Lawn Maintenance Solutions for Creaky Gardeners
Groundcover is also the ideal solution for areas where you have to coax and wheedle in order to get the lawn to grow at all - and it is an absolute necessity in areas that are difficult to mow. Groundcovers don't need mowing. Good ones need very ask very little from you. And the mowing that you do anyway is sufficient to keep those groundcovers from overtaking areas where you don't want them.
Sweet Woodruff
My favorite groundcover for shade is Galium odoratum - sweet woodruff. It stays green all year, and in spring is covered with starry, magical looking white flowers. When dried, it gives off the aroma of vanilla. The Germans use it as an essential ingredient in May Wine. Plus - it has a nice texture, and is quite vigorous in shade - even (despite what the books say) in dry shade. It gets shy in the sun, though - which makes it perfect for shady areas where grass is hard to grow. The grass can flourish until it gets too dark for it - and the woodruff will flourish until things get too bright. Perfect companions! Woodruff only gets about 4-6 inches high and tolerates light foot traffic. It grows vigorously, but I wouldn't call it invasive - it is quite easy to pull out if you decide it has overstepped its bounds.
Hostas
Hostas also qualify as shady groundcovers - and I can think of few plants as easy to maintain as hostas. Oh, slugs will nibble the leaves, to be sure - but you can learn to love that lacy texture. Or you can simply restrict yourself to hostas with thick, waxy leaves. Slugs are lazy, and won't bother things that they really have to work at chewing.
They come in all sizes and shapes, and a surprising variety of colors, from yellow and gold through chartreuse, every imaginable shade of green, and even blue - and in variegations that include many of the above colors. They have leaves in varying shapes, too, from heart-shaped to round to oval to lance-like. They aren't too fussy about where they grow - although all but the gold ones can suffer sunburn if planted in too bright a spot. And they never complain if you don't get around to dividing them. With hostas you can achieve any look you want, from a fine textures one to something
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