Ground Covers
Adding ground covers to your garden or
around your yard is a great way to beautify your property with
low-maintenance plants. As long as the covers you choose are
appropriate for the ground you plant them in and the conditions
they'll be exposed to (heat, sunlight, etc.), ground covers are
as close to "plant-and-forget" as you'll find anywhere.
A recent
trend with ground covers has been to line sidewalks or short
driveways with a variety of cover that has a tight leaf structure
and doesn't grow very high. Good choices for this kind of ground
cover strategy are 'Spicata Liriope' or 'Japanese Spurge' (see below).
Do you have a
lot of trees that keep your grounds in shade most of the year? Try
a variety of cover that is well-suited to little sun exposure -
Ivy or Periwinkle work beautifully. Just remember to keep climbing
Ivy about a foot back from your tree trunks.
Keep in mind
that most ground cover varieties are water hogs, especially in the
early stages. Covers will require about an inch of water every 5-7
days until mature. Then, a good rule of thumb with most ground
covers is to maintain 4-5 inches of moist soil depth.
