Choosing Ground Cover For Eco-Friendly Beauty

(NAPSI)-Turfgrass, the nation's traditional ground cover, may be losing ground to the more eco-friendly creeping perennials.

Turfgrass is popular because it covers the soil nicely, but it requires high maintenance and uses a tremendous amount of water, fertilizer and chemicals to maintain its beauty.

Low-maintenance, eco-friendly creeping perennial ground cover is a great substitute for traditional turfgrass. For example, the Forever & Ever GroundCovers line of round covers provides options that grow in sun or shade, come in many colors and textures, and grow in areas where grass will not. They come back every season and look better each year.

Once the eco-friendly plants are established, they require very little water as compared to turf that requires constant watering. The need for fertilizer is also minimal. Most varieties only need one feeding of slow-release fertilizer each year as compared to three to four feedings for traditional turf. Many varieties provide a thick mat of foliage that helps prevent weeds, eliminating the need for chemical control.

Ground covers grow where grass won't and in small areas where it is difficult to maintain, such as on slopes, under trees or in confined landscapes. Many of the varieties will withstand some foot traffic. Varieties such as Platt's Black Brass Buttons, with its wonderfully textured purple-gray leaves, and County Park Pratia, with its showy blue blooms above a dense mat of foliage, are perfect varieties to use between stepping-stones or along walkways.

The collection also features several varieties of sedum that will work well in sunny, dry areas. Sedums work well on slopes and are a classic rock garden plant filling in between rocks, eliminating a haven for weeds. John Creech Sedum, with it purple-pink flowers and dense foliage, and Angelina Sedum, with its uniquely textured golden-yellow foliage, are star performers in sunny, arid areas.

Some ground covers, such as the Yellow Ripple Ivy, also do very well in patio containers. Ivy and other creeping perennials make great fillers for container gardens, drooping or cascading over the edges of the pots.

This line of creeping perennials brings colorful blooms, great foliage colors and unique textures to the garden, all with little care and maintenance. They are available at home centers and independent garden centers.

Ground covers grow where grass won't and in small areas where it is difficult to maintain, such as on slopes, under trees or in confined landscapes.

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