Page 6 - Sonoma County Gardeners Resource Guide 2017.indd

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Ground Covers
The Beautiful Carpet of Garden Design
By Mary Frost, The Gardening Tutor
You created your garden space but something is missing. You chose lots
of plants with different forms and colors that complement each other but something just doesn’t feel right. Maybe looking at your garden makes you think of polka dots. Perhaps all that’s missing are swaths of low growing plants to bring it all together, the way that a carpet can unify the interior design of your home.
Generally, the term “ground cover” can be used to describe plants that
are under a foot in height and closely planted together to cover the soil. This category includes ground hugging plants that grow less than six inches
high and spread. Many of these low growers slowly spread and are easily controllable. Others can be highly invasive and become a headache later when you try to remove them. While still other low growing ground cover plants reach a mature size instead of continuing to grow on indefinitely.
Reading plant labels can help you avoid accidentally planting a spreading ground cover that takes over your entire garden. When a plant description says, “spreads easily”; “spreads by rhizomes”; “fast spreader” or “aggressive”, be wary. Some ground covers spread by growing along the surface of the soil and then setting down shallow rootlets. These are generally easier to control than plants that spread by underground rhizomes (think Bermuda grass).
The following list of low growing spreaders have the potential to add some interest to your design, either in texture, color or both. Although the list is not all inclusive, you may find some descriptions that help you choose the best ground cover for your garden. Included at the end is a short list of ground covers to avoid completely or use only in a container setting.
Prefer Full Sun:
Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ - The darling of the
winter garden. The chartreuse color and rough texture of this plant really looks amazing during our rainy season. Because it spreads by shallow rootlets, you’ll need to give it a shower from the hose a couple times a week in summer to keep it looking good in the heat.
Rubus folfei on left Sedum 'Angelina' on right Berberis in back
Rubus folfei - Give
Rubus just enough water to do well and not regular water, unless you want to encourage it to thickly cover an area. The evergreen foliage turns reddish in fall.
Veronica umbrosa ‘Georgia Blue’ - If you like lobelia in summer, you’ll like this blue flowering plant with foliage similar to lobelia. Blooms in late winter to early spring.
Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’ - has ghostly, blue-green color. Stachys b. ‘Countess Helen von Stein’ has larger leaves with a more green tint and is said to flower less than ‘Silver Carpet’. Both can be hit hard by winter temperatures and their foliage can become moldy. Clear away the unsightly foliage as we near spring and your plant will become beautiful again.
Silene uniflora - Blue-green foliage with some trippy, white, balloon shaped flowers make this plant a showstopper.
Veronica umbrosa ‘Georgia Blue GROUND COVERS cont’d on page 7