One great thing about sweet woodruff is it does GREAT in a semi-forested yard. So if you live in a wooded yard with tons of shade and lateral root structures AND tons of deer, sweet woodruff is one of the few plants I know of that thrive in that environment and deer don't like it very much. ALSO, in May and June, it erupts with tons of beautiful small white flowers, and it only gets about a foot high so it won't becoming annoyingly tall like some ground cover. It even seems to do well with acidic clay soil with rocks/roots/erosion issues. And has a really delicate graceful look on a landscape despite being super hearty. Great stuff!
I was excited to see lingonberry. I am from north-western part of Russia and in autumn we usually go to forests to pick up berries, including lingonberry. People usually make jam out of it, or just freeze it and make pies or drinks in colder weather, as it is rich in vitamin C, E and help against cold and flu. It has many other great benefits for your health too. The leafs can be also used for a tea. I struggle to find lingonberries here in the USA, that's why I was excited that someone actually grows it :)
Sweet woodruff does nicely in both sun and shade in our very dry, very cold-winter-hot-summer area. We have several beds where it fills in for other plants. The foliage and the cute little white flowers are very attractive. But I am not sure it is a very good deer deterrent....the deer here just walk right through it, take naps on top of it....Now, the thymes, the deer aren’t much interested in! But as you mentioned, they sort of get lanky and die out in the middle. I try to train the new growth towards the center...it doesn’t totally fill it in, but it helps. Thanks for a nice, clear explanation of your choices!
Sweet Woodruff is a happy plant here on the Northern California Coast. The other plant I love is chamomile, especially if you have a place you’d like a garden bench. You can plant the bench right in the chamomile circle for a fragrant resting spot.
Bonus on Sweet Woodruff. I planted it on the edge of my lawn and it started to creep on to the lawn. For me, a lazy mower, it’s green, controlled height, smells wonderful when mowed. If I had an entire lawn of sweet woodruff, I’d be a happy gardener.
First, thanx for your level-headed approach to your specialty. I feel like I'm listening to a regular person talk plainly about a common topic instead of some over-the-top clown or psuedo-intellectual. Second, I saw your Landscape Fabrics Pros & Cons video and it left me wondering if I should use cardboard when using rocks or pebbles. Lo and behold, I found this video where you answered my question. But you know what's really funny? I've been working on my front and back yards moving rocks from the front and placing them inside a concrete barrier that runs the length of my back fence. For the first half of this project, I used HD weed block fabric but I just was uncertain if it would do what I wanted, meaning no weeds. I bought this house I Oct 2020 and by Jan (I'm in Sacramento CA) weeds had broken through and were taking over my front yard. I didn't want that to happen in the back. Well I switched to 6mil plastic hoping it would not cause a problem while giving me the weed protection I was looking for. Now I know I made the right choice so I can proceed with redoing my front yard knowing it will turn out the way I hope. Preciate the info.
Your garden is really nice! I love your use of ornamentals with edibles. I was also SO EXCITED to see that you have that particular variety of sedum. I’m a landscape designer and that green sedum, I call it ‘moss sedum’ (which probably isn’t actually its name), is a fantastic ground cover. I’ve grown many varieties of sedum but none have ever came even close to the vigor and thick plush mats of foliage that moss sedum creates. It’s also so ridiculously easy to propagate. I just pull handfuls out of one patch and throw them on top of where I want them to grow, keep it watered and viola, it grows and fills every void you want it to. I’ve seen it growing straight out of cinderblocks and on top of concrete. It will grab onto the tiniest cracks and fill them completely. And to top it all off, if you don’t want it somewhere, you can easily remove it with no digging or any effort at all. I looove that sedum. That is my number 1 ground cover!! That, paired with ole creepy Jenny can create a really bold and bright design.
Wow,,,, Thanks for that advice on ?GREEN SEDUM,,, you called it MOSS SEDUM, Never was impressed with SEDUM BUT YOUR Comment helped alot,, Yes, sounds cool,,,,,,, learn a new thing. TY
Thanks - the video actually provided me with options for the rear of my property which backs up to an alley way and has a tiny border outside of my fence. My husband hates having to go back there and cut down all the weeds and if he forgets, we end up getting fined by the city. So much appreciated!
Thanks . I always appreciate hands on experience. Nice presentation..very articulate. First the negative. I have found Sweet Woodruff a bit too bullyish. Plants that thrive in my Alberta ( zone 4) garden as ground covers. Very favourite is Bunchberry. Nice shape leaves, White flowers, red berries. Magical. Like many plants slow to take off but then spreads quickly. Easy to contain. Second is Dryads...love them. Nodding yellow flowers and fuzzy seed heads. Another overlooked is Hepatica...not sure why it’s pricey but mine spread easily and welcome as the first spring blooms. Finally, Veronica whitelyi...just nice and great purple coloured flowers...fuzzy and soft.. I live in a dry climate but also MOSSES! They are fantastic and you can Get Instant results. Look into videos for easy to use mosses. Re bear berry. I give mine a modest haircut. They are a woody plant and will spread better And thicker if Pruned.. Takes about 3 to 4 years for good coverage. If not pruned they get lanky. Again, thanks. I will try a couple of your suggestions.
My yard in East Tennessee is over run with wild Violets. They are very tough. Where they grow it is very wet in winter and spring. Summer and fall it is very dry. It makes a beautiful sight when in bloom and the low growing heart shaped leaves are attractive too.
I am So glad to find someone who Loves these beauties! Did you know you can make a lovely jelly after making a simple tea from the flowers of those Wild Violets?! My good friend won the "most original" award at our local fair for her heavenly tasting/scented entry a few years back! There are several types around, ours are Labrador Violets. I don't mind them in the yard or Woodland settings, however they tend to grow and spread viciously and push out, as well as strangle other already settled plantings in a garden bed! They actually smothered the roots and killed an 8 year old well performing rose of mine before I even knew what had happened! I no longer allow them to take root in the beds. Which is difficult as they spread by both seed and by rootlet! It's amazing how each plant behaves differently from place to place, depending on soil and temperatures! They must love Virginia's red clay because in the spring our yards are covered for a time with this and deadnettles alone! :)
Nancy Webb I have them all through our property so when some appeared at the edges of my new flower garden I left them and they got really big and beautiful and then the deer ate them. i thought they wouldn’t bother them because they grow everywhere else!
you should try microclover for ground cover...looks beautiful, very green, almost like the perfect grass, yet its drought resistant (once established), its very tough and chokes out weeds, plus it provides nitrogen for your soil automatically, so perfect! I have just created my micro clover lawn this spring time and it looks so beautiful, the neighbors are all wondering what it is..:-)...
Thyme has to be treated as something that needs to be replaced every three years. Yes, you can trim out the brown centers and let the space be recolonized but that can result in a gap you don’t know what to do with. I find the best results come from starting new cuttings and dividing the younger plants. This way, I have young plants in the pipeline ready to fill the space when needed.
