need to know where it is, who are the users, how they use it (hobbies?) and which direction it faces. plants are location specific.

Thanks so much for your input- My house is in south central Virginia. My house in town has pachysandra and periwinkle and they do quite well ( periwinkle grows like crazy). Maybe these would be nice under the trees in a natural lake setting? Any other ideas? many thanks!

You should tell all your friends who garden that you are starting gardening, they will love to plants and advice. I will say mulch is your friend at a lskrhouse. It suppresses weeds, maintains moisture, and delineates gardens and paths. It can be made of a variety of organics but tree bark shredded is attractive and lasts a couple years. Vince minor is considered an invasive species in many states.

We have a Lakehouse in Northern Virginia on and an acre of land. We have also used periwinkle and Irish moss as ground cover.

thanks so much for your input- we are going to use periwinkle ( no upkeep). What is irish moss?

Periwinkle, like English ivy, is a highly invasive plant; it crowds out native plants and creates a monoculture with no benefit to birds or pollinating insects. Once periwinkle escapes into the wild, there's no stopping it. For this reason it should be planted only in containers. If you do some online searching (maybe go to your local or state chapter of the Native Plant Society) you'll find beautiful native ground covers that will thrive in your area. A mix of native grasses, shrubs and groundcovers will look lovely and need very little maintenance.

Many thanks, for your help-

Ten years in VA and I still have no idea what people mean by south central VA. Is that like Lake Anna, or farther south?

If you're within striking distance of Culpeper, I designed the wedding gardens down by the pond at Old House Vineyards. They're a mix of fairly low maintenance plantings and might be worth taking a look at, and give me a buzz if you're looking for a designer.

I'm not close to Culpepper- if so would visit the gardens you designed. I do appreciate the input. I was at the lake (Smith Mountain) this weekend and cut some mountain laurel to try to root for the yard- hope it works! It would be beautiful as well as no maintenance.