You didn't say how big an area you want to cover so I am assuming it is like a narrow border next to a sidewalk?

If that is the case I would suggest Sedums. They are readily available and come in many shapes and leaf colors - flat mats to short little groupings, a few up to a foot or so tall. They prefer soil on the dry side and love the summer sun, keep their tiny leaves in winter, which turn color, and are hardy to 5F. They don't need any special soil or fertilizer. They spread easily but never become thugs. Most low ones even let you walk on them occasionally. They do let grass sprout amongst them which is a pain to "weed" out because of their very shallow roots so the consideration would be how close your lawn is to them. The bonus is that they produce lots of tiny flowers in the late spring to early summer all at once. You can divide them anytime so a pot purchased can be divided into smaller pieces and planted like plugs to fill a bigger area. They will fill in the spaces between by the end of summer if you keep them weeded. There are several varieties and colors of leaves and flowers so you could even create a tapestry effect. They work well under other plants if you decide later to add some annuals or other plants in that area. If you go to the website for sedumphotos.net, click on each photo on the main page to bring up hundreds more in the albums, but most would not be available locally as the nurseries usually only have 4 or 5 common varieties. There are lots of people who trade them here on the GW since once they grow a few varieties they get addicted (like me, for instance).

Nancy the nancedar

Here is a link that might be useful: Sedum Photos

There is also one with large paddle shaped leaves that seems to prefer the shade - if that side of the house is dark. I have it growing throughout my yard in every imaginable type of soil and sun exposure and it does well everywhere. It does not like to be walked on. I don't remember its name either but it is very common around here.

It's sedum tectractinum, i believe. Paddle leaved chinese sedum. It can also take the sun if it's sunny sometimes & shady sometimes. The bonus with this particular one is it covers the ground more completely, so less grass grows through. I think i'd 'mulch' with volebloc or pea gravel something like that, which would help keep the grass down, too, would benefit the sedums. Mine love to grow into the gravel driveway but grass doesn't much. Another succulent that would fit the bill is iceplant or delasperma cooperii. It won't bloom well if it doesn't get enough light, but the leaves are a nice contrast to other sedums, etc and color very well in winter. Something else i grow in conjunction with sedums & iceplant is veronica reptens 'georgia blue'. Does well in part shade- full sun and colors in winter t o burgundy. Lovely blue mat flowers in spring. I would do a tapestry of plants and that way if one gets hit by a disease or weather, you don't lose your whole area. Over time the strongest 2 or 3 plants for your situ will take over, which is fine- then you know you have well adapted and carefree plants for your area.

Thank you for your replies - I'm sorry it took so long for me to reply. I thought I would get an email letting me know if anyone responded.

The area is actually quite large. Right now it is still fully shaded, but by summer it is out in FULL sun. I tried to plant periwinkle there 2 years ago, but it never took off. Of course, I really was winging it, so probably did something wrong. I was wondering about creeping thyme for the area too.

I will definitely look into the sedums! If they can handle blazing sun in summer and shade in winter I'll be set. Thank you!

you could try to plant ice plants. variety of colors and they spread out pretty good.

I grow Foxgloves and Daffodils in mine, same situation as yours. Welcome to gardenweb, I see you just registered. You must have forgotten to check the box before making your post that says "send all replies to my email inbox". Once you check that box, all followup replies are emailed to your inbox. This takes everyone a while to get the hang of it. I bid you a warm welcome! Most of us already know each other and attend the local swaps that we have 2 or 3 times a year. If you also fill out your member page to say what part of the Carolinas you live in, all sorts of garden party invitations can end up in your inbox. For instance, I hold a Spring plant swap here in Lewisville, NC. Also, there is the Spring plant swap in High Point. Raleigh has most of our members and there are huge swaps there. We all share plants. Perhaps you will consider updating your page to say where you live. It is very safe, we are all gardeners here. :-) Also, please be sure to enable the email link in your member page so we can each email you invitations to our swaps and for discussions on your topics when the thread gets too long. Just a few tips. Robin in Lewisville, NC

Here is a link that might be useful: my page

Thanks for such a warm welcome! What a small world - I'm in Lewisville too! :) I'd love to go to some of the swaps (baby permitting - I've got an 8 month old). I am very new to all this, so I hope you all can bear with me. I've wanted to learn how to garden for a long time, so am determined to finally start. I haven't really planted much since moving here (only the failed vinca minor and some container herbs), and not really that much before then - mostly bulbs, roses, and one good planting of squash. LOL Anyway, I am really looking forward to learning!

Veronica Georgia Blue is another good one. Mazus would cover it quickly also.

Welcome,
Sorry I don't have a suggestion but I wanted to say hi.
GW is a wonderful place to learn about gardening. These are some of the most warm and generous people you will ever meet. Take Robin up on the offer to visit. I haven't made it yet but I've read the posts of others and can tell it is a wonderful trip. Try to make it to the swaps and also look up the wintersowing forum on GW. It is a great way to learn to grow from seed. Take pictures now of your garden and then travel to different public gardens and see what they've done with their plantings. The great thing about gardening is that you can commit 5 minutes or 5 hours, you can do it with kids &/or significant other or by yourself, spend loads of money or spend very little. And often you can eat your work. Shannon/Dirtrx

Thanks, I would definitely like to attend the Lewisville swap. I probably won't actually have anything to swap, but it would be nice to see what everyone has and to meet some gardeners!

