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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING GROUNDCOVER

© Mel. White

One of the most important elements in landscaping is the use of good groundcover. It fills gaps, ties together areas of your surroundings, and varies the color and texture of the yard with something more than green grass. But groundcovers do more than simply replace lawn. They cover hard-to-fill areas with plants of a desired height, visually tie elements of your landscape design together, help build soil, and are an easy way to vary the environment of your yard without killing yourself weeding or mowing to maintain them. Their thick masses offer shelter to lizards and frogs and smaller animals -- creatures that will help reduce insect pests around your property.

Your pets will be intrigued by the small wild things that move into this welcoming habitat, but if you've chosen a nice thick groundcover for your site, Great Fuzzy Hunter won't be able to catch all those intriguing little things that are rustling through the foliage. This is a fairly important factor to consider if your Great Fuzzy Hunter is the sort who has the disconcerting habit of distributing bugs and lizard parts all over your living room.

But groundcover provides more than just wildlife habitat. Some groundcovers act as a living mulch, protecting the soil beneath them from sun and hard rain, slowing the rate of evaporation in your flower beds, and insulating companion plants -- a sort of living blanket for bulbs, shrubs, and perennials. Groundcovers can choke out weeds and grass as well, saving you a lot of labor maintaining your yard.

"Groundcover" is a horticultural term, not a scientific term. In a very general way it means a low-lying (less than 2 feet (60 cm) tall) plant that does a very enthusiastic job of spreading over its territory. Groundcovers vary from area to area and a plant that may spread rapidly in one climate may struggle to survive in another climate. Both annuals and perennials can be used as groundcover.

PICKING YOUR PLANTS

Any groundcover needs to be chosen with care. You'll want something that grows rapidly in your area -- but isn't so enthusiastic that it begins a fulll-scale invasion. Creeping veronica is a charming little plant -- in the right area. However, it (like the mints) has an unpleasant habit of sneaking out of wherever you planted it and trying to take over the lawn and garden. Stick with plants that know the meaning of 'stop!' and 'border' and 'stay off the grass!'.

Before you rush out and buy flats of verbenas, periwinkles, chamomiles, pinks, poppies, or cinquefoil you need to take a good look at the

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