I love Angelina seedum. It spreads quickly in sun or shade in my horrible clay soil where nothing else survives. It changes colors throughout the seasons and is easy to control.
This is my dream - to plant things with at least two purposes. Decorative, protective (e.g. thorny berry bushes around perimeter of property), edible, shade, windbreak, good for birds/bees/other critters, etc.
Thank you! Very informative. I have a steep bank off the front yard that stays weedy and ugly all summer (in W. TN) so I need a nice looking ground cover to reduce erosion, and look nice, instead of being an eye sore.
will try the sweet woodruff! it's native here in Germany and you can use it for flavoring drinks - it's medicinal and slightly psycho-active which is why in Germany you drink "Mai-Bowle" a type of punch with woodruff to get slightly high ;) you drink it in May before the woodruff flowers because after that the concentrations of coumarin are getting too high
I planted red creeping thyme last year and this year it's giving me beautiful magenta blooms. But it's not good at blocking weeds. I still have to pull out them out. It also grow only 12 inches wide and 1 inch tall. Creeping phlox is much better at weed control. My one plant spread quickly up to 2 feet the first year. By next spring it was all covered with gorgeous pink flowers and has grown 3 feet wide. This year I'm trying Mother of Thyme (thymus serpyllum). It grows faster than the red thyme and much better at blocking out weeds. Creeping thymes are more drought tolerant than their edible counterparts.
oh wow zone 6. same as me. I thought you were in a warmer zone. nice to see a video from you again. I planted some alpine (non runner) strawberries from saved seeds, about 20 ft x 2 ft all along the front of my place. works awesome and they have hundreds of little strawberries coming now. if you save seeds from an heirloom and start them indoors in February, you can have a tray full of 100s of little seedlings that are tough little buggers and transplant easily. I also put a big swatch of lupines against a north fence and a big patch of greek oregano, a patch of parsley, couple patches of chives, and some echinacea and some other flowers. I have done virtually nothing to it yet this year except pull out a handful of weeds, haven't even watered it yet :)
Love the sweet woodruff (except needing to be moist) and the sedum stonecrop is my favorite. So glad you're doing videos again....love your channel!!!!
Thank you for the information on the types of ground covers you’ve dealt with. I like the sedum stonecrop. I have some now and it has kept the weeds and grass growing at bay.
Nice video and some different ground covers I haven't seen before. I always loved Corsican Mint. Tiny creeping leaves not unlike creeping thyme. It is very easy to rip it up if it's in the wrong spot and then simply lay it on the spot of dirt you want it to be planted on because it propagates easily that way. Plus it smells great when you step on it.
So tiny, soft, green & pretty. And that lovely scent! Mice hate the smell, might keep them and other critters away from the house. I’ve also heard of chives as an edging. Cool idea. Never tried it.
I love seeing your garden because it's a lot like mine. Mine is small, with very small side yards (like 5 ft wide) so I have to grow fruit as espaliers too or my neighbors get mad if any branches come into their yards (they are the kind of folks who have nothing growing on their property but just keep it mowed down all the time so my stuff probably freaks them out a bit). Anyway, I am getting ideas from you regarding good groundcovers. I'm also trying to make everything I plant either edible, medicinal or attracting pollinators. Many of them are natives as well. It's so fun!
I mow the creeping thyme and it gets revived. My sweet woodruff never gets watered in dry denver, kinnikinnik grows wild under pine trees in the rocky mountains. So you can plant this under any pine/ blue spruce
Pineberries can go with with strawberries. Pineberries need a pollinator like strawberries. I like ice plants and tri color sedum plus a mixed hardy sedum for groundcover and can walk on those. Just put in a berry bed of gooseberries, blueberries and honeyberries next to various raspberries. Will be adding more pine and strawberries to fill it up and a few annuals I can just easily plant in thick mulch for some interest and color. The bee balm is spreading like crazy in flower beds so got a bit more for groundcover. I have a large yard and planting never ends. Used some cardboard to break down and kill off roots then landscape fabric underneath better.
I didn't know the name of that sedum. Old last gave me some in 2006 and I've got it everywhere a mower can't reach. I've even got it going between some pavers for drainage/erosion control. A few lawn services have adamantly told me it's an invasive weed that I need to pay them to kill & put grass seed down . Glad to have a name for it now.
Lovely garden and very helpful info; just what I have been looking for in my sunny/hot inland SoCal yard. I have some ice plant that is doing well but want to diversify a bit. Looks like red thyme may do it for me. Have a lot of sun and not much shade in summer.
Gone through a few videos now and totally changing. We retired to high desert 2 years ago 4000 feet but zone 8b that means the loser end of freeze range. We got 2 days of snow last year. Have to research native plants but I have previously done natural and drought tolerant in zone 9. Can’t do succulents unless I drag them in and out. 9 is the bare minimum for them. So changing my plants but not my look. I hate bushes cut into ball shape. I believe in no trimming unless early life shaping or disease etc. for anything! We have an acre and no backyard. Grader coming to grade back yard on Wednesday. We are doing what I call pods. Some hard scape, trailer parking. Fruit tree zone. Fire pit zone. And a edge to edge driveway. In our area they let us go get some of the ancient pull offs for free and this sand from dredging a pool at end of one of the rivers. You can’t do high removal and do something like sell it but there is even old marble quarry. Grader suggested this sand for the driveway and paths and to use plastic. We went to look at the sand only 5 mins away and its hard, packable and weirdly has sea shells in it? I guess its dinosaur sand as this area was all under the ocean a long long time ago. He said not even weed cloth use plastic similar to how you did your pea gravel. The only thing I heard about pea gravel is its a bit rolling so elderly or like me or with bad knees can be unstable. In a small area we went with chipped gravel? I don’t know all the names but it locks together when you step on it. This gives me ideas with using cardboard and mulch for rock gardens. But I will gradually merge sand or chipped gravel paths with plastic at the perimeters leaving the large planting areas for only plants with the cardboard and mulch I don’t like hard lines in landscaping either. We have critters though being somewhat rural. Squirrels and skunks the neighbors say eat the veggies. But we have nothing yet! Will watch more of your videos to get my permanent ideas.
I live just below a mountain and my weeds blow in from surrounding woods and fields. Many groundcovers don’t survive the deer or the tough weeds here. I use Walkers Low catmint, creeping phlox and a weed....wild creeping geranium with pretty aerated leaves and tiny white flowers which grows in part shade and I got tired of trying to eliminate.
