Trade Your Lawn For A Ground Cover

(NAPSI)-If you're considering what to do about a hard-to-mow patch of your garden, ground cover may have it covered. Most ground covers require less work and fewer chemicals than a lawn--and they never need mowing.

Ground covers do exactly what their name implies: cover the ground with dense plant growth, choking out weeds and lending color and texture to a space. Even hostas and daylilies can be considered ground covers.

Regular turfgrass does a good job if you have a very large, sunny yard. But if you have a smaller area, a spot with shady pockets where turfgrass struggles, a difficult slope where mowing is difficult or another unusual situation, a ground cover can work wonders.

Many ground covers don't like to be walked on, but a few, such as creeping thyme or brass buttons (Leptinella squalida "Platt's Black"), tolerate some foot traffic and look great when planted between pavers and flagstones. Pink Chintz even sports tiny pink flowers in early spring.

If you want color in a partially sunny to sunny area, try the three-part Forever & Ever® GroundCover Sedum Carpet Collection. Golden foliage and flowers from Angelina, bronzy-red leaves and red flowers from Red Carpet and rich green foliage and yellow flowers from Kamschaticum sedum will light up the space.

Many sedums, including John Creech, Sedum divergens, Blue Spruce and Ogon, serve as reliable and beautiful ground covers whose stems can be left for months to provide winter interest. Just clip or break off the old dry stems in early spring before new growth starts.

Ornamental grasses, which come in various heights and shapes, work well in sunny spaces.

In partial to full sun, try a silver-veined winter creeper called Wolong Ghost, a type of spreading euonymus that just needs regular water to stay looking fresh.

Vinca minor, a stalwart ground cover for shade, gets a makeover with "Merlot." Instead of the traditional blue flowers, you'll get burgundy flowers in spring. Or seek out "Double Bowles" vinca minor, with a ruffle of extra petals in a lighter shade of violet.

All these tough ground covers are available at home and garden centers.

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Conservation Landscaping Comes Home

/PRNewswire/ -- As homeowners seek more sustainable, energy-efficient homes, developers are recognizing the role that effective landscape architecture combined with shade can play.

In recent years, the demand for "green" has focused primarily on the residential structure. Now, builders and developers are turning their attention to the landscape surrounding each dwelling, to help create greater energy efficiency inside homes.

Shade trees, hedges and vines

Landscaping professionals have long promoted the benefits of trees, hedges, and vines to provide cooling summer shade. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, trees placed strategically around buildings can save up to 56% on annual air-conditioning costs; trees also reduce storm-water runoff, and remove carbon dioxide and other harmful air pollutants. (For more, visit Trees Pay Us Back.)

Pragmatically, not every dwelling can be surrounded on all sides by shading greenery. And in new developments, it can take up to 15 years before the benefits of newly planted trees and shrubs are fully realized.

Awnings and canopies

Where location, climate or existing hardscape prevent the planting of trees, shrubs and vines, or around newer buildings with less mature plants, fabric awnings and canopies are an energy-saving addition to sustainable landscape design.

When added above windows and doors, awnings can significantly reduce home cooling energy use. "Energy efficiency is really the number one concern with green or sustainable buildings, and awnings can directly affect energy use by simply blocking the sun," according to John Carmody, Director of the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the University of Minnesota. "Heat gain through the windows is one of the main reasons why buildings need air conditioners. . . We found that awnings make quite a difference in the cooling energy equation. In some climates you can save 20 to 25 percent of your cooling energy just by using awnings."

Awnings and canopies add style, functionality and sustainability to hardscapes, and are more economical to build and maintain than comparable masonry and wood structures. From a conservation landscaping perspective, awnings placed on or near a home can significantly reduce energy consumption for cooling.

To promote the benefits of adding fabric structures to landscape designs, the Professional Awning Manufacturers Association (PAMA) launched www.DesignWithAwnings.com. The site provides landscape architects and designers with ideas and information about incorporating awnings and canopies into their designs.

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Gardening Doesn’t Have to be a Pain in the Shade

Few things are more impressive in the landscape than large, majestic oak trees or maple trees bursting with fall color. They add dimension and needed shade in the summer, too. They also provide a challenge to a gardener looking to add color to a shaded landscape.

While the list of plants for sunny locations seems to be endless, the shade gardener must be a little more selective to ensure good plant survival. Luckily, there are many plants available to enhance shadowy real estate.

First, determine how much shade you have. Is it a couple of hours in the afternoon caused by a few pine trees? Is it dense shade caused by a group of magnolia trees? There is a big difference between what we call partial shade and full shade. There are also areas of shade that fall between these two categories.

Some plants thrive in almost cave-like shade. Others handle light-filtered shade. It is best to check the yard for shade at different times of the day and throughout the year to see what you really have. A site can be modified with the removal of a few tree limbs.

