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Gardening
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5 Weed-Smothering Ground Covers
Let these landscape plants do the dirty work of choking out weeds while you sit back and enjoy the view
I’m a writer, designer, and lifelong gardener. I'm also author of "Why Grow That When You Can Grow This?", a book due out from Timber Press in November 2012, and I host/produce a podcast and column called Garden Confidential at Fine Gardening Magazine. My company, Oakleaf Green, is a boutique landscape design firm specializing in planting design with primarily sustainable and native plants. Oakleaf Green is currently on hiatus while I wrap up a book, for Timber Press, due out in Fall 2012. In the meantime, you can find me here or on my blog, Garden Smackdown.
I’m a writer, designer, and lifelong gardener. I'm also author of "Why... More »
So many gardeners profess their love of weeding. "It's therapeutic," they say, and I see their point. Spending time in the garden can be good therapy. But I have a confession: I hate weeding. I'd rather take a stroll or sit with a book in my garden, enjoying the plants I've endeavored to grow. I wholeheartedly resent the time suck of removing those I haven't.
As such, I'm a big fan of ground covers that choke out weeds. Sure, if you prefer mild-mannered plants, you might consider them weeds in their own right, but for gardeners like me, they help keep the "bad" weeds at bay.
As such, I'm a big fan of ground covers that choke out weeds. Sure, if you prefer mild-mannered plants, you might consider them weeds in their own right, but for gardeners like me, they help keep the "bad" weeds at bay.
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by Andrew Keys
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| If it's fragrance you're after, look no further than soda-scented 'Walker's Low' catmint (Nepeta x faassenii 'Walker's Low', zones 4 to 8). Brushing its foliage releases a lovely bouquet into the air, and it blooms lavender early to midsummer. I shear mine back a bit with a hedge trimmer after it blooms for a new flush of foliage and flower. This cool cat thrives in sun and lean, dry soil, and you'll be surprised at how far one small clump will stretch. It divides easily in spring if you find you'd like to help it along. |
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| Creeping raspberry (Rubus pentalobus) is a little locomotive of a plant, with crushed-velvet leaves that turn a lovely bronze color in zones where the weather gets chilly but not so cold it dies back. It's hardy in zones 6 to 9, grows well in sun or shade and even moderately dry conditions, in average soil. You might also find it under the name Rubus calycinoides and the very similar cultivar 'Emerald Carpet'. Photo by J.smith via Wikimedia Commons |
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Asian jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum) has been a popular evergreen ground cover in the South for years, and when we say weed smothering, we mean it with this one. It's for those who want a very low, very dense hedge. If you're in the market for that with a little added pizzazz, check out these fabulous variegated cultivars: 'Gold Brocade' (shown here) features wild and crazy gold foliage with reddish new growth, while 'Tricolor' (next photo) is more demure in mottled white with pink new growth.
This brand of jasmine is grown primarily for foliage and seldom blooms. These cultivars thrive in average conditions in sun or shade. They're solidly hardy in zones 8 to 10 but definitely worth a shot in zone 7. Their unvariegated parent grows just fine well into warmer parts of zone 6, though it's less proven there. All are lively, glossy-leafed garden additions that send weeds packing.
This brand of jasmine is grown primarily for foliage and seldom blooms. These cultivars thrive in average conditions in sun or shade. They're solidly hardy in zones 8 to 10 but definitely worth a shot in zone 7. Their unvariegated parent grows just fine well into warmer parts of zone 6, though it's less proven there. All are lively, glossy-leafed garden additions that send weeds packing.
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by Andrew Keys
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| I recently extolled the virtues of plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, zones 5 to 9) here, and I think it's worth mentioning twice, just to drive the point home: This plant grows well in sun and part shade in all kinds of conditions all over the U.S. It chokes out weeds, blooms in a clear blue that reflects the summer sky and tops it off with fantastic fall color. What more could you ask for? |
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by Andrew Keys
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| Last but not least is a sumac. No, not the poison kind — this is 'Gro-Low' sumac (Rhus aromatica 'Gro-Low', zones 3 to 9), and it's not poisonous in the least. Grow it for its glossy blue-green leaves, buttery-yellow spring flowers, fuzzy red fruit in late summer and fire-engine-crimson fall color. This plant is one tough cookie and grows great in shade, but it picks up steam faster with sun and heat — the first place I saw it was a parking lot. And as if all that weren't enough, its parent plant is native to the entire eastern half of North America. Great design trees: Texas Mountain Laurel | Bald Cypress | Chinese Witch Hazel | Japanese Maple Manzanita | Persian Ironwood | Smoke Tree | Tree Aloe Great design flowers: Catmint | Golden Creeping Jenny | Pacific Coast Iris | Plumbago Red Kangaroo Paw | Sally Holmes Rose | Slipper Plant | Snake Flower Great design grasses: Black Mondo Grass | Cape Rush | Feather Reed Grass | New Zealand Wind Grass Great design plants: Blue Chalk Sticks | Hens-and-Chicks | Redtwig Dogwood | Toyon |
Ideabook published on March 6, 2012.
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Could be too much sun (it grows well in shadier areas) and not enough water in a hot, dry spot.
Have you checked your soil? Nothing will grow well in soil destroyed by chemicals and fertilizers. Add organic compost. Is it compacted?
Sounds like you might need to make a different plant choice for your location. Anything that needs lots of water and other babying needs to be yanked.