Thank you! I really do appreciated the information.

Perennial Peanut is awesome but it is slow to establish and requires water, at least at first. It's beautiful, leguminous, and never gets taller than your ankle! I have it in my orchards but it was kinda a pain to get it stated. I found though that if I could get the seeds to sprout, then cover the rest of the ground with a thick layer of mulch, that worked best. It will grow right over the mulch and everyday root into it, but the mulch suppresses weeds until the peanut is thick enough.

Mollyseed, thank you for your suggestion. I live in a rainy area so Perennial Peanut sounds like a good option. Thanks again.

perennial peanut is hard to establish. its best to try with cuttings as they grow much faster than seed. i found i could only get it established in areas with existing shade as the weed/grass competition is too strong in the full sun. another little trick i use to get it established is to grow it with sweet potato. sweet potato grows much quicker, so it creates a favorable microclimate shading and keeping the ground moist. which the peanut prefers. this method works in the full sun, as long as you keep up the weeding. and works wonders in the light shade.

you could also watch the plants grow around your property. experiment and see who grows moderately and doesnt climb things. ive got some desmodium (Desmodium triflorum) that grows really quick and grows about a foot high. it does get my feet really wet after a rain, but works perfectly under trees in the food forest. nitrogen fixing and no maintenance, perfect. do i want that as my ground cover around the house? no its too tall. but ive been watching another plant with small purple flowers an a succulent stem and it seems to be the prefect plant for other areas

you can also grow lablab or squash as a ground cover. you just gotta watch them and make sure they dont climb up things like young trees as they will choke them out if they get that chance.

luffa, sweet potato, lablab, okinawan spinach, sissoo spinach, squash, perennial peanut, desmodium, these are all the plants i use as ground covers. different plants for different areas. dependent upon different microclimates and desires

i live in pahoa too, but i get more like 120 inches a year

Aloha, spencerwillis90, do you have advice on what to plant over a septic leach field? I'd like to stay with native Hawaiian plants, if possible. Mahalo!

what size plants are you looking for? whats your weather like? where are you located? elevation?

Not large; we're putting in the system in the next few months. We're building in Honoka'a, but down makai in the old Haina area. We're at about 400-500 ft. elevation, about a half mile from the cliffs. From what I understand, it's fairly dry, but we do have county water.

spencerwillis90 - You’re probably familiar with Ainaloa which is the area I live. Do you have any specific suggestions on a low profile ground cover that grows fast. If you are familiar with the ground cover Creeping Phlox that is popular on the mainland, that is a look I like. I don’t have a green thumb so the easier to grow the better. Lots of flowers and possibly strong enough to keep other plants from growing. I’ve considered peppermint because of the wonderful fragrance that it has. Many people have discouraged me from peppermint but I would like to get your input on this. I’ve gotten a few great suggestions on this site. I would appreciate any information or suggestions you might have. Thank you.

aloha. sorry for the delayed responses i dont check out this site too often.

patriciaravarra: aalii is a great plant, grows quickly and there are a ton of growing habits. you can find some that only stay a few feet tall or look for the taller 'tree' variety that ive seen get over 20'.

mamaki is another wonderful plant. it grows here at my place as a weed. its a pioneer species so it grows quickly fills space and dies within a few years (not sure on time frame but id guess it will phase out after 10 years). but fear not it readily reseeds itself and will keep on filling space. it is a small tree getting up to 15'. its very tender in its young stages until it becomes woody. did i mention it makes a delicious medicinal tea and harbors the only habitat for Kamehameha butterflies.- it doesnt like to transplant so try to grow it from seed where it will grow and it will be very healthy

kookoolau is another wonderful plant. find the correct species for your area. in the lowland it grows about 6' and produces an abundance of yellow flowers. it also makes a delicious medicinal tea.

naupaka is a wonderful sprawling plant that had nice white flowers and fruit. the nene (endangered goose) love munching on them. they tend to grow about 4' tall and can sprawl on as long as you allow them to

ilima is a great plant. tons of different varieties. and all are nicely ornamental. theyve got nice small yellow hibiscus flowers. dependent on variety will give you the correct heights. most stay within 5' also will spread as far as you let them. but there are ground cover varieties too

puakala the hawaiian poppy could also be another plant worth trying out. it is a bit pokey but produces beautiful white flowers and gets to be about 4' tall and kind of spreads.

