Hello,
Which of these potential ground covers will spread fast? Which will take over grass? (Yes, I want them to do both!)
lobelia irish moss scotch moss baby tears alyssum boston ivy virginia creeper Chrysogonum virginianum golden star vinca creeping phlox Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
conditions:
USDA zone 4/5 (old reckoning) USDA zone 6 (new reckoning) AHS heat zone 4/5 Sunset zone 43
dark organic/clay soil half shade, half sun
Thank you!!
Ted Shoemaker certified Gray Thumb
On my property Virginia creeper from your list is quite effective at spreading over territory. Vinca is less so but at least offers some blue flowers. But the winner here is English ivy which I have to treat like the weed that it is but spraying it with "industrial-strength" herbicides scarcely inconvenience it and manually ripping it out by the roots is nearly impossible.
Lobelia and alyssum are annuals and I wouldn't reccomend irish & scotch moss ans baby tears need some shade, a lot of water and are slow phlox is slow and not aggressive vinca is aggressive almost to the point of ivy wich can be a noctious weed boston ivy is decidious
my suggestion would be
Yes Myoporum is all that. Unfortunately it will not make it in zone 6 winters. Neither will Baby Tears. Irish and Scotch moss are the same plant: Sagina subulata Not many groundcovers are going to out compete grass. Lamium, maybe. Emilie
Emilie NorCal
Virgina creeper and Boston ivy are fast growers and can tolerare the partial shade conditions you have.
Good Luck
Wouldn't you want full-time duty?
*I'm in So Calif coastal.Persephone
One of the appeals of Boston Ivy is the fact that it's deciduous. In autumn it's a brilliant red. Since I live in Wisconsin (where winter, they say, is the best 8 months of the year), I don't care what the plants look like under the snow.
That applies to the baby tears and other plants in the original post, too. If they brown off, will they revive in the spring? That's okay. Or will they self-sow? That's okay, too. Are they gone forever? That is the undesirable situation.
Thanks for all replies.
Ted Shoemaker Zone 4/5 (old reckoning) Zone 6 (new reckoning)
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