 |
Ground Cover for ShadeThese ground covers are made for the shade. |
||
|
Small File
|
Large File
|
||
| > Real
Player > Quicktime |
> Real
Player > Quicktime |
||
Transcript: Ground Cover for Shade
One of the biggest challenge areas of our landscapes are our shady areas. Grass doesn't grow in the shade and it's often difficult to find a ground cover that will do well in shady areas, but there are many good choices. Let me tell you about a few of my favorites.One of my favorite ferns is holly fern. Holly fern does very well in dark shady areas. It's pretty tough. It's evergreen and goes through the winter in most parts of the state looking good. At the end of winter, you just cut it back and let new fresh growth come in to fill in. It looks good.
And then a plant I like is seaoats. Seaoats is actually a grass, one of the few grasses that do well in limited light situations. Later in the year, it will put up seed heads that are very attractive on into the winter months.
You may have heard of aspidistra, also called cast iron plant. It's got a good name there in cast iron plant because it is tough as nails. This plant grows quite tall, but there are dwarf varieties like this one, milky way, that stay about two and a half feet tall, absolutely bullet-proof for shade.
Many types of lariape and mondo grass that look well in the shade. Even one type of mondo that stays very small and dwarf. You can use it among rocks and it's a very attractive little plant. It will put up with as much shade as you can get. Even growing up underneath a magnolia or live oak tree, for example.
And then there's carpet bugle, another nice ground cover. These plants send out runners that spread and fill in an area very well. It needs a little bit of moisture to do well and occasionally rewards you with some attractive blooms.
download
For comments and questions about this site please contact
coleena@tamu.edu
or e-gregory@tamu.edu
Last Updated:
July 6, 2006