Photos of Mike's all time favorite
landscape plants can be found
near the bottom of this page.
Using ground covers
for weed control.
Copyright 2005
by Michael J. McGroarty
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The two most popular and widely known ground covers
among home gardeners are Pachysandra and Ivy. Both of these plants make excellent ground
covers. However, too many gardeners think that all they have to do is stick a few sprigs
in the ground and then sit back and let Mother Nature do the rest. And be assured she
will. She will methodically fill all the bare areas in between the sprigs with weed seed
that will quickly germinate and over take the entire area, rendering the new ground cover
plants helpless to become established.
Last
spring we sold over $25,000. worth of our
little plants right from our driveway in a
matter of about six weeks!
Click
here to see one of our plant sales, photos
of our house, and our backyard nursery.
Establishing a new bed of ground cover requires work
and discipline. You must keep the area weed free as the new ground cover establishes
it’s self. Once the weeds take over the new plants will receive very little sunlight,
and sunlight is magic. With it plants grow like crazy, without it they stand still and
will eventually die if they don’t receive a minimal amount. I tend to think the same
thing applies to people. Sunlight makes us spiritually alive.
The most important step in preparing an area for the
planting of ground cover is to make sure the soil is as free as possible of both weed seed
and pieces of active weed roots. Another important factor is to have good rich soil. Most
ground covers will grow in poor soil, but they will not thrive and therefore will take
substantially longer to become established. Of course bringing in good rich topsoil will
be a huge benefit in the long run, but in the beginning you will have more weeds because
most really good topsoil is loaded with weed seed. It's the nature of the beast.
If you have a bed with new fresh topsoil don’t
be in a hurry to plant in it right away. It is better to rake the soil flat or to the
desired grade you want, and then let it sit for a week or two, giving the weed seeds a
chance to germinate. Once the weeds are about two inches tall either spray them with
something like Round-Up® or another non-selective herbicide, or disturb the soil by
either roto-tilling or dig by hand. You only want to disturb the top couple inches of
soil. Wait two more weeks and do this again.
If you use an herbicide, make sure you use one that
has no residual effect. In other words one that will not linger in the soil. Speak with a professional
at your local garden center. Do not take the advice of an untrained and unqualified sales
person. Make sure the person with whom you are speaking is quite knowledgeable about all
garden chemicals.
Ivy and Pachysandra can be planted on 12"
centers, which means that the plants are planted in a random pattern with a distance
between all plants of 12". Planted closer they will fill in quicker and require less
effort in keeping the weeds out while the plants are becoming established. Planting them
further apart will save you some money but will increase your work.
At 12" on center you will need 1 plant per square
foot.
At 8" on center you will need 2.25 plants per
square foot.
At 6" on center you will need 4 plants per square
foot.
Most ground covers are sold in flats of 50 or 100
plants per flat. The most popular grade is a one year old rooted cutting with an average
retail price of 25 to 35 cents each. Two year old plants are available at higher cost, but
they also have much better root systems and longer runners, and will fill in much quicker.
Another nice but not as widely known ground cover is
Euonymus Coloratus, also known as Purpleleaf Wintercreeper. This plant grows much like an
Ivy but has a different shaped leaf. The leaves turn purple during the winter just as the
name implies. However, it is also susceptible to Euonymus Scale which is a harmful
insect, and once the plants become infested, can be quite difficult to control. But
then again there are pests that attack most all plants, so prevention is the key.
Speak with an expert at your local garden center if you want to
use a spray as a prevention.
Ivy on the other hand can be damaged by severe
weather during the winter.
Pachysandra is as tough as nails and can be an
excellent ground cover. It can also be the most invasive pain in the butt you could ever
put in your yard.
My opinion about these types of ground covers is
that they are great to use in large shady areas in your yard, or along the edge of a wood
line. But I do not like to see them in the foundation plantings around your home. Most
people like to see color in their landscapes. In order to have and appreciate color you
have to have contrast. Ground covers in foundation plantings eliminate that necessary
contrast. Everything blends together and just becomes a sea of varying shades of green. I,
and most homeowners appreciate dark brown mulch instead of ground cover because all the
plants in the garden will contrast well against dark brown mulch. Many experts will
disagree with me in this area, but I have spent 25 years consulting with homeowners, I
know what effect the average person is looking for, but it's still a personal preference,
and it is your home.
One last comment about ground covers. In fifteen
years of re-landscaping homes I found that people who do not have ground covers in their
yard can not wait to get some. Those that have had them for a period of years, can not
wait to get rid of them. During the fall, cleaning fallen tree leaves out of ground cover
is not only necessary, but it is a job.
Do I have ground covers in my yard? You bet I do!!! So which ones did I
choose for my landscape?