Many vines can thrive in low-light areas and add color. Common jasmine does well in almost any soil condition and can handle moderate shade. It has bright yellow blooms. Carolina jessamine is another good choice. Both vines need support such as a post or trellis.

Other vines for shaded areas are honeysuckle, cross vine, trumpet vine and large flowered clematis. Most of the ivies will also do well such as Algerian ivy. Avoid invasive types such as English ivy.

For areas that require small plants or ground covers, consider holly fern, lenten rose or even daylilies. Others are pachysandra, periwinkle or possibly mondo grass. Many of these are available in a variegated form, which can brighten dark areas.

Ferns certainly top the list for thriving in shaded, moist areas. Whether you choose the Christmas fern, Japanese painted fern or one of the other dozens available, they are sure to provide unique interest with their delicate foliage. Ferns can range in size from a few inches across to several feet.

Other moist-area selections include willow gentian. It’s a perennial that grows three feet tall with arching stems bearing ultramarine-blue trumpets in the fall.

Bottlebrush buckeye is another possibility for moist shaded areas. It is a native shrub that has white bottle brush shaped flowers. This plant can reach over six feet.

Oakleaf hydrangea is a large native plant with spectacular white blooms in the spring that will also survive well in moist shaded areas. This plant is best sited in areas with plenty of room. Mature plants can be eight feet tall with a 10-foot spread.

When it comes to shrubs, the list includes short, tall and medium plants as well as deciduous and evergreen varieties. Azaleas and yews are popular shade-tolerant shrubs. Within the world of perennials, the best-known example is the hosta.

Hardy ferns of all kinds are easy to grow. Two favorites include autumn fern and cinnamon fern, so named because of its distinctively colored new fronds.

Here are a few more shade-tolerant plants:

Annuals: begonia, coleus, impatiens, forget-me-nots (Myosotis sylvatica), pansy (Viola)

Perennials: astilbe, bleeding heart (Dicentra), bugbane (Cimicifuga), campanula, columbine (Aquilegia), coral bells (Heuchera), foxglove (Digitalis), goatsbeard (Aruncus), hellebore, daylily (Hemerocallis), hosta, Virginia bluebell (Mertensia pulmonarioides), fern, monkshood (Aconitum), phlox, primrose (Primula), lungwort (Pulmonaria), cardinal flower (Lobelia), Siberian iris, veronica

Groundcovers: ajuga, wild ginger (Asarum), sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum), epimedium, lamium, liriope, mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), pachysandra, spirea, vinca

Shrubs: boxwood (Buxus), daphne, gold dust (Aucuba), holly (Ilex) hydrangea, mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), leucothoe, Oregon grape (Mahonia), mock orange (Philadelphus), nandina, cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), rhododendron and azalea, viburnum, yew (Taxus)

Trees: dogwood (Cornus), Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), stewartia.

Bob Westerfield
University of Georgia

Bob Westerfield is the consumer horticulturist with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.

Hostas: Easy To Grow And Made For The Shade

NAPSI-Adding grace and beauty to the shady side of your lawn may be easier than you think. Because hostas are easy to grow and to plant and do best in nonsunny areas of the yard, even the most inexperienced gardeners may use them to add beauty to their landscaping.

Any good garden soil is appropriate for growing hostas, which remain the most popular and best perennial in existence today for shady areas. The gardening experts at Gilbert H. Wild and Son, who just received the Mastergardening.com Seal of Approval, offer these tips to get your hostas off to a good start:

Where to Plant

Most hostas do best in shade or partial shade and will tolerate morning sun, but not hot afternoon sun. Hostas should be planted in well-drained soil. One method of achieving adequate drainage in problem areas is to prepare a raised bed three to six inches above ground level. They grow well at the base of most trees, but do not mix well with nut trees.

When to Plant

The plants should be planted in the spring before the soil temperature reaches 65 degrees. In the fall, you need to plant four weeks prior to the ground freezing for best results.

How to Plant

If you cannot plant immediately after receiving these plants, place them in a cool location; your refrigerator vegetable drawer is best. Keep the roots moist and soak them in water four to six hours prior to planting.

Experts suggest that you work the soil eight to 10 inches deep into a good, loose condition. Incorporate a mixture of good garden soil and compost into the hole. Make a mound in the center of the hole and place the plant on top of the mound, spreading the roots around the mound.

Hostas work great along that shady driveway or underneath a clump of trees that you’re tired of mowing around. For best results, plant them 12 to 18 inches apart. For hosta fans, there’s a Hosta By The Handful program that offers a wide mix of at least five different varieties at a reduced price. Additional plants will be included in orders if purchasers mention “add 10% more plants” to the subject line of the order form.

To learn more, visit www.gilberthwild.com.

Low Maintenance--Most hostas do well in shade or partial shade, are easy to grow and add grace to your landscape.