Thank you NH Babs.

We're in south central Pennsylvania, outside of Harrisburg along a creek. Wood chips is a good idea. I suppose having to replenish them is easy enough.

Ill look into the PA sedge. A few years back, we did skip mowing for a few weeks and were treated to a row of locust sprouts from the neighbors tree. I'd love letting the yard go wild but I always have resale and ticks in the back of my mind. I did plant pachysandra, ferns and hostas under hickory and oak trees but a groundhog eats the young pachysandra sprouts. We put out a trap last year but nada - the stinker. I can add a photo or two this weekend. Please let me know if any other ideas come to mind. TY

Check out Vinca which may need weed whacking around the edges to keep in control, hay scented fern/Dennstaedtia punctilobula, which spreads to form large colonies but won’t take any foot traffic

I will see what else comes to mind.

Are you sure it is a groundhog and not deer? We've had groundhogs over the years. They tend to go after things humans would also consider (marginally) edible - clover, violets, dandelions, all sorts of salad greens. Deer will eat almost anything this time of year. They eat the pachysandra and the vinca.

I've seen the groundhog nibbling through the pachysandra.. Could be a deer.. The yard is fenced but they do jump.

The soil is dense. Closer to silt than clay. I did plant vinca in a heavy shade area five years ago but it struggles. It was suggested to extend the concrete pavers that you see in the photos but I still need to fill in the sparse grass.

i feel like I'm missing the obvious (other than clover and violet) What else is low growing and can be mowed?

Photos

It looks as if that area is well trodden. So you need something that can be walked on easily, Vinca, Pachysandra, ferns, sedges, even violets would be difficult to walk on without tripping. Looks as if you need something very flat growing or just some sort of non plant solution. Have you investigated shade tolerant grass mixtures? But even that won't stand up to heavy foot traffic.

I wish I could remember the grass seed we used. It grows very well in shade so I agree, I would check into that.

Ajuga reptans is an extremely fast growing ground cover. It would only need to be mowed after flowering. It is quite a good weed suppressor but the odd seedling will manage to penetrate it. It can take some foot traffic but not regular heavy traffic so as mentioned above pathways would be a good idea.

IVY

Hazzards seeds and plants have violet

seeds in bulk.

Hazzards is an interesting site.

With all of your suggestions, I see that different areas need diferent applications. Two heads are better than one.

About 5 years ago, I found ajuga in the lawn and have been separating and spreading it in different areas. It would work along the block.

There is ivy, plenty of trailing euontmous, creeping Jenny, and wild strawberries which are good along the edges. I just need to fill in the grass.

Try a grass mix designed for shade that includes fine fescues like creeping red fescue, chewing fescue, and sheep fescue, and an improved perennials rye variety like Pangea GLR.

Usually, if one has to use a groundcover, paths, which are either some type of mulch or paved, are made through it in order to make walking easy and so the plantings don't get torn up.