Nice choices! I feel your frustration. We live in the valley of the Blue Ridge and Deer are pretty much a regular feature in my garden Every evening. Problem is, the past few years, they have developed a taste for things that are supposed to be "deer resistant". Lol So I got tired of trying to plant against them and just started planting more instinctively. Luckily, for the most part it works!! :) I also use Scarecrows sometimes to discourage major deer browsing, I don't mind bunnies and other small critters eating some strawberries or munching on my red clover, but the Deer will take down Entire Roses and Daylilies to the ground! I don't appreciate that when they have an entire field of Wildflowers behind us, plus 60+ acres of Woods that is by No means Empty of Flora!! In case anyone is confused, the Scarecrows I'm taking about are motion sensors that release a loud sprinkle of water whenever something comes into the field of vision that you set. They work fantastic for me without harming anything. Have you tried any of the Sages or Salvias? I have proven them both tough and deer resistant around here. They aren't really groundcover, just very nice garden additions. You might consider trying some herbs interplanted with your other things. Many are tough, low growing and more importantly, Useful. Not to mention, extremely drought tolerant once established! A favorite of mine that comes in many colors and spreads beautifully is Yarrow. I find the reds and pinks spread the best, however the Wild yarrow, which is white, is a very useful addition and I grow it right in with my other plants and the Deer won't touch it! It's known for its ability to stop bleeding when dried and made into a stypic powder or great for nosebleeds when you just grab fresh leaves and create a small poultice and place in the nostril as you would cotton or a tissue. It's also known for the opposite for women when made into a tincture with alcohol or vegetable glycerine it is a serious help to balance menstrual cycles! I call it the Wonder Herb! :)
Great video, lots of information, I changed my front lawn into a garden, tightly planted and works well to combat weeds and dogs. Thanks for sharing 👍❤️😊
I like vinca (creeping myrtle) because it works well in shady areas, and it has pretty violet blue flowers in May-June. Pachysandra also does well in shady areas.
Great to see another video from you and what a great video. We are trialing dichondra in our pathways due to the evergreen nature and how it works in the heat and cold.
I now *plant densely* . *Liriope and mulch* have been go-tos. For nonwinter: *bulbs* for sun and *hosta* for shade. Oh, and *grass* . Grass- cultivated weed that it is - helps rest the eye like nothing else. So i aerated and re-seeded grass also.
My dog used to love to pea on one specific cucumber plant in my back yard a few years ago. That one grew like crazy that year. I think it was the Nitrogen, but also saw this on a site about it - Urine boasts a nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (N-P-K) ratio of 10:1:4, plus more modest amounts of the trace elements plants need to thrive. I've heard of some youtube gardeners that also pee on their trees themselves at times - they'll remain nameless :-).
I’m in a plant group and the ones that pee on their gardens are the healthiest gardens I’ve seen. I didn’t know the science behind it Thank you for sharing this
Leptinella took over my yard. It grew into the woolly thyme and couldn’t be extricated. Eventually it would have taken over everything. I removed every bit of it along with the thyme it had grown into. Lovely, but aggressive.
Excellent information and I'm really impressed with what you've managed to grow on this site. I'd suggest you slow down the camera movement. I almost felt dizzy a few times. But your descriptions and information were spot on. I have definitely subscribed to learn more.
I have used creeping Jenny for years, with some success. However, be aware that it tends to begin to spread with abandon after a few years, (especially if you continue to improve your soil) and swallow Everything in it's path. It also hides weeds rather than smothering them, "eats mulch", dries out garden beds and is a B--ch to pull once well established because it just keeps returning in the same spots and spreads even more aggressively. There are definite areas where I find this beauty useful, but it is not as it seems at first blush. Should be used with care by those who have never seen it in a garden more than 3 years old!
Does there card board mold after a while? I have an area I just weeded, was going to spray vinegar salt and Dawn soap to kill the weeds, and then do brown paper lawn bags over the bed, then mulch. Does that even sound doable?
What a lovely place. You must have many calm hours outside in the fresh air. I'm in Pittsburgh. Do you ever work as a gardener on other people's yards? Love the espaliered pear tree with three different types grafted on. I just bought microclover for a ground cover. We'll see how it goes.
Great informative video! I originally bought Brass Buttons to represent ferns in an outdoor model railroad. I brought a few plants home and put them in the planter around my mailbox and they do well, with little maintenance. I also really like kinnickinick but did not bring any plants when I moved. I dug a few starts from an area where I used to work and they did really well. Thanks for reminding me of them. Regular moss is a big enough problem for me that I won't be adding any to my landscape. Way too many slugs to grow strawberries on the ground here in Western Washington (Zone 8b), for me anyway. A neighbor has Sedum Stonecrop and it is pretty invasive. I have managed to keep it out of my yard so far. I have done the Creeping Thyme and I didn't care for the way it looks when the centers die off but it is pretty nice otherwise. I have an area under my cedar trees where I can't get anything to grow, except weeds. Some native Oregon Grape sprouted up and I have been encouraging them along and they have really taken hold. Not really what I would call a ground cover but anything green under the cedars looks wonderful. I look forward to more watching more of your videos.
New subscriber here. You had me at "weed control" LOL I'm going to try the plastic and pebbles in one area of my garden. I've never heard of using cardboard. What a great idea! Thanks for the lovely walk-through of your gardens.....beautiful! What an amazing idea for your pear tree! There are just so many of your ideas that I want to try. Loved the raised flower bed/high wooden planter...it's beautiful and practical. This video has been a source of inspiration and joy during this time of covid19 lock down. Thank you! I hope that you and your family stay safe and healthy.
Cardboard is used in permaculture. You'll love some videos on that and regenerative agriculture. I've started using these methods and it's working great so far even though I'm fairly new to gardening..
Thank you. I live in Northeast Ohio so zone 6. I have a stone border that surrounds my pretty brick patio. It gets covered by creeping Charlie. I pulled out one side. The creeping Charlie hasn't grown back yet, but crab grass has started to grow between the rocks so I'm looking for something that can actually grow in stone. Something pretty. I don't care for any thing of the yellow green color.
Great video thank you. I have creeping thyme and love it. It does great at crowding out weeds but does die out in the center like you said. I just cut the dead branches with scissors or shears and pull up a small healthy piece of thyme and fill in the area. It grows like a weed and smells so good. I just planted ajuga this year. Planted one small plant after it flowered I used a serrated knife and split it in four peices, replanted three of the peices. I'm hoping the small area I planted it in will be filled in by next year.
@@CaptivaIsland1944I'm sorry I just saw your comment. I got my creeping thyme on qvc about 6 yrs ago. I got a flat of 50 tiny plants but I think you can plant regular culinary thyme. I've since planted oregano and it grows similiar to the thyme. My creeping thyme is supposed to have deep purple flowers but it flowers just like culinary thyme.
I've got another one for you (my personal favorite and edible, too!): Lamium Maculatum. It's so pretty with small silvery leaves, spreads nicely even in shade, and tolerates my heavy clay soil!
Thanks for your very informative video. My interest is in finding low level ground covers suitable for incorporating into my g-scale garden railway. Your video has given me some great ideas for what to use!
