I live in Ohio and have several shaded areas where I would like to put in ground cover and I just wanted to make sure I've thought of them all. So far I have English Ivy and Periwinkle. The ivy is great, and the periwinkle is beautiful, but it is very prone to fungus from moisture - and the shade doesn't help dry up that!
So what are your suggestions?
-kim
I just planted some creeping thyme based on recommendations I've read here and other places. It might be something for you to consider. I also planted periwinkle, but haven't had the fungus problem you mention since I live in a very dry area.
Leslie
Leslie
In West Virginia, zone 6b, we have
Sweet woodruff on the mostly shady east side of the house Native wild ginger on the very shady north side Blue star creeper in the back (east) where it gets shade, dappled sun and 2-4 hours full sun Creeping thyme between and around the shale stone walk, also on the shady north side
Those all seem to be doing well, beginning to expand as ground covers. The one I really want to see take off is partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), which I put in as a ground cover under trees along the front of the lot. The individual dozen plants are doing OK, but it grows very, very slowly. And the one I want to try is sweet box (Sarcococca hookeriana humilis), except I can't find a source. I have an area prepared for it, by the walk, between the lilac plantings and the house.
You should have more luck than me to grow Pachysandra. It grows well in Ohio, but it's just too hot in Tennessee to grow well. It loves shade, stays green all year, has small white flowers in the spring.
the one I want to try is sweet box (Sarcococca hookeriana humilis), except I can't find a source.
I wonder if you contacted Monrovia, if they would be able to tell you the closest nursery to you that carried sweetbox?
Heidi
Rachel wrote:
Thanks, Heidi - that's an idea. Since they don't seem to have mail-order, I was going to wait until somebody I knew was driving through North Carolina. In the meantime, I found a nursery in Connecticut that sells it, and I occasionally drive from W.Va. to Boston, so might be able to stop off there. R.
I wonder if you contacted Monrovia, if they would be able to tell you the closest nursery to you that carried sweetbox?
Heidi
Other groundcovers for shady areas include carpet bugle, mock strawberry, plumbago, sweet woodruff, woodbine, wintercreeper euonymous and dead nettle (lamium 'White Nancy' is my favorite). sed5555
favorites have been mentioned except for houttuynia cordata 'chameleon' which is a lovely mix of pink, green and cream in color, (creeping sedum is also nice) but I also use hostas (you can get miniatures that are really elegant), ferns, and astilbe to add color and height.
additional information and pictures of what you don't know. DKat
I just want the ground cover to keep weeds down and so we don't have to mow in those areas. Thanks to all for these great suggestions, there are some things I have not heard of, and I will look into them!!
-kim
What about Lily of the Valley? It's not a creeper like a vinca, but it grows/spreads like mad and smells so wonderful when it's in bloom. Small green plants with small white flowers then little red berry things :-) Poisonous if eaten, but nobody said you have to eat them.
LeeAnne
Several NATIVE semi-creepers with the common names Lily of the Valley, False Lily of the Valley, False Solomon's Seal, Fairybells -- of the Disporum sp, Maianthemum sp, & Convallaria sp. -- can be very fine choices. These have lovely little flowers, excellent foliage, & some have long-lasting red berries, although no winter presence. Most would have such dense root systems they'd really keep weeds down to nothin'. They make excellent no-mainteance moist-shade groundcover choices. Even if they spread aggressively, they cannot be regarded as woodland invasives when locally native species are selected (rather than the commonly gardened Eurasian species). Convallaria montana would be the native Lily of the Valley for areas around the Appalachians; Maianthemum dilatatum is a Northwest native, many other choices region by region. Some you wouldn't want to plant near anything delicate, as the spread can overwhelm anything smaller. Most need no soil preparation, they grow in anything.
For something with evergreen presence, & which will do well even in dryish shade, there are some creeping groundcover cultivars & varieties of native Mahonias (Oregon grapes). Would have to be chosen specifically with an eye for dwarf or creeping types, as some of them are very tall bushes instead of groundcovers. They have yellow flowers & very edible blueberry-like berries. Another native with evergreen presence if Wintergreen, with bright red berries that last through winter & are edible. It's one of my favorite native mini-shrubs, but it spreads extremely slowly. There are dwarf varieties of lingonberries which are evergreen & extremely cold-hardy as is wintergreen. Lingonberries produce copiious amounts of edible fruits if there's at least a little sun, but will also do great in deep shade though without much fruit. Some varieties stay only two inches tall, even "big" varieties are only a foot or so tall, & these spread quite rapidly.
-paghat the ratgirl
yeah, it is ugly in the fall - but to me the wonderful smell is worth it.
"Favorites" shift from season to season, & from mood to mood. But with the Cyclamen hederofoliums blooming all over the place right now, & the promise of Cyclamen coum blooms come winter, my favorite autumn/winter groundcover seems to be, at the moment, cyclamens. They thrive in dry shade right up near the bases of trees, & we have such a wide variety of colorful leaf-types so that even when they stop blooming they're still just amazing.
For a pleasing little evergreen groundcover I'm terribly fond of asarum wild gingers. They need damper shade than do cyclamens & take a long time to spread out, but once they take off, they're just too cool.
-paghat the ratgirl
Amongst the many available, I like Sweet Woodruff quite a bit. It gets nearly covered in tiny white flowers in Spring, and stays a healthy looking green all Summer with sort of starry leaves. It spreads well. Maybe it spreads too well; in one spot I had to put plastic lawn edging in the ground to stop it from overrunnig the primrose.
Like Paggers says, the cyclamen are pleasing this time of year; especially if they are in a location that you walk by or sit near.
Joe Ontario
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