GREEN CARPET

A GREEN CARPET to lower your MAINTENANCE!

I’ve met with many clients lately that have mentioned “low-maintenance” gardens. While no garden is completely maintenance-free, there are many plants you can introduce that require little care and will actually reduce your overall maintenance! Groundcovers are top on my list for easy plants.

Groundcovers replace mulch that needs to be applied frequently and weeded, therefore reducing costs and labor almost immediately. They also provide flowers for pollinators and require very little care once established. There are groundcovers for sunny areas and shady areas and even woodland areas. There is a movement to replace high-maintenance lawns and giant mulch beds with groundcovers and small perennials, and we are all for it … more plants > more mulch! Generally, groundcovers should be planted MaySeptember so they can get established before winter since they usually start out small. Spacing depends on the plant, but we can help you calculate how many plants per square foot you’d need. Secret tip: You’ll need to remove mulch from any areas you are planting with groundcover so

they can spread better — bare, turnedover dirt and a dusting of compost is all they need! Another secret tip: Don’t blow your lawn clippings into groundcover beds, or you’ll get lawn grass infested in the groundcover — and that is impossible to remove. Here are some of our favorite groundcovers: • AJUGA: I love this little groundcover!!! Blue flowers that the bumblebees love, fills in fast, tolerates sun or shade, comes in several different leaf colors such as burgundy or variegated. • SEDUM: There are a million different groundcover sedums, but you can’t go wrong with any of them. Hot, dry, crummy soil is their preference and they usually bloom in the summer, too, much to the pollinators’ delight! • CREEPING PHLOX: This happy, semievergreen groundcover is one of the first to bloom in spring. Blues, pinks and whites in a giant carpet of color.

Excellent for drier soils, tolerates hot sun and spreads to 2 feet. • CREEPING THYME: Though an herb, it also makes a nice, flat groundcover for between stepping stones or in rock gardens or pond gardens. Flowers are usually pink and the foliage is absolutely tiny but still showy! • LAMIUM: An excellent shade groundcover that the bees love, variegated foliage, doesn’t like mulch so remove before planting. • LAMIASTRUM: Fairly aggressive but grows in the absolute worst, dry, shady sites; white and green foliage brightens up dark areas — way better than bishop’s weed in my opinion. • WILD GINGER (N): Super cool native that unfolds in spring with large, heart-shaped leaves, can take some time to establish and doesn’t like heavy mulching, good for woodland or shady areas. • CAREX (N): The sedges are also a large family of plants that make great groundcovers. The grass-like foliage can be used in shady, wet, sunny or dry spaces (depending on type of sedge); many of them are native. • BARRENWORT: This underused shade lover has delicate blossoms and heart-shaped leaves, spreads nicely when not mulched and is a great companion plant with hostas and other larger shade perennials. • STRAWBERRY: Both decorative and edible, strawberries can be a fun groundcover if you can beat the critters to the fruit! • SWEET WOODRUFF: A dainty leafed plant that has fragrant white flowers in spring, does not tolerate heavy mulch or leaf cover, shade lover that can spread quickly if not hindered by mulch. • GERANIUM: Though a “fancy” perennial, many geraniums make excellent groundcovers. My favorite is ‘Bevan’s Variety,’ which has thick, fragrant, fuzzy leaves and pink flowers, spreads nicely if you let it (clear out mulch) or leave it mulched to keep it a certain size, deer- and rabbit-resistant. • LIRIOPE: Grass-like foliage that spreads quickly, will have small pale blue flowers spikes when established, sun or shade, good for large areas that need cover quickly. • PACHYSANDRA: Fragrant, white flowers in early spring that the pollinators love, spreads fast, taller than most other groundcovers at 6-8 inches, semi-evergreen, best in part sun to full shade but will tolerate full sun if irrigated. • VINCA: Quarter-sized blue flowers appear in early spring on fluffy foliage, spreads quickly, very tolerant of most garden situations, very common and easy to grow.

Meagan is the Senior Landscape Designer at Wasco Nursery in St. Charles. She can be reached at 630-584-4424 or design@wasconursery.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!