Very nice video and I love that it was produced by a gentleman. Most guys definitely help out in the garden, but aren't so open and confident about it. I have been gardening for about 25 years and have Designed Gardens for many. This video has Nice choices for groundcovers. Here in Virginia, Creeping Thyme/Lemon Thyme is my first Herbal choice for groundcovers. Not only is is a Fantastic smelling herb, but the Thyme Family is known to treat Cold, Flu and Respiratory Issues with great success. It is also known for being antimicrobial so I make homemade cleaners after harvesting the 4 types of Thyme I grow here. If your looking for just a great Looking groundcover that will compete with weeds and grow in quickly, plus spread to other areas, I recommend Lamium, AKA Deadnettle. It Is, however, for those who are looking to cover good sized areas as I have heard some in other states call it "invasive". It certainly is Not invasive here in the Mid-Atlantic. Just gorgeous and especially flexible working in Sun or shade and having beautiful silver and green striped/spotted or solid leaves and comes in Lavender, pink and white flowers. There is also a yellow, but that one prefers pretty deep shade. I also enjoyed seeing the Sweet Woodruff in your video, I have surprisingly never seen that grown in gardens around here. I have been considering it myself for one of my beds and have been interested in seeing how it would look. I think it's quite Lovely! Thanks for taking the time to share your garden with us. Blessings to you.
Another great video! Your property looks very nice indeed! My main ground cover takes sun or shade, can be stepped on, goes dormant in times of drought but comes back with rain, it can withstand almost any winter 🥶, you can chop it down and it grows back, I grow it on all the pathways between my vegetable beds, it’s grass of course! Klaus
1. Pachysandra/Japanese Spurge 2. Bishops Weed/Ground Elder/Aegopodium podagraria I love both of these. The Pachysandra loves shady areas and chokes out weeds amazingly. Always looks great, and other plant and tree debrit that falls in the yard just settles down below the leaves where you don't see it and becomes compost. Spreads easily enough ...not too fast...but not difficult to contain as the roots are relatively shallow. It's also very easy to dig up a clump and transplant to another location. The Ground elder (I have the variagated type) also grows great in the shade but supposedly also does well in the sun. Also chokes out weeds and hides garden/tree debrit until it breaks down into compost. This one is also not too difficult to control but requires a little more attention in this regard. If ignored for long periods of time, it will likely take over the yard. I only have to dig the border once a year to keep in in check...and I either transplant what I remove or give it to friends. Both of these can be mowed over or weed whacked if they ever get raggedy looking due to extreme temperatures (cold or heat) and will come right back looking beautiful in no time. Both also work great around trees where it's difficult to get other things to grow.
Also on ground-covers make sure that you get the ph right for each type as it will grown and hold up better- some want more acidic, others more alkaline. Also the soil texture - some like the sedum prefer having some granite dust added to the soil to encourage fast drainage.
@@Albopepper I'm betting on TH-cam as I have seen it more than once, especially for "Let's Play" type series. One wonders what logic (speaking from a software engineer's perspective, since I am one) made them think people would want to view playlists in reverse time order. Side issue would be, did they make a reasonable list? ;) No worries. It was just a convenient way to binge-watch your fine channel.
Great seeing your ground covers. My favorite currently out is Kurapia since we can finally fill in a whole lawn all at once now that we produce it in sod form.
I have a yard that is 100 feet deep and 60 wide. This is giving me some GREAT ideas as to how to proceeed. Thank you! I live in South New Jersey, 15 miles from the shore. Juliana
Thanks for the great video! Totally unqualified to make this suggestion but... I'll throw it out there anyway. Your hand is a bit of a distraction and forces the camera to change focus between your hand and yard. Awesome lay out!
Check my website for even more details!
► albopepper.com/long-term-weed-control-with-ground-cover-plants.php
You are so calming.I love how you don't scream at me when you start. I love to watch you and your yard. It's beautiful.
One great thing about sweet woodruff is it does GREAT in a semi-forested yard. So if you live in a wooded yard with tons of shade and lateral root structures AND tons of deer, sweet woodruff is one of the few plants I know of that thrive in that environment and deer don't like it very much. ALSO, in May and June, it erupts with tons of beautiful small white flowers, and it only gets about a foot high so it won't becoming annoyingly tall like some ground cover. It even seems to do well with acidic clay soil with rocks/roots/erosion issues. And has a really delicate graceful look on a landscape despite being super hearty. Great stuff!
I was excited to see lingonberry. I am from north-western part of Russia and in autumn we usually go to forests to pick up berries, including lingonberry. People usually make jam out of it, or just freeze it and make pies or drinks in colder weather, as it is rich in vitamin C, E and help against cold and flu. It has many other great benefits for your health too. The leafs can be also used for a tea. I struggle to find lingonberries here in the USA, that's why I was excited that someone actually grows it :)
Sweet woodruff does nicely in both sun and shade in our very dry, very cold-winter-hot-summer area. We have several beds where it fills in for other plants. The foliage and the cute little white flowers are very attractive. But I am not sure it is a very good deer deterrent....the deer here just walk right through it, take naps on top of it....Now, the thymes, the deer aren’t much interested in! But as you mentioned, they sort of get lanky and die out in the middle. I try to train the new growth towards the center...it doesn’t totally fill it in, but it helps. Thanks for a nice, clear explanation of your choices!
Sweet Woodruff is a happy plant here on the Northern California Coast. The other plant I love is chamomile, especially if you have a place you’d like a garden bench. You can plant the bench right in the chamomile circle for a fragrant resting spot.
Bonus on Sweet Woodruff. I planted it on the edge of my lawn and it started to creep on to the lawn. For me, a lazy mower, it’s green, controlled height, smells wonderful when mowed. If I had an entire lawn of sweet woodruff, I’d be a happy gardener.
First, thanx for your level-headed approach to your specialty. I feel like I'm listening to a regular person talk plainly about a common topic instead of some over-the-top clown or psuedo-intellectual. Second, I saw your Landscape Fabrics Pros & Cons video and it left me wondering if I should use cardboard when using rocks or pebbles. Lo and behold, I found this video where you answered my question. But you know what's really funny? I've been working on my front and back yards moving rocks from the front and placing them inside a concrete barrier that runs the length of my back fence. For the first half of this project, I used HD weed block fabric but I just was uncertain if it would do what I wanted, meaning no weeds. I bought this house I Oct 2020 and by Jan (I'm in Sacramento CA) weeds had broken through and were taking over my front yard. I didn't want that to happen in the back. Well I switched to 6mil plastic hoping it would not cause a problem while giving me the weed protection I was looking for. Now I know I made the right choice so I can proceed with redoing my front yard knowing it will turn out the way I hope. Preciate the info.
