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Tough Groundcovers
Last week I promised we'd start talking about plants for the dry, rooty conditions found directly under trees. We'll start with plants that will cover ground with no real soil preparation or amendment, and which, once established require virtually no care and little supplemental watering. Of course, you'll have to weed and water the first season or two until they fill in, but mulch will help reduce that workload. For fast cover, figure on planting on six-inch (15.24 cm) centers. You can plant farther apart to save on plants, but it will take a bit longer for them to fill in.
Pachysandra terminalis is the workhorse of tough groundcovers for shade. It will grow in the dark. It will smother virtually all weeds. The only unwanted plants able to penetrate the tangled mass of roots and stems in my USDA zone 7 garden are black walnuts, Virginia Creeper and wild grapes - and the occasional bird-sown poison ivy. While not tremendously exciting, even in bloom, it provides a soothing dark green backdrop for other plants the year around. It's come through our hardest winters unscathed.
Although not a good substitute for grass in traffic areas, since it gets eight or ten inches (20.32 - 25.40cm) tall and walking on it mashes it down, it's perfect for covering ground under trees and shrubs. Spring bulbs, like daffodils and Galanthus will come up through it, and it hides dying bulb foliage pretty well. Christmas Ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides) grow through it with no problem as does hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), and it doesn't seem to mind at all. Note that these ferns will only do well with additional water during dry spells.
Pachysandra is not, however, a good solution for gardens with naturally alkaline soil, which will cause it to develop a sickly yellowish-green color - as will too much summer sun. This one really wants shade. It's also not for the far north, being rated hardy only to USDA zone 5. Pachysandra procumbens (Allegheny Spurge) is rated to zone 4, but is, I understand (I haven't grown this one) a clump former rather than a spreader and will be deciduous in the northern part of its range.
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