I have about 200ft of waterfront that has a lot of trees and would like to spend less time mowing between the trees and more time enjoying the lake. The property is a northern exposure and the trees provide mostly shade all day. Its also a very mild hill down to the water.

Question: what would be a good groundcover to take over the area and not climb trees? My initial thought is PACHYSANDRA. I would like a dark leaf, low growing, fast spread.

Also, the soil under the trees has a fair amount of twigs/leaf material. Do I need to clean that up before planting? Should I bring in topsoil? How do I keep the unwanted plants down while the groundcover is taking over? I'm assuming the groundcover will 'snuff out' all the other plants eventually?

Also, is it too late to plant this year?

Thanks in advance,

Chad

Lake Anna, VA