Your garden is really nice! I love your use of ornamentals with edibles. I was also SO EXCITED to see that you have that particular variety of sedum. I’m a landscape designer and that green sedum, I call it ‘moss sedum’ (which probably isn’t actually its name), is a fantastic ground cover. I’ve grown many varieties of sedum but none have ever came even close to the vigor and thick plush mats of foliage that moss sedum creates. It’s also so ridiculously easy to propagate. I just pull handfuls out of one patch and throw them on top of where I want them to grow, keep it watered and viola, it grows and fills every void you want it to. I’ve seen it growing straight out of cinderblocks and on top of concrete. It will grab onto the tiniest cracks and fill them completely. And to top it all off, if you don’t want it somewhere, you can easily remove it with no digging or any effort at all. I looove that sedum. That is my number 1 ground cover!! That, paired with ole creepy Jenny can create a really bold and bright design.
Wow,,,, Thanks for that advice on ?GREEN SEDUM,,, you called it MOSS SEDUM, Never was impressed with SEDUM BUT YOUR Comment helped alot,, Yes, sounds cool,,,,,,, learn a new thing. TY
Thanks - the video actually provided me with options for the rear of my property which backs up to an alley way and has a tiny border outside of my fence. My husband hates having to go back there and cut down all the weeds and if he forgets, we end up getting fined by the city. So much appreciated!
Thanks . I always appreciate hands on experience. Nice presentation..very articulate.
First the negative. I have found Sweet Woodruff a bit too bullyish.
Plants that thrive in my Alberta ( zone 4) garden as ground covers. Very favourite is Bunchberry. Nice shape leaves, White flowers, red berries. Magical. Like many plants slow to take off but then spreads quickly. Easy to contain. Second is Dryads...love them. Nodding yellow flowers and fuzzy seed heads. Another overlooked is Hepatica...not sure why it’s pricey but mine spread easily and welcome as the first spring blooms. Finally, Veronica whitelyi...just nice and great purple coloured flowers...fuzzy and soft..
I live in a dry climate but also MOSSES! They are fantastic and you can Get Instant results. Look into videos for easy to use mosses.
Re bear berry. I give mine a modest haircut. They are a woody plant and will spread better And thicker if Pruned.. Takes about 3 to 4 years for good coverage. If not pruned they get lanky.
Again, thanks. I will try a couple of your suggestions.
Thanks for sharing information.
My yard in East Tennessee is over run with wild Violets. They are very tough. Where they grow it is very wet in winter and spring. Summer and fall it is very dry. It makes a beautiful sight when in bloom and the low growing heart shaped leaves are attractive too.
You can eat them too! The leaves and the flowers. I throw them in my family's salads and even the teenagers are ok with it.
I am So glad to find someone who Loves these beauties! Did you know you can make a lovely jelly after making a simple tea from the flowers of those Wild Violets?! My good friend won the "most original" award at our local fair for her heavenly tasting/scented entry a few years back! There are several types around, ours are Labrador Violets. I don't mind them in the yard or Woodland settings, however they tend to grow and spread viciously and push out, as well as strangle other already settled plantings in a garden bed! They actually smothered the roots and killed an 8 year old well performing rose of mine before I even knew what had happened! I no longer allow them to take root in the beds. Which is difficult as they spread by both seed and by rootlet! It's amazing how each plant behaves differently from place to place, depending on soil and temperatures! They must love Virginia's red clay because in the spring our yards are covered for a time with this and deadnettles alone! :)
Nancy Webb I have them all through our property so when some appeared at the edges of my new flower garden I left them and they got really big and beautiful and then the deer ate them. i thought they wouldn’t bother them because they grow everywhere else!
This is a great video and I appreciate the natural gardening. This is the first video I have watched of yours and will check out more.
you should try microclover for ground cover...looks beautiful, very green, almost like the perfect grass, yet its drought resistant (once established), its very tough and chokes out weeds, plus it provides nitrogen for your soil automatically, so perfect! I have just created my micro clover lawn this spring time and it looks so beautiful, the neighbors are all wondering what it is..:-)...
I love it! :)
can the be effective in north side shady area?
Is that hard to plant ? I’m a widow and live in the foot hills in Southern California . I’m on a budget but want something to choke out the weeds !!
@mojavewolf1 microclover is expensive and will revert to standard clover (tall and tangled) if not shorn regularly
Thyme has to be treated as something that needs to be replaced every three years. Yes, you can trim out the brown centers and let the space be recolonized but that can result in a gap you don’t know what to do with. I find the best results come from starting new cuttings and dividing the younger plants. This way, I have young plants in the pipeline ready to fill the space when needed.
This is just lovely. What a work of art. I admire your project very much.
I love Angelina seedum. It spreads quickly in sun or shade in my horrible clay soil where nothing else survives. It changes colors throughout the seasons and is easy to control.
Ditto on all of the above, esp horrible clay soil.
Where can I find seeds?
This is my dream - to plant things with at least two purposes. Decorative, protective (e.g. thorny berry bushes around perimeter of property), edible, shade, windbreak, good for birds/bees/other critters, etc.
We put creeping thyme in between our flagstone walkways but a good thing for brick walkways / patios to keep weeds at bay is polymeric sand.
Thank you! Very informative. I have a steep bank off the front yard that stays weedy and ugly all summer (in W. TN) so I need a nice looking ground cover to reduce erosion, and look nice, instead of being an eye sore.
Great variety in limited space. Well done. Thanks for sharing your space & knowledge with us.
I've had very little experience with Sweet Woodruff, but what I have experienced I like - mostly because it's such a cheery-looking plant.
I agree! Mine is looking quite nice and filling in very well. Just be sure to place it in a spot where you can control it as it likes to spread.
@@Albopepper I planted some under a weeping willow; it didn't like that spot at all.
will try the sweet woodruff! it's native here in Germany and you can use it for flavoring drinks - it's medicinal and slightly psycho-active which is why in Germany you drink "Mai-Bowle" a type of punch with woodruff to get slightly high ;) you drink it in May before the woodruff flowers because after that the concentrations of coumarin are getting too high
I planted red creeping thyme last year and this year it's giving me beautiful magenta blooms. But it's not good at blocking weeds. I still have to pull out them out. It also grow only 12 inches wide and 1 inch tall. Creeping phlox is much better at weed control. My one plant spread quickly up to 2 feet the first year. By next spring it was all covered with gorgeous pink flowers and has grown 3 feet wide. This year I'm trying Mother of Thyme (thymus serpyllum). It grows faster than the red thyme and much better at blocking out weeds. Creeping thymes are more drought tolerant than their edible counterparts.
Wow i was thinking of landscape fabric and gravel right over my ugly walkway! Now i know it can be done! Thanks
Is the gravel at all slippery with plastic underneath?
If you make quick abrupt steps, like lots of pivoting, you might skid or slip a little. I have no issues. But I wouldn't run on it or anything.
Nice garden, good info.
Thanks!
