularly along the perimeter) and I have to remove them quite often despite using bark mulch. When I planted the heathers I planted peat moss under them but I didn't plant peat moss over the whole bed. Should I have done that to keep weeds out and should I plant peat moss below the mulch where the weeds keep growing? Finally is there anything that you'd recommend to help the heathers grow such as fertilizer. Although I just read a bh article saying that you shouldn't use fertilizer on heathers. I'm not sure because I'd expect better growth at this point. The soil is very acidic. I am attaching some recent pictures. Thanks!...See MoreGround cover in shaded area
Comments (7)I am trying Pigeonberry for the first time this year, to be planted in my dappled shade garden. I've read they can go dormant in the heat of summer if they get too dry but since this is a Texas native, I'm not certain how dry DRY needs to be before this dormancy kicks in! :-) Red berries for the birds, blooms from early spring through fall for the pollinators and butterflies, pretty fall color, height 1 to 2 feet on average. Not certain if the height is too tall for you. There are many discussions about this plant here in the garden forums, if you think you might be interested in taking a look. Just do a search for Pigeonberry or Pigeon Berry. The proper name is Rivina humilis aka Rouge plant. I currently have small seedlings I started from seed and they're growing well. Can't wait to see how they do this season. Best of luck with your new plantings. Mary...See MoreOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
last monthgardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last monthOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
last monthOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
last monthgardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last monthBillMN-z-2-3-4
last monthOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
last monthBillMN-z-2-3-4
last monthlast modified: last monthpennlake
last monthlast modified: last monthOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
last month
Related Stories
GROUND COVERSGround Force: 10 Top Ground Covers for Your Garden
Protect your soil from weeds and drought this summer with a living mulch of ground covers
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESSmall Carpenter Bees Are Looking for a Home in Your Plant Stems
Provide flowers and nesting sites in your garden for this beautiful, tiny, metallic blue wild bee — your plants will thank you
Full StoryFLOWERS AND PLANTSThis Daisylike Ground Cover Brings Natural Beauty to Dry Gardens
Drought-tolerant Latin American fleabane adds carefree style to containers, perennial beds and rock gardens
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES10 Native Ground Covers for Southwestern Landscapes
Create a carpet of color in your landscape with one or more of these sun-loving plants
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES5 Essential Native Ground Covers for the Central Plains
These ground-level plants, for a variety of soils and sun exposures, offer benefits for pollinators
Full StoryFLOWERS AND PLANTSPlant This Flowering Ground Cover for Texture, Color and Wildlife
False heather, also called Mexican heather, adds color to gardens with flowers that welcome butterflies and hummingbirds
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNSo Long, Lawn: 6 Walkable Ground Covers to Consider
These trample-proof, low-water plants can lower your water bill while greening up your garden
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES6 Deer-Resistant Ground Covers to Plant This Fall
Learn about some of the only low, spreading plants that are reliably deer-resistant
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGN6 Great Ways With Garden Ground Covers
Use them as problem solvers, weed killers, color and texture providers ... ground cover plants have both practical and visual appeal
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESLow-Maintenance Ground Covers to Go With Your Pavers
These 8 plants will fill the spots between steppingstones, gaps in flagstone patios and other garden nooks and crannies
Full Story
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)