Groundcover Questions

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Thu, 15 Aug 2002 09:48:11 PDT
Cathy asked about groundcover on a slope, and from her postings I assume it
is a steep one. 

Once you have got rid of the ivy -- a horrible task that I'm glad I never
had to face, though blackberries are probably worse -- there are some
useful groundcovers around bulbs. Obviously they would be different in S.
California, but I would try thyme, prostrate rosemary, helianthemums, the
low-growing Hypericums (NOT the parking-lot one called "Rose-of-Sharon"),
sedums (especially western American natives) and prostrate Arctostaphylos
species (e.g. A. uva-ursi), and Dracocephalum species (low ones). I don't
know how the prostrate brooms from e.g. Turkey behave in your area, but you
could investigate. Some fine-textured clump-forming grasses are always
attractive around bulbs, but you need to be sure they don't run or seed
aggressively in your climate. I use the smaller New Zealand sedges, which
are often killed here in hard winters but might be too seedy for you, and
Deschampsia caespitosa, which would probably not like a warm climate.

Jane McGary
NW Oregon




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