Recommendations for ground cover

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

I have a typical somerville yard (about 10 feet x 10 feet) surrounded by some pretty large trees.  We have tried the past three years to plant grass to no avail -- we've turned the soil, added fertilizer, watered like crazy and used different grass seeds.  This seems like an extremely wasteful use of resources to me, especially for such a small space.  I notice that a lot of people in the Davis Square area have great little patches of green in their yards or plant other interesting plants -- and I was looking for some suggestions on either how to get a low-impact grass going or some other plant recommendations for ground cover. 

Please don't recommend asphalt -- my neighbors have that and it is really depressing.

 

Comments

[ifotismeni]

my parents have this awesome ground cover that is pretty durable and has tiny blue flowers to boot. i can't remember what it's called though -- it's like a creeping ground vine, very tiny leaves, but grows really dense. it's really beautiful!

[edit] i'll ask them what it's called. perhaps someone else on d_s knows what i'm talking about since i've forgotten the name?

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

Creeping Myrtle (Vinca Minor)?

http://hcs.osu.edu/pocketgardener/source/description/vi_minor.html

[ifotismeni]

hmmm, that might just be it! thank you :)

[laynamarya.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, vinca minor is fantastic. My grandma gave us three plants maybe 8 years ago, and now they've covered half the backyard.

[mrboboto.livejournal.com]

If it's relatively shady, moss is a fantastic ground cover alternative to grass

[genevra-mcneil.livejournal.com]

There's a great article on moss in the Times from a few weeks ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/garden/01moss.html?ex=1367380800&en=a4aa49ecaf876013&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of phlox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlox) - it's the purple flower spray that you see spilling out of people's yards almost onto the sidewalk.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Note that there are, also, two types of low (creeping) type phloxes - Phlox subulata and Phlox stolonifera. Subulata, which often gets sold as "Moss Pink," is the one that likes full sun, or at least fairly light shade; stolonifera, aka "Woodland Phlox," prefers partial to full shade and does decently there. Both of them get sold as "Creeping Phlox," so it's worth checking the species name and the sun/shade tags.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

ask the somerville garden club (http://www.somervillegardenclub.org/)?

[obie119.livejournal.com]

If your big trees are Norway Maples, their roots have chemically things that hinder grass development. The garden club folks may have some ideas for you. Just wanted to reassure you that "It's not you, it's tree"

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was also wondering if there might be something in the soil that was inhibiting plant growth (do high levels of lead do that? because I hear a lot of Somerville yards have that issue). But IANAhorticulturist. At all.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that's interesting. Perhaps that's why everything under that maple in my yard is constantly sad looking (although it is also dry and shady under the tree, which is also tough for most plants).

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

Is it very shady? If not try calendula...it has greenery plus this awesome purpleish color flower that blooms all summer starting in June. Thats what I just put in my front yard along with other flowers. I have mostly sun though.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

oops. I named the wrong flower. I will check my tag when I get home!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Campanula, maybe?

Photos... (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=campanula&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2).

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

If you go to http://www.stepables.com/ and click on "Find Plants," you can "Find the Right Plant for the Right Spot."

[redheadedmuse.livejournal.com]

I second this website as very helpful, and the suggestion of planting moss.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

Ajuga is a good sun/shady ground cover too, and it spreads like crazy. It has a dense dark leaf with purplish/blue-ish flowers.

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

are you wanting something that can be walked on occasionally, often, or almost never?

what really happened with the grass? Did the seed not germinate, or did it grow and die?

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

I'd like something to be able to walk on. Some of the seeds did grow in patchy spots, but almost always after a few weeks it died.

[cityofbeige.livejournal.com]

The house I grew up in had a huge maple over part of the lawn, and the shade killed the grass. My parents planted (actually made me and my brother plant) pachysandras (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachysandra) in the shade. It takes a few years for it to take off and cover the area well, but the leaves are a nice, glossy deep green.

As for something you can walk on, I think wild clover might grow in shade, but I'm not sure. Also, there's moss as others suggested above.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

my landlord uses bark mulch and plastic flowers, which is a step above the backyard, which is paved.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Do you own? Any chance you could call in a pro to clear out some of the branches on the trees to give you some sunlight? Then you could go with raised beds for veggies or flowers. Pretty simple to build and you should be able to fill them with great soil that won't give you problems.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

some sort of mint will grow everywhere, and if you get multiple varieties, you can have yummy tea forever! Altho since it's a very invasive plant, your neighbors with nice lawns will curse you.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I bought a pound of wildflower seed mixture, ripped up the scanty tufts of grass, added Miracle Gro, and turned my yard into an ankle-high jungle of wildflowers that are near blooming time now. Some of the grass did survive, and clover that I didn't know was there came barreling through the soil all pumped up on Miracle Gro. It looks pretty unorthodox, but it's sure fun putting down the seed mix and seeing what comes up.

Short of that, English Ivy.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

You can always go to Pemberton and check out the plants, looking for things that you like, that will survive in whatever the sun/shade dry/moist conditions are in your yard.

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

Hosta (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=hosta&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2) is very shade-tolerant. It grows 1-2 feet high (not for walking on) and makes a good border plant.

Other standard shade plants are bleeding heart (lacy, frondy bush with heart-shaped flowers), lily of the valley, and violets. None of these are really good for walking on, but once they're established they don't need much care.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Creeping thyme is really nice low ground cover and smells lovely, but it's a little tempermental, and if grass doesn't grow there thyme might not either.

how's your soil?

[davelew.livejournal.com]

I'd be worried that the grass keeps dieing. It might be worthwhile to have your soil tested (every state has a subsidized soil testing lab, the one for Massachusetts is at www.umass.edu/plsoils/soiltest/ ), to make sure that your soil isn't too toxic for plant life.

Also, if your soil hasn't had anything growing for years, there's a chance that it's really compacted and not letting water get to the roots of any plants. You could try planting something like winter rye this fall, which has roots that will break up the soil, and you can easily remove the rye by mowing in the spring before it flowers (which kills the rye).

Advice from Crowley's Clippers

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

When I had Joe Crowley come by to estimate the new patio, I asked him about the same issue in our yard. The lilac trees throw so much shade that we have a really sparse grass patch. This year I did the same thing as you ... totally gave it my all and prepped, raked, seeded, dressed with top-soil, etc. Got some sparse growth that eventually petered out.

Crowley told me nothing would grow there. You simply NEED at least 5 hours of sunlight a day for grass to grow. When I asked him what he recommended, he actually suggested "synthetic grass" which I'd never do, although he pointed out that it's great in this kind of application. I've just sort of resigned myself to patchy grass. Nature is imperfect. That's what's cool about it.