I went to a garden center today and asked about my situation. The lady there said that since the area is in full sun in the summer that I should use full sun plants. She said the plants usually go dormant over winter and will be fine in the shade during that time.

If that's true, I'd really like to try the creeping thyme. Does that sound right to you all?

I just transplanted some vinca minor today. I did another area last February. It gives it time to establish before the hot weather hits.

I've never grown creeping thyme, but if you want to try the vinca again, I say go for it.

I use my bulb auger to make a hole about 6" in diameter about 4" deep. I have a lot of the vinca in the woods out back so I dig up a clump for each hole. By July, I can mow it down and cause it to put out lots of new growth. It's already covered the one hill I did last year. Very little watering needed once its established.

I know some will say it needs part shade, but even in afternoon sun, it's done fine by me. Just found the first bloom this past weekend.

Nicolecam, you're in REALLY good hands with Robin/Quirkpod - she'll have you up to speed in no time flat!

I've also struggled w/a North facing, but sunny in the summer area and have had success w/vinca minor (periwinkle) after a few false starts, so don't give up on it yet. The vast family of sedums are well worth a look, dwarf mondo (monkey) grass - tho veerry slow to fill in, and ajuga (oft described as 'aggressive' but I haven't found it so) might work too.

You said the soil is 'iffy' and dry, so whatever you decide to do, deeply amend the soil w/organic matter first, water deeply and plan on babying it for the first year or two - that can make a world of difference!

Good luck and welcome to GW!

Hi Nicole,

I've been something of a "grass replacement" groundcover experimenter for a few years (although I haven't tried anything new lately). I had some areas where grass didn't grow well because of shade, or where it was hard to cut because it was a bank, and I attempted replacing with first one, then a variety of groundcovers...

Creeping thyme was top of my list, too, for a couple of spots. What I discovered was that it does a decent job, but it DOES tend to creep, rather than spread, and buying by the plant can be prohibitively expensive... On my bank planting I now have half a dozen different groundcovers intermingling, making a rather attractive planting that has filled the spot -- creeping phlox and creeping thyme, mostly, plus some of the ice plant, some blue star creeper and a couple others I can't think of right now -- but those are the main ones.

I discovered a source of seeds for the creeping thyme in Oregon, but unless you start them indoors using controlled temperatures (they require a constant temperature of at least 70 degrees for 3 weeks), they won't germinate until about the middle of July (I've actually sowed them in MARCH and they sat there and STAYED until July, when they sprouted, so I know firsthand, lol.

It's been a few years since I bought my seeds, so I'll need to find that link. The place I bought from in Oregon was primarily involved in selling grass seed and whatnot, BUT they also had ALL KINDS of groundcover seed -- even WINTERGREEN seed -- which is VERY HARD to find (even harder to germinate, and unless you have cool summers, forget it -- I planted a large section of front yard and most of it just didn't make it).

I'll try to find that seed source and post it here. If you were to plant creeping thyme, my suggestion would be to plant as many of the plants as you can, and then, if you get the seeds, still sow LOTS of seeds in between the plants to germinate when the time is right to fill in the plot. Where I bought mine, they sold like a half pound of seeds for less than $10. That was THOUSANDS of seeds!

Happy Gardening!
Jeff

I agree with Jeff, mostly- but i bought from the same co about the same time he was posting back then- and be VERY careful when you checkout to get the cheapest shipping. They ripped me off (the checkout site was confusing) and i called immediately to get it corrected, was assured it was, then it wasn't. The phone people are a different co and can take orders only, not change anything. So, they do not have customer service- literally- you have to do it through email and those people were incredible rude. Sometimes you get what you pay for. He's right, though, you can't find the seed hardly anywhere else, so just go in with your eyes peeled.

Here is a link that might be useful: outside pride

Thank you all again for your help! Maybe I can give the vinca minor another shot... the creeping thyme seems hard to find - and it sounds like the seeds are hard to grow. The places I found that ship the plant are pretty expensive and don't ship until mid april. I did get the vinca minor from outside pride. I think if I do a better job of cultivating the soil it may do better. Do I need to mulch after planting?

Oops - I actually got them from Direct Gardening, not Outside Pride. It was a couple years ago.

Nicole- please don't order vinca! If you want some more and are close enough to me to come and get it- i have a whole hillside of it i want gone! All i ask is that you do the digging (i'll more than likely help). It's fairly easy to dig out after a nice rain. I'm in Garner, which is a burb of raleigh. Just let me know!

btw, the worst mail order experience i've ever had was with a 'direct gardening' affiliate (they publish under several catalogs- look in the cat to see if they send you online to 'direct gardening'). Most stuff arrived sick or dead and i had to fight tooth & nail to even get a portion of my order refunded. Never again. While outside pride was rude to me, at least i did get the goods, on time and as ordered.