Sunday, February 19, 2012

Ground Covers part1

         Hello friends, when I try and think about what to write here I just naturally go to the problems that I have faced in my yards, if there's something you've had to figure out and fix I would love to hear about it and have you post on here!
        This is going to be a two part because there are so many great ground covers and I wanted to give you a wide variety.
       Now this is what we did so we wouldn’t have to mow this steep incline, if you’re losing soil you’ll need to do majors repairs before planting flowers and I really don’t know how to deal with that you’ll need to call a professional for that. Here are my favorite ground covers.
   JUNIPERS  - there are several low growing varieties that are
evergreen and deep rooted enough to help control erosion. Probably the most popular one is Juniper 'Tam'. But, be sure to take a look at some of the others, like 'Bar Harbor', 'Wiltonii', 'Sargentii' and several others, because they seem less prone to disease problems. You should plant most of them about two to three feet apart. Planted this closely (using gallon container size) grown plants should fill-in in about two or three years.


      Junipers ground covers are excellent, woody, evergreen ground covers that grow 6 inches to 2 feet tall, depending on the variety.
     They are vigorous growers capable of covering a large area. The leaves are needle or fan shaped and green or blue-green in color. The foliage of some varieties turn a purple or slate color in the winter.        
     Junipers are an important element in the landscape because they add different textures all their own that goes well with other plants.

     Creeping Juniper withstands hot, dry situations and prefers full sun. They don't like wet feet so always plant them in well-drained soil.

    Junipers are an excellent plant for slopes and banks. Clipping the ends of main branches for two or three seasons after planting will induce a dense branching system.
    COTONEASTER LOWFAST - this is one of the best, because it is fast growing, flowers, and berries, is evergreen and requires little care. Other varieties like C. 'Humifusa' and 'Horizonalis' are also well adapted to hillside culture. 
    It is not unusual for plants of 'Lowfast' to grow up to six feet in diameter. Gallon container size plants should be planted 2 to 4 feet apart.
     Rugosa is a hardy, dense species rose producing cupped, single, scented, violet-carmine-red flowers, showing yellow stamens, with very thorny stems and wrinkled, leathery, dark green leaves. Blooms are followed by tomato-shaped orange-red hips. Great as a hedge, In general, roses are a large group of flowering shrubs, most with showy flowers that have single petals to fully double petals. 
       Leaves are typically medium to dark green, glossy, and oval, with finely toothed edges. Vary in size from 1/2 inch to 6 inches, five petals to more than 30, and in nearly every color. Often the flowers are very fragrant.

Junipers ground cover 'Blue'
Juniper ground cover














Rugosa Rugosa
Rugosa in fall







8 comments:

yellowdoggranny said...

Texas will kill it..it even kills bluebonnets and its a native.

lisa from insignificant at best said...

Thanks for the info! I'm looking for some good ground covers for our landscaping. I'm not big on upkeep or weeding, so I think ground cover might be a good thing for me to utilize. LOL

Lisa

P.S. Thanks for stopping by and linking up to the GtKY blog hop! :)

Justine said...

Stopping by from the Make My Morning Blog Hop ! http://queenofsavings.com

Takin' time to smell the flowers! said...

Oh this makes me wish Spring was already here! I'm excited I found your blog on the Make My Morning Blog Hop, I love gardening! I'm your newest Linky follower♥ Take care!

Unknown said...

Great info on ground cover. Visiting from the GtKY blog hop.

Charlene@APinchofJoy said...

Stopping by from the Make My Morning blog hop. I love to play in the dirt, too! Thanks for the great info!

Unknown said...

Fascinating to see how different gardens are in other parts of the world. You grow things I could never do, and vice versa.

Found you via 99% blog hop.

Anonymous said...

Great information. Last year, our entire front yard was gutted when we had to replace our sewer line and this year I'm really going to need to start planting.

Thanks for linking up with the Getting to Know You hop!