you could try ulei - the hawaiian rose it loves the sun only grown about 5' tall and will spread about as far as you let it. its got smallish white flowers and produces an abundance of white fruits that the nene love. it tends to grow in the higher elevations but ive seen it more coastal on the dry side. it smells wonderful.

ohai - a rare fabaceae who has beautiful orange flowers and grows nicely in the dry environment

also look out for the native hibiscus (theres quite a few varieties). some are really rare or endangered in the wild. so it would be sweet to cultivate something really unique. most of them lived in the dry forests so they should love your habitat.

pukiawe, pohinahina should also work well

ferns should grow really well over there too. think about the first colonizers of the lava fields. kupukupu (stays small) uluhe (can get quite massive). amau (mid size that doesnt spread) these plants love the sun and are pioneer species, meaning the grow quick and fill space, but also can handle very harsh conditions. may as well grow plants that love that environment so you wont have to water them and can save on your bills. you can always go down to kalapana to see who is growing out on those new flows because the first plants to pop up are typically native

so i live in the forest so the plants that grow here will be quite different but all the ones ive described should work well over there. im also growing lots of trees and having a little bit of difficulty looking for the under story plants. its a little bit hard to think of the plants that would have grown over there in the wild because almost all of our lowland species were wiped away by the bulldozers for sugar or cattle grazing. and also its difficult to think of the ground cover and and smaller plants because the pigs have ravaged whats left of our native forest so the ecology is drastically different, so in reality we have no idea what really filled those lower story niches.

you could also grow mamaki as your overstory and once shade is created you could start filling in the other forest plants. pepperomia, haiwale, more ferns, kamanamana, maile, lobelia, clermontia,

the native possibilities are endless. i would suggest sourcing plants only from our island though to maintain our own genetic diversity to not create hybrids with other species. good luck on your searches!

sorry! lots of information but you opened a can of worms asking me about natives!!!

ukiuki is a nice once as well!

brenda: let me think about it for a little bit. so i would not bring in anything that isnt already here on our island (not that youre going to). yes it may be a pretty plant. however the potential for invasive-ness is not worth the beauty. the most aggressive plants that i have to deal with on the property were brought in as ornamentals that went wild and took over the landscape. look at all the melastomas that are here

grow as many mints as you want. they are not as aggressive here as they are on the mainland. ive got a chocolate mint that grows really well and stays as a low cover. there are plenty of other plants that can out grow it

and your always going to have to tend to the plants as they push through the establishment period until they are strong enough to fend of the weeds on their own.

but as far as specific plants let me think about it. i really only know food plants and natives so as a strictly ornamental ground cover someone else probably has more knowledge

are you trying to walk on it as well or is it just in a bed to observe?

WOW, Spencer, how did you know I like worms? LOL...seriously, though, these are some fantastic suggestions. I'll need to do my homework to ensure that whatever I select has a shallow enough root system, but you've given me several amazing options. I love the thought of ʻilima, as well as the lovely native hibiscus. And ʻūlei! Now, my only other question is where to find seeds or plants for any of these...mahalo nui!

brenda: ive racked my brain and cannot think of anything else to use as a ground cover. you could stick to the weedy plants that weve already got and just maintain them. it depends on where you want to grow them and what youd like to cover. youll need to maintain them from climbing in areas you dont want them since they are quite aggressive. you could look around and see what youve got on your land and just move some stuff around - do yourself a favor and dont bring any of these plants onto your lot if they arent already there!!! you could also try nasturtiums

weedy ground covers that i have at home and use as a multistory diverse weed mat/thicket: wedelia,
Dissotis rotundifolia, sweet potato, and honohono grass. trying to out compete the weedy-est of plants with other weedy plants

patriciaravarra ilima and the native hibiscus's will be easy to find around. there is the BIAN plant sale twice a year and typically lots of native plant growers there. you could always talk to the vendors and see what they have because they dont typically bring all their plants there. ive never seen anyone selling ulei but you can find that plant around lots of places and collect some seed yourself. ive tried germinating ulei lots of times and only my most recent try was successful. i think ive got about 5 tiny keiki growing right now. i think the timing of collecting the seeds really needs to be perfect.

ulei grows all around the national park (it loves the sun) so it will be on the edge of forests or more rocky/lava landscapes. also grows high on mauna kea/loa. of course you want to find plants closest to your environment for the most favorable climate preferences. but ive taken some seeds from super high dry elevation (8000') and grown them at home (800' really wet) with great success