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March 22, 2009
Ground cover for shady backyard
With spring finally approaching, I'm looking for a low-maintenence grass alternative for a shady brownstone backyard. Any thoughts, advice, suggestions for local sources much appreciated.
Comments
wintergreen!
Posted by: vanburenproud at March 22, 2009 2:33 PM
Is it really a ground cover that you want? Is your shade dry or wet? There are so many beautiful, varied and variegated options for plants that love shade. Though not a ground cover, one of the most varied and low-maintenance flowering shade plants is Hosta. Astilbe could be another possibility. Depending on your garden, Woodland Phlox or Wild Ginger are beautiful ground covers. You'll find endless lists of shade perennials if you search "shade plants" or "plant catalog shade perennials." Before deciding what to plant, I recommend looking at the following:
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's publication, Woodland Gardens: Shade Gets Chic
The Natural Shade Garden, by Ken Druse
http://www.shadegarden.net/
http://www.bhwp.org/native/native_plant_info_sheets/Native_Perennials_for_Shade.pdf
http://www.portlandnursery.com/docs/pdfs/Shade_Dry_and_Wet_Areas.pdf
If you're new to gardening, I definitely recommend purchasing in person (rather than by mail). The BBG plant sale is scheduled for May 6-7. Bowman's Preserve plant sale is scheduled for May 8-10. Hicks Nurseries in Westbury, LI, usually has
a good shade selection.
Posted by: vinca at March 22, 2009 3:38 PM
Vinca gives great advice. I second going to Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Plant Sale. They will give you FREE expert advice and you can see all your choices laid out in front of you. Prices are great, and it's for a wonderful cause:)
Posted by: parkslopemom at March 22, 2009 3:53 PM
the girls at the gowanus nursery in redhook are a great resource....you should look into the various sedums, moss, vinca is way nicer as a ground cover than as a trailer,and any of the plain or variegated ivies are nice.. just decide where you want to walk, and in the places that you do not, avoid grass, which is way too suburban for my taste..
http://www.gowanusnursery.com/
Posted by: eman1234 at March 22, 2009 6:54 PM
I planted something called "creeping Jenny" which is a hearty little flowering plant that really took over the garden in s pretty manner. astilbe and phlox are great too -so are hydrangea plants if your garden gets a little sunlight during the day - that plant is hearty and blooms huge beautiuflly colored blossoms
Posted by: gemini10 at March 22, 2009 8:12 PM
Thank you to all! My original post was low on specifics, i realize. For a brownstone yard, it's rather large--a lot of space to cover, with a stone path around the perimeter. I want something low-lying and easy to maintain, as I travel a lot and don't plan on ever buying a mower, if I can help it. My friends have kids, and I want something that won't get patchy if children occasionally step on it. I will look into some of the plants mentioned above, and will check out the gowanus nursery and bbg publication--I'm too impatient to wait until May to tackle this, I think. Thanks once more!
Posted by: hillster at March 23, 2009 9:31 AM
Check out stepables.com.
Posted by: ownhs at March 23, 2009 11:47 AM
You would be wise to wait until at least April 15, which is the frost date in this area. Planting small plants before that date may result in transplant shock as the nights are still too chilly for plants that were probably grown in a greenhouse or down south. Nurseries at this point really don't have a lot of stock in yet to choose from, either.
I agree with eman and vinca- those nurseries are nice. If you have a car or a friend with one, check out these:
Tony's in Westchester (Scarsdale, I think). Large selection, plants in good shape.
Sprainbrook: http://www.sprainbrook.com/ Large selection. Plant stock kept in excellent shape. Some unusual and difficult to find things.
Martin Viette : http://www.martinviette.com/ Some real specialty items here. Helpful staff. Not cheap but they often have things I don't see elsewhere.
As far as the ground cover as lawn, you can do it but you really can't have kids or dogs running back and forth on it often or before it's really established. It does tend to work out better if you have stepping stones or a clear path to take the bulk of the foot traffic. Most of the "stepable" ground covers will not hold up as well as grass because they don't have roots that form that tenacious mat like grass does so having kids running on it and serious back and forth foot traffic would have to be a relatively occasional thing.
Posted by: kensington gal at March 23, 2009 8:13 PM
perhaps what you want is fake turf make of postconsumer recycled product. before you react vehemently I urge you to read up on it, it's actually come a long way.
Posted by: eamus_catuli at March 24, 2009 3:35 PM
I think ferns are amazing and totally under used.
Posted by: Argyle Road at March 24, 2009 3:52 PM
Moss! check out http://www.mossacres.com/ and there was a pretty interesting article about moss in the nytimes about a year ago worth trying to find.
Posted by: 11216 at March 24, 2009 4:14 PM
Is there a type of ground cover that likes full sun?
Posted by: bmfesq at March 24, 2009 4:16 PM
I have a north-facing shady back garden and was lucky enough to have glechoma hederacea naturally occurring. I have given over the lawn area to it. It has small dark green leaves about the size of a quarter, is fragrant, can be mowed like a lawn but if left alone tops out at about 4 inches. It has a history of medicinal uses and is available from several mail order nurseries.
Posted by: hancockone at March 24, 2009 9:11 PM
if you are willing to go the mail order route, a really interesting nursery is sunshine farm in west virginia...
http://www.sunfarm.com/
Posted by: eman1234 at March 24, 2009 9:16 PM
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