What about perennial vinca? I hear it is good for shady spots.

Here are my list to investigate further.

Sweet Woodruff - have some on another yard. It spreads but doesn't seemed to choke out plants. Not winter green though and will died back in the winter, which would be OK since no one will see it during winter.

Lamium - not sure. I don't have experience with this plant. LIke Sweet Woodruff, it dies back in the

Vinca - would certainly work. I am confused about different species of Vinca though.Supposedly, Vinca Major are to be avoided.

Golden Star - looks great in the picture, but not sure if the area is too shady for it. If it will support Hosta, it should work with Golden Star?

Sedium Acre - or something similar. I have quite a few sedium, but they usually all require full sun.

Note: the area will have some foot traffic but it will be minimal.I plan to install stepping stones.

Rejected

Lily-of-the-valley - don't like the plant and it's too tall for a ground cover.

Packhysandra - this would work but I don't like the appearance.

English Ivy - don't like it at all since it may attach to the building.

I have sweet woodruff growing with hostas and have had no problems. However, I am confused as to why your other plants didn't do well. I have heuchera and pulmonaria planted alongside hostas and they do very well. As far as perennials have you tried bleeding hearts? Brunnera? Astilbe?

Ajuga is good and easy to remove and thin out. Lamium can be evasive but also easy to remove. Vinca, meh!

I second Ajuga. It comes in many forms and seems easy going. I also have noted some pictures on this forum that combined the bright, chartreuse color of creeping Jenny with hostas which was a very nice contrast. Here's one (link), scroll down to the second picture, it's a lovely contrast.

I have some vinca with some of my hostas that is a solid, dark green leaf. But I caution against this one (link). In my yard, it is terribly invasive, spreads by runners and chokes everything in its path.

I've read to avoid vinca major as well and to go with vinca minor. I have ajuga under a large shade tree. It gets some foot traffic. (Located along a sidewalk) The tree the ajuga is under was just trimmed. Last year the ajuga didn't grow much in the deep shade, but it did grow. This spring it showed more growth with some fertilizer and some sun that it got before the tree leafed out. Hopefully, it will really take off this year now that the tree has been limbed up. I have ajuga 'chocolate chip' which is supposed to be less invasive than some other ajugas.

I have no idea if it would choke the hostas.

In my sandy / dry 'Ravine' I have Chocolate Chip Ajuga which spreads easily (but gorgeous), Vinca Minor which spreads readily as well and it adds a lot of green and small but nice flowers in the Spring, I have recently added Creeping Jenny which I have where I can contain it with glyphosate spraying. It is spreading after just planting last year although the particular type is not supposed to be especially invasive.

This Spring I planted some European Ginger which is doing great although I do keep it moist.

Last year I started placing some succulents in the area and Stonecrop, Hens and Chicks, Autumn Joy and another colorful nice one I don't remember the name, but the label may still be down there. Your zone is one zone colder than mine so check the zone of my recommendations, be careful to choose hardy succulents as most are tender.

I also have Pachysandra Terminalis which will spread and looks nice, but I don't think anything else stands a chance of surviving with it and it is very, very difficult to contain in shade. It doesn't survive in a sunny spot. Allegheny Pachysandra doesn't look as nice, IMO, there are also silver edged species that might look nice.

I have a couple of Japanese fern that do well and I dug up some big vigorous fern from the woods behind me that do excellent in the shady sandy soil. My contribution to the 'Plant Native' movement.

Jon

Jon,

I have head of ajuga chocolate chip before and have some questions:

1. What's the color on the foliage. I am not sure a brown chocolate color would work as a ground cover color. Wouldn't that look like mulch?

2. How much light does it need? I notice that the Hosta are thriving, but does not flower, which would indicate there isn't enough light for flowering.

3. How quickly does it spread? If I planted it today, how big would the plug be in a few months?

4. How do I stop the spread? The area is separated from the lawn by a brick path, so we don't have to worry about spreading there. However, the neighbor is separated by a fence. I was wondering if I can put in some sort of wooden separator.

Paul

I took a walk out back and well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few thousand words about Chocolate Chip Ajuga.

In Spring (today) they spike up 4-5 inches with electric blue flowers. As the spikes recede the leaves get bigger and get that nice shiny chocolate color. Back where I have it I don't have any problem with it being invasive. It spreads slowly and in this sandy rocky soil there is zero need for a barrier. I have a few good size patches and some small or singular patches spread around.

In rich loamy soil someone else could explain that situation a lot better than I can.

I think the Spring display is worth having it. I have tried other Ajuga and this is the one I would recommend; hands down. No Ajuga compares to Chocolate Chip and no one would mistake it for mulch.

Jon

Another possibility might be corydalis lutea...perhaps more of a companion than a ground cover, but it co-exists well with all but the tiniest hostas. It seeds freely in my garden but doesn't have enough root structure to make removal difficult. It looks fragile but acts tough-as-nails; it is blooming now, and will still have sporadic blooms when it gets frozen in fall. It blooms more with more sun, but thrives happily in even full shade.

i also have sweet woodruff that is spreading quite rapidly but is also easy to remove.

Jon's ajuga looks darker than my chocolate chip ajuga.. I believe chocolate chip will get more brown/bronze the more sunlight it recieves, but that's not an issue in the deep shade. Now that I think about it, my ajuga did take on a bronze hue during late fall and winter. Now, mine looks more green and purple like this photo I found which, incidentally, shows ajuga as an underplanting for hostas.

Personally I like the look of mulch much better then any ground cover. To me they all look like weeds and if and when your hosta get big enough you never see the ground once the plants open

Purple dragon lamium is my answer for groundcover and also my answer for mulch. Search the forum for "you can have mulch or you can have purple dragon" for photos and discussion.

I love Lamium 'Purple Dragon'

In my shade bed, Lily of the Valley and Sweet Woodruff DO choke out Hostas. I have been trying to remove both for twenty years with little success. Spanish Bluebells and Grape Hyacinth too. Their huge leaves smother more desirable perennials. Lamium (several different) DID choke out Tiarellas and Huecheras but wasn't planted close to Hostas so I can't say there. The bed has established trees and shrubs so getting rid of these thugs has been a real chore. Almost all my Hostas are now in pots....

Chocolate Chip Ajuga today.

Very small batch of European Ginger that is thriving and spreading since planting a couple of weeks ago.

Jon