GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 9:54:54 GMT -5
It's tiiiiiimmmmmmmeeeee!!!
Green shoots are poking out of the ground everywhere and I need to get my butt in gear and do a spring clean-up and make some changes. I am certain I am not alone, so let's share our collective wisdom with each other.
Me: Long story short, but my neighbor cut a bunch of trees between our properties down to expand his backyard. That was well within his right to do so, but it changed my backyard from a shaded oasis full of shade plants to a full-sun-all-day-long environment. Needless to say, the shade plants are dying off and weeds and volunteers are taking over.
Can anyone recommend a ground cover that thrives in full sun?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Mar 17, 2016 10:04:46 GMT -5
how much ground cover are we talking? like flower beds, or greens? I used salvia plants in my back patio boxes (full sun, all day) in my last place. my parents have those huge green plants that have the purple buds you can pop in the spring. the name is totally escaping me right now, if someone else says it I will know. ETA: we are in zone 6 as far as gardening goes. this might help more - full sun perennials zone 6
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Mar 17, 2016 10:09:15 GMT -5
I love the golden euonymous. I think they generally go 5ft by 5ft but I can easily keep them about 3ft high myself and let them spread to the full extent in width. IMO they look good a little "wild", so they don't have to be trimmed perfectly to look cute.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Mar 17, 2016 10:09:55 GMT -5
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 10:13:38 GMT -5
how much ground cover are we talking? like flower beds, or greens? I used salvia plants in my back patio boxes (full sun, all day) in my last place. my parents have those huge green plants that have the purple buds you can pop in the spring. the name is totally escaping me right now, if someone else says it I will know. ETA: we are in zone 6 as far as gardening goes. this might help more - full sun perennials zone 6Hostas. Popping the buds is the best part. I need to cover a rear hillside. The current ground cover (I want to say it's either pachysandra or English ivy) is not going to survive another summer back there -- it is already thinned out that there are large patches of wild grass and weeds. I don't want a mudslide.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Mar 17, 2016 10:15:34 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2016 10:16:20 GMT -5
Wanted to put broccoli in last week, but the greenhouse was closed. Glad I didn't. While they don't mind some cold, the pea sized hail we got last night would probably have done them in!
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 10:18:19 GMT -5
I was considering eunonymous, but want something closer to the ground. I have quite a few ornamental trees and shrubs that give height to the backyard (some are dying in the full sun and some are growing out of control -- need to sort through those, too.). I hope my neighbor is enjoying his new backyard (and MBR addition).
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 10:22:58 GMT -5
I googled images of them, and you're right, they are interesting. I *thought* I wanted something "ivy-ish", but a nice patch of these bluey-purple spikes would be nice, too. And full sun keeps the spread under control and they're "trainable"! Hmmm...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2016 10:26:28 GMT -5
I don't usually plant my garden until Memorial Day weekend. I've never had much luck starting earlier with the cold, wet ground (we have heavy clay soil). I'll have to get out there before that and till several times though and this year I'm going to need a fence. The dog has been gone for a year and a half and the rabbits have taken over. I couldn't figure out why the corn wasn't coming up anymore and realized they're eating it off as soon as it sprouts. They killed off my apple trees this winter just as they were about ready to start bearing fruit.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Mar 17, 2016 10:26:50 GMT -5
yes! hostas!! my parents have them as "fences" along one side of their yard. we actually transplanted some to the townhouse to cover up the empty space once I took out the nasty rocks the board had put in instead of mulch.
and be careful with the euonymous. there was one building in the complex where the unit owners bought and planted for their building only, and it became invasive. we actually had to remove it before it damaged trees in the same areas.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 10:36:05 GMT -5
I don't usually plant my garden until Memorial Day weekend. I've never had much luck starting earlier with the cold, wet ground (we have heavy clay soil). I'll have to get out there before that and till several times though and this year I'm going to need a fence. The dog has been gone for a year and a half and the rabbits have taken over. I couldn't figure out why the corn wasn't coming up anymore and realized they're eating it off as soon as it sprouts. They killed off my apple trees this winter just as they were about ready to start bearing fruit. Yup, we don't plant until Memorial Day, either. But, I NEED to clean the yard (we moved back at the beginning of May last year and scrambled to do only basic cleaning before ODS's high school graduation in June). Last summer was unusually hot and dry and my town usually prohibits outside watering from July 1 until the Fall, so my shade-loving plants are not only withering in the sun but also from the lack of moisture = tons more of dead stuff to pull this Spring. As for rabbits, I had an absolutely beautiful Japanese maple on the hill that the rabbits "girdled" two winters ago and killed. I was so pissed.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 10:37:19 GMT -5
Forgot to add, and I need to PLAN for what I am going to plant this Spring.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Mar 17, 2016 10:39:28 GMT -5
My recommendation for a quick-spreading, low-maintenance ground cover is sedum. I don't know the scientific name (there are a lot of varieties), but ours looks like this: It is IMPOSSIBLE to kill (it has very little root structure so you can just kind of plop it on the ground and it will grow) and we went from a small 3"x3" plant my boss gave me to covering probably a 20'x20' section of hillside over the course of 5 years. Need to find out if DD's daycare is open on Good Friday... if it is, that is gonna be my day to get the garden in order. Most of our plants are perennials but we need more mulch and a good weeding.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2016 10:42:41 GMT -5
As for rabbits, I had an absolutely beautiful Japanese maple on the hill that the rabbits "girdled" two winters ago and killed. I was so pissed. Yep. That's what they did to my apple trees. I was sitting in the sun porch looking out over the back yard (under heavy snow cover) and was trying to figure out why the bottoms of the apple trees looked so funny at the base. Went out to check and my heart just sunk. Nearly 6 years of babying these things along and they were completely stripped of bark all the way around at the base. Then I freaked and checked all the other trees on the property. I've planted at least 60 in the past 15 years. Nothing but the apple trees were damaged.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 10:48:38 GMT -5
I like sedum -- especially "hens and chicks".
As I said earlier, I have an ivy-type ground cover now. For some reason, my brain is focused on replacing it with another ivy, but, I'm just now realizing that, really, a hillside of only ivy is kind of boring. Maybe I should do a variety --some full sun ivy, some euonymous, some sedum, some ajuga. Now that I think about it, I mainly just want covers that stay low to the ground -- ivy or not -- so the butterfly bushes and cypress pines and hollies and dogwoods and other-stuff-I-don't-know-the-name-of can shine.
Daylillies: I forgot to mention that I have a set of fieldstone steps up to a stone patio at the top of the hill and the railing along the stairs is lined with daylillies. They are really beautiful when they are in bloom. I need to give them a little attention, though, their numbers seem down...
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 10:50:13 GMT -5
chiver78: No offense (although I know this is not how your screenname is pronounced, I always read it this way, LOL): I am getting overrun with garlic chives. I need to get out there and pull about a zillion.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Mar 17, 2016 10:56:15 GMT -5
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Mar 17, 2016 10:58:04 GMT -5
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Mar 17, 2016 11:10:34 GMT -5
Yes and the snow is even more depressing than Downton Abbey ending. What is happening here? I thought we were DONE!
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Mar 17, 2016 11:15:21 GMT -5
Do you have the Stella D'oro lilies or the tall orange ones?
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 11:18:38 GMT -5
I'm calling the meteorologists' bluff. Although, I have seen heavy snow in May... Not to worry, I'm not planting, yet, although peas could take the snow. I am starting to PLAN. I need to put a schedule of work and planting together figure out what I am going to plant so that when I pull stuff out, I'm not left with large patches of dirt that would simply slