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In a gardener’s perfect world there would be no such thing as a difficult landscape area. Our property would be perfectly level with the exact mix of sun and shade to execute our grand gardening plans. Get real! In reality, we have to deal with heavily shaded areas, poor soil, and steep terrain when planning our landscapes. Planting ground cover is a terrific way to deal with problem areas and its wide coverage will work to hide a multitude of sins.
Hilly or steep sections of your property can be difficult to maintain. They require some type of plants to prevent soil erosion. However, mowing a hillside can be a tricky, dangerous chore. In lieu of grass, consider planting ground cover. Select the type of ground cover to use based on the amount of sun or shade the area receives. Most ground covers have shallow root systems which form a dense mat a few inches underground. This mat keeps the soil in place and prevents erosion. Once established, your ground cover will require little or no maintenance. If it progresses beyond its designated area, cut it back using a weed whacker or pruning shears.
You can also use a border or edging to keep the ground cover from spreading, although these work better on level ground. For example, borders are useful when planting ground cover in an area of your property where grass refuses to grow. Many large trees provide heavy shade canopies and gobble up all the moisture and nutrients from the soil, making it a difficult growing area. There are a number of shade loving ground covers that are also drought tolerant that will thrive in this difficult to plant area. Use borders to keep the ground cover from invading your lawn.
Finally, ground cover is an excellent way to tie in the various components of your flower beds to create a unified, harmonious effect. Too often, plants get set out in neat soldierly rows with plenty of space in between to allow the plants to grow and spread. Unfortunately, the bed ends up looking like something you would see at the local gas station’s parking lot. For a more natural effect, try planting ground cover in between your landscape plants to tie the whole plan together. There are many types of flowering ground cover that will fit right in with your other flowers and provide a continuous flow through the garden bed or landscape area.
Ground covers are the gardener’s friend. They provide soil containment, cover areas where grass won’t grow, and bring continuity to pull your landscaped areas together. Ground covers can be selected for sun or shade, flowering or evergreen, moisture loving or drought tolerant. They are multi-dimensional and make the gardener’s imperfect world a little easier to manage.
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Author Bio Box: Patricia Wainwright
Get all the facts about Landscape Gardening and gardening articles at GreenThumbArticles.com!
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