Showing posts with label Ground covers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ground covers. Show all posts

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Ground Covers (part 2)

     Hello friends so alright I as promised here the second half of ground covers, this one isn't very long cause I don't talk about what I've never used.
    Periwinkles are fast growing, evergreen ground cover plants with opposing pairs of glossy dark green or variegated, oblong to lance shaped, 1"-3" leaves. They produce an abundance of single, 1"-2" funnel shaped flowers with five flared and flattened petals.
   Foam flowers are easy to grow, perennial wildflowers that form 6"-10" tall clumps of heart shaped leaves. They quickly spread to form nice two foot patches of this shade loving ground cover. Tiarella produce wispy plumes of creamy white or pale pink, star shaped flowers.
     Blue Corydalis is a slow growing, evergreen perennial that will eventually form a dense 18" clump of elegant, 12" tall, lace-like green foliage. Eighteen inch spikes of dangling, tubular, sky blue flowers will adorn the plant from late spring until fall l in regions with cool summers.
    Common Aubrieta is a vigorous growing, mat forming ground cover and rock garden plant. It is tolerant of a wide range of conditions, and rewards you with a long lasting cover of delicate flowers in early Spring.













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