I’m in the northern panhandle of Wv so we’re nearly neighbors.
I’ll check out your posts in the future.
oh wow zone 6. same as me. I thought you were in a warmer zone. nice to see a video from you again. I planted some alpine (non runner) strawberries from saved seeds, about 20 ft x 2 ft all along the front of my place. works awesome and they have hundreds of little strawberries coming now. if you save seeds from an heirloom and start them indoors in February, you can have a tray full of 100s of little seedlings that are tough little buggers and transplant easily.
I also put a big swatch of lupines against a north fence and a big patch of greek oregano, a patch of parsley, couple patches of chives, and some echinacea and some other flowers. I have done virtually nothing to it yet this year except pull out a handful of weeds, haven't even watered it yet :)
Very informative and easy to understand . Presented calmly , which is a relief in this mad world , thankyou . Just subscribed 😊
One of the best vids on the topic
Love the sweet woodruff (except needing to be moist) and the sedum stonecrop is my favorite. So glad you're doing videos again....love your channel!!!!
Thank you for the information on the types of ground covers you’ve dealt with. I like the sedum stonecrop. I have some now and it has kept the weeds and grass growing at bay.
Awesome! Thanks for watching Mare. :)
Nice video and some different ground covers I haven't seen before. I always loved Corsican Mint. Tiny creeping leaves not unlike creeping thyme. It is very easy to rip it up if it's in the wrong spot and then simply lay it on the spot of dirt you want it to be planted on because it propagates easily that way. Plus it smells great when you step on it.
So tiny, soft, green & pretty. And that lovely scent! Mice hate the smell, might keep them and other critters away from the house. I’ve also heard of chives as an edging. Cool idea. Never tried it.
@@lolodee3528spiders avoid it also
Hi I’m zone 6a 🥶🥶🥶 Michigan! I so excited that you TEACH! By example. Beautiful garden layout 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Glad to meet you🙋🏽♀️👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Ooooh! Same growing zone. Awesome! I'm happy to share the things I've learned from trial & error. ;-)
Awesome footage. It's great to see with my eyes exactly what you're talking about as you do it. Thank you.
Just beautiful! Love all your groundcovers and will check out the "Stepables" looks like a great place to start. Thanks R
In California, Irish moss is a dark green, and Scotch moss is more chartreuse.
I love seeing your garden because it's a lot like mine. Mine is small, with very small side yards (like 5 ft wide) so I have to grow fruit as espaliers too or my neighbors get mad if any branches come into their yards (they are the kind of folks who have nothing growing on their property but just keep it mowed down all the time so my stuff probably freaks them out a bit). Anyway, I am getting ideas from you regarding good groundcovers. I'm also trying to make everything I plant either edible, medicinal or attracting pollinators. Many of them are natives as well. It's so fun!
I mow the creeping thyme and it gets revived. My sweet woodruff never gets watered in dry denver, kinnikinnik grows wild under pine trees in the rocky mountains. So you can plant this under any pine/ blue spruce
Pineberries can go with with strawberries. Pineberries need a pollinator like strawberries. I like ice plants and tri color sedum plus a mixed hardy sedum for groundcover and can walk on those. Just put in a berry bed of gooseberries, blueberries and honeyberries next to various raspberries. Will be adding more pine and strawberries to fill it up and a few annuals I can just easily plant in thick mulch for some interest and color. The bee balm is spreading like crazy in flower beds so got a bit more for groundcover. I have a large yard and planting never ends. Used some cardboard to break down and kill off roots then landscape fabric underneath better.
I didn't know the name of that sedum. Old last gave me some in 2006 and I've got it everywhere a mower can't reach. I've even got it going between some pavers for drainage/erosion control.
A few lawn services have adamantly told me it's an invasive weed that I need to pay them to kill & put grass seed down . Glad to have a name for it now.
Love the look of the gravel backyard
Lovely garden and very helpful info; just what I have been looking for in my sunny/hot inland SoCal yard. I have some ice plant that is doing well but want to diversify a bit. Looks like red thyme may do it for me. Have a lot of sun and not much shade in summer.
Wow! Beautiful garden! I got some great ideas from you, thank you!
Love rupturewort. I live in the sand hills of NJ. Herniaria is one of the few lawn alternatives that thrives in this poor soil.
Gone through a few videos now and totally changing. We retired to high desert 2 years ago 4000 feet but zone 8b that means the loser end of freeze range. We got 2 days of snow last year. Have to research native plants but I have previously done natural and drought tolerant in zone 9. Can’t do succulents unless I drag them in and out. 9 is the bare minimum for them. So changing my plants but not my look. I hate bushes cut into ball shape. I believe in no trimming unless early life shaping or disease etc. for anything! We have an acre and no backyard. Grader coming to grade back yard on Wednesday. We are doing what I call pods. Some hard scape, trailer parking. Fruit tree zone. Fire pit zone. And a edge to edge driveway. In our area they let us go get some of the ancient pull offs for free and this sand from dredging a pool at end of one of the rivers. You can’t do high removal and do something like sell it but there is even old marble quarry. Grader suggested this sand for the driveway and paths and to use plastic. We went to look at the sand only 5 mins away and its hard, packable and weirdly has sea shells in it? I guess its dinosaur sand as this area was all under the ocean a long long time ago. He said not even weed cloth use plastic similar to how you did your pea gravel. The only thing I heard about pea gravel is its a bit rolling so elderly or like me or with bad knees can be unstable. In a small area we went with chipped gravel? I don’t know all the names but it locks together when you step on it. This gives me ideas with using cardboard and mulch for rock gardens. But I will gradually merge sand or chipped gravel paths with plastic at the perimeters leaving the large planting areas for only plants with the cardboard and mulch I don’t like hard lines in landscaping either. We have critters though being somewhat rural. Squirrels and skunks the neighbors say eat the veggies. But we have nothing yet! Will watch more of your videos to get my permanent ideas.
good luck. we're considering a move from lush suburban Baltimore to N.M. Wondered how I would cope with such drastically different gardening.
I really like your delivery. Very informative. Cool stash too
Great video! Enjoyed the list as well as the precursor to the list. And the recommended resource is an unexpected surprise!
What a wonderful garden and use of space.
I have wild strawberries all over the place that are just native plants to Arkansas! Maybe I'll augment with more from the Nursery.
Just in time for us. We are re-landscaping our front yard. We find your videos very informative. Thank you.
I live just below a mountain and my weeds blow in from surrounding woods and fields. Many groundcovers don’t survive the deer or the tough weeds here. I use Walkers Low catmint, creeping phlox and a weed....wild creeping geranium with pretty aerated leaves and tiny white flowers which grows in part shade and I got tired of trying to eliminate.
Nice choices! I feel your frustration. We live in the valley of the Blue Ridge and Deer are pretty much a regular feature in my garden Every evening. Problem is, the past few years, they have developed a taste for things that are supposed to be "deer resistant". Lol So I got tired of trying to plant against them and just started planting more instinctively. Luckily, for the most part it works!! :) I also use Scarecrows sometimes to discourage major deer browsing, I don't mind bunnies and other small critters eating some strawberries or munching on my red clover, but the Deer will take down Entire Roses and Daylilies to the ground! I don't appreciate that when they have an entire field of Wildflowers behind us, plus 60+ acres of Woods that is by No means Empty of Flora!! In case anyone is confused, the Scarecrows I'm taking about are motion sensors that release a loud sprinkle of water whenever something comes into the field of vision that you set. They work fantastic for me without harming anything. Have you tried any of the Sages or Salvias? I have proven them both tough and deer resistant around here. They aren't really groundcover, just very nice garden additions. You might consider trying some herbs interplanted with your other things. Many are tough, low growing and more importantly, Useful. Not to mention, extremely drought tolerant once established! A favorite of mine that comes in many colors and spreads beautifully is Yarrow. I find the reds and pinks spread the best, however the Wild yarrow, which is white, is a very useful addition and I grow it right in with my other plants and the Deer won't touch it! It's known for its ability to stop bleeding when dried and made into a stypic powder or great for nosebleeds when you just grab fresh leaves and create a small poultice and place in the nostril as you would cotton or a tissue. It's also known for the opposite for women when made into a tincture with alcohol or vegetable glycerine it is a serious help to balance menstrual cycles! I call it the Wonder Herb! :)
First time viewer. I read several comments and all I can say is “Ditto “! New subscriber too!
Ditto here, too!
Nice garden and list. Thanks for the tour.
Great video, lots of information, I changed my front lawn into a garden, tightly planted and works well to combat weeds and dogs.
Thanks for sharing 👍❤️😊
Soubds great. What plants did you use ??
I like vinca (creeping myrtle) because it works well in shady areas, and it has pretty violet blue flowers in May-June. Pachysandra also does well in shady areas.
Excellent ideas!!! Thanks for sharing. :-D
I can't grow Pachysandra for squat. I love it but I've not had luck with it. lol
Great to see another video from you and what a great video. We are trialing dichondra in our pathways due to the evergreen nature and how it works in the heat and cold.
Thanks for watching Joseph! Dichondra looks like a pretty cool option. I hope it works out well!
Thank you. I have been looking all over for this information and you make it easy to search through your video and find the exact info on a rewatch.
I now *plant densely* . *Liriope and mulch* have been go-tos. For nonwinter: *bulbs* for sun and *hosta* for shade. Oh, and *grass* . Grass- cultivated weed that it is - helps rest the eye like nothing else. So i aerated and re-seeded grass also.
My dog used to love to pea on one specific cucumber plant in my back yard a few years ago. That one grew like crazy that year. I think it was the Nitrogen, but also saw this on a site about it - Urine boasts a nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (N-P-K) ratio of 10:1:4, plus more modest amounts of the trace elements plants need to thrive.
I've heard of some youtube gardeners that also pee on their trees themselves at times - they'll remain nameless :-).
Passive aggressive?
I’m in a plant group and the ones that pee on their gardens are the healthiest gardens I’ve seen. I didn’t know the science behind it
Thank you for sharing this
Leptinella took over my yard. It grew into the woolly thyme and couldn’t be extricated. Eventually it would have taken over everything. I removed every bit of it along with the thyme it had grown into. Lovely, but aggressive.
Good to know!
Nice review of your plantings. That’s an unusual stonecrop (Sedum) . I’ve only ever come across the succulent ones here in UK.
I really appreciate this video as I am always research a plant that will choke out the weeds and look pretty.
Excellent information and I'm really impressed with what you've managed to grow on this site. I'd suggest you slow down the camera movement. I almost felt dizzy a few times. But your descriptions and information were spot on. I have definitely subscribed to learn more.
I’m surprised you missed Creeping Jenny. I love it and the bright yellow color in spring is great contrast in pre-bloom time
Yes, I dearly love Creeping Jenny. It's extremely hardy in my area - Zone 7A. Diane in NC
I have used creeping Jenny for years, with some success. However, be aware that it tends to begin to spread with abandon after a few years, (especially if you continue to improve your soil) and swallow Everything in it's path. It also hides weeds rather than smothering them, "eats mulch", dries out garden beds and is a B--ch to pull once well established because it just keeps returning in the same spots and spreads even more aggressively. There are definite areas where I find this beauty useful, but it is not as it seems at first blush. Should be used with care by those who have never seen it in a garden more than 3 years old!
Thank you a knowledgeable and well presented video.
We use cardboard and paper grocery bags for sheet mulch. The worms love it.
Does there card board mold after a while? I have an area I just weeded, was going to spray vinegar salt and Dawn soap to kill the weeds, and then do brown paper lawn bags over the bed, then mulch. Does that even sound doable?
Love it!!! I have just started gardening mainly pots. This is and inspiration!!! Thank you.
Congrats! You've crafted yourself a beautiful home!👍
What a lovely place. You must have many calm hours outside in the fresh air. I'm in Pittsburgh. Do you ever work as a gardener on other people's yards? Love the espaliered pear tree with three different types grafted on. I just bought microclover for a ground cover. We'll see how it goes.
First time viewer...I like you! I'm subscribed!
Great informative video! I originally bought Brass Buttons to represent ferns in an outdoor model railroad. I brought a few plants home and put them in the planter around my mailbox and they do well, with little maintenance. I also really like kinnickinick but did not bring any plants when I moved. I dug a few starts from an area where I used to work and they did really well. Thanks for reminding me of them. Regular moss is a big enough problem for me that I won't be adding any to my landscape. Way too many slugs to grow strawberries on the ground here in Western Washington (Zone 8b), for me anyway. A neighbor has Sedum Stonecrop and it is pretty invasive. I have managed to keep it out of my yard so far. I have done the Creeping Thyme and I didn't care for the way it looks when the centers die off but it is pretty nice otherwise. I have an area under my cedar trees where I can't get anything to grow, except weeds. Some native Oregon Grape sprouted up and I have been encouraging them along and they have really taken hold. Not really what I would call a ground cover but anything green under the cedars looks wonderful. I look forward to more watching more of your videos.
I like how you did that, Albo. It looks nice. I will stop throwing away my cardboard. Today, I begin saving cardboard for my ground areas.
Very informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I love how neat and organized it all looks! I’m in southwest Pennsylvania! Thank you for this video!
Thanks for sharing this information. I really appreciate this.😊 love your containers around your yard.
Your lot is beautiful. You should be proud of the work you've done.
New subscriber here. You had me at "weed control" LOL I'm going to try the plastic and pebbles in one area of my garden. I've never heard of using cardboard. What a great idea! Thanks for the lovely walk-through of your gardens.....beautiful! What an amazing idea for your pear tree! There are just so many of your ideas that I want to try. Loved the raised flower bed/high wooden planter...it's beautiful and practical. This video has been a source of inspiration and joy during this time of covid19 lock down. Thank you! I hope that you and your family stay safe and healthy.
Cardboard is used in permaculture. You'll love some videos on that and regenerative agriculture. I've started using these methods and it's working great so far even though I'm fairly new to gardening..
Thank you. I live in Northeast Ohio so zone 6. I have a stone border that surrounds my pretty brick patio. It gets covered by creeping Charlie. I pulled out one side. The creeping Charlie hasn't grown back yet, but crab grass has started to grow between the rocks so I'm looking for something that can actually grow in stone. Something pretty. I don't care for any thing of the yellow green color.
Your garden is beautiful & this video was really helpful. Thank you!
Great video thank you. I have creeping thyme and love it. It does great at crowding out weeds but does die out in the center like you said. I just cut the dead branches with scissors or shears and pull up a small healthy piece of thyme and fill in the area. It grows like a weed and smells so good. I just planted ajuga this year. Planted one small plant after it flowered I used a serrated knife and split it in four peices, replanted three of the peices. I'm hoping the small area I planted it in will be filled in by next year.
I had totally forgotten about ajuga
To Adra Bruzzese, where did you order Creeping Thyme from ??? and is it like the one "Our Teacher" has in his yard???????
@@CaptivaIsland1944I'm sorry I just saw your comment. I got my creeping thyme on qvc about 6 yrs ago. I got a flat of 50 tiny plants but I think you can plant regular culinary thyme. I've since planted oregano and it grows similiar to the thyme. My creeping thyme is supposed to have deep purple flowers but it flowers just like culinary thyme.
Al that was a great video on ground covers. I may have to come back for a refresher if a custo er ever asks about ground covers.
Looks beautiful. Nice designing with your plant selections.
I've got another one for you (my personal favorite and edible, too!): Lamium Maculatum. It's so pretty with small silvery leaves, spreads nicely even in shade, and tolerates my heavy clay soil!
Nice!
I have clay and live in the south. I will have to look into it.
Great to see you back. Please post more vids!!! Love your work ❤️❤️😊
hi! new subscriber! great video, some suggestions i've never heard of before. Looks like you are in Pittsburgh, me too!!!! Go Steelers!
Wish you a fruitful season 👍
Thanks for watching Filipe! :)
What a lovely garden!
Thanks for your very informative video. My interest is in finding low level ground covers suitable for incorporating into my g-scale garden railway. Your video has given me some great ideas for what to use!
Very nice video and I love that it was produced by a gentleman. Most guys definitely help out in the garden, but aren't so open and confident about it.
I have been gardening for about 25 years and have Designed Gardens for many. This video has Nice choices for groundcovers. Here in Virginia, Creeping Thyme/Lemon Thyme is my first Herbal choice for groundcovers. Not only is is a Fantastic smelling herb, but the Thyme Family is known to treat Cold, Flu and Respiratory Issues with great success. It is also known for being antimicrobial so I make homemade cleaners after harvesting the 4 types of Thyme I grow here. If your looking for just a great Looking groundcover that will compete with weeds and grow in quickly, plus spread to other areas, I recommend Lamium, AKA Deadnettle. It Is, however, for those who are looking to cover good sized areas as I have heard some in other states call it "invasive". It certainly is Not invasive here in the Mid-Atlantic. Just gorgeous and especially flexible working in Sun or shade and having beautiful silver and green striped/spotted or solid leaves and comes in Lavender, pink and white flowers. There is also a yellow, but that one prefers pretty deep shade.
I also enjoyed seeing the Sweet Woodruff in your video, I have surprisingly never seen that grown in gardens around here. I have been considering it myself for one of my beds and have been interested in seeing how it would look. I think it's quite Lovely! Thanks for taking the time to share your garden with us. Blessings to you.
Another great video! Your property looks very nice indeed! My main ground cover takes sun or shade, can be stepped on, goes dormant in times of drought but comes back with rain, it can withstand almost any winter 🥶, you can chop it down and it grows back, I grow it on all the pathways between my vegetable beds, it’s grass of course!
Klaus
What is it that you grow that you love so much?
1. Pachysandra/Japanese Spurge
2. Bishops Weed/Ground Elder/Aegopodium podagraria
I love both of these.
The Pachysandra loves shady areas and chokes out weeds amazingly. Always looks great, and other plant and tree debrit that falls in the yard just settles down below the leaves where you don't see it and becomes compost. Spreads easily enough ...not too fast...but not difficult to contain as the roots are relatively shallow. It's also very easy to dig up a clump and transplant to another location.
The Ground elder (I have the variagated type) also grows great in the shade but supposedly also does well in the sun. Also chokes out weeds and hides garden/tree debrit until it breaks down into compost. This one is also not too difficult to control but requires a little more attention in this regard. If ignored for long periods of time, it will likely take over the yard. I only have to dig the border once a year to keep in in check...and I either transplant what I remove or give it to friends.
Both of these can be mowed over or weed whacked if they ever get raggedy looking due to extreme temperatures (cold or heat) and will come right back looking beautiful in no time.
Both also work great around trees where it's difficult to get other things to grow.
Bishops weed is super invasive where I am - it spreads through seed and groundcover, and once established, it's impossible to get rid of
Great Garden! Thanks for the video!
Also on ground-covers make sure that you get the ph right for each type as it will grown and hold up better- some want more acidic, others more alkaline. Also the soil texture - some like the sedum prefer having some granite dust added to the soil to encourage fast drainage.
This video is in a playlist. Please reorder it as it plays from most recent first instead of playing the oldest first.
The playlist is the one named after your channel
I didn't make that playlist. Either a fellow TH-camr made it or it was randomly generated by TH-cam itself.
@@Albopepper I'm betting on TH-cam as I have seen it more than once, especially for "Let's Play" type series. One wonders what logic (speaking from a software engineer's perspective, since I am one) made them think people would want to view playlists in reverse time order. Side issue would be, did they make a reasonable list? ;) No worries. It was just a convenient way to binge-watch your fine channel.
So enjoyed your video! Very informative and loved the tour through your Dad’s yard.
Great seeing your ground covers. My favorite currently out is Kurapia since we can finally fill in a whole lawn all at once now that we produce it in sod form.
Beautiful yard! Very inspiring for sure.
Vinca and pachysandra are also nice shade covers.
I have a yard that is 100 feet deep and 60 wide. This is giving me some GREAT ideas as to how to proceeed. Thank you! I live in South New Jersey, 15 miles from the shore. Juliana
Thanks for the great video! Totally unqualified to make this suggestion but... I'll throw it out there anyway. Your hand is a bit of a distraction and forces the camera to change focus between your hand and yard. Awesome lay out!