Consider what is involved with keeping your lawn looking good— fuel for power mowers, toxic emissions, fertilizers and pesticides, water consumption and weekend time are all part of the cost of lawn maintenance. Groundcovers are a landscaping alternative that make sense.
Groundcovers are low-lying plants, usually chosen with aesthetic considerations in mind and requiring minimal maintenance. They can be saviors for homeowners who are stuck with having to mow steep slopes. Or maybe grass is simply impossible to grow where homeowners thought they would have lawn, for instance, it may be just too shady in this area. Groundcovers also offer landscape solutions for problem areas. If groundcovers are projected to cover a very large expanse, the initial cost will probably be greater than for sowing grass seed; but groundcovers save money in the long run eliminating the repeated maintenance costs involved with a lawn.
Despite some overlap, groundcovers and cover crops are different groups of plants. Cover crops are sometimes used as living mulches. Clover is an example of a cover crop. Often cover crops are tilled into the soil not long after being planted simply to supply the soil with amendments. Groundcovers may inhabit a stretch of land for many years. They never grow very high, so they never need to be cut. Areas planted in groundcover will need little to no maintenance. During the first year, new plantings will require weeding and mulching, but once established, little care is warranted.
Choosing a groundcover usually involves decisions about texture, density, spreading capacity, and how well they choke out the weeds. Your garden center can recommend local groundcover varieties and their characteristics. Some groundcovers are edible, such as strawberries or low-growing herbs. Dwarf dogwood (also called bunchberry), and herbs like thyme and oregano work as groundcovers for limited areas. Also know that groundcovers need an edge barrier or boundary to contain them such as a low brick or wood edging.
Moss ground covers can be used as an alternative to lawn grass in shady spots. Other groundcovers for shade are an ajuga called Dicentra, and two types of pachysandra. These shade-tolerant groundcovers have to be established for at least one growing season before the area can suffer a lot of traffic.
Bunchberry is an evergreen with white flowers in spring and red berries in the fall. If this groundcover is difficult to get started, work in a humus-type soil. Golden creeping Jenny can be a vigorous grower, and grows nicely over and among rocks. Wild ginger is shiny heart-shaped leaves with amazing maroon flowers appearing in spring. Corsican mint offers dense coverage. No holes in this mat of tiny foliage. And when you step on it, you'll get a whiff of peppermint. A slope with well-drained soil, rich in humus, can be covered with creeping phlox plants as a groundcover to prevent any erosion. This ground cover grows best in full sun. Another groundcover that thrives in full sun yet tolerates full shade too, is a vine called Virginia creeper. It will transform your yard into a shimmering curtain of wide green five-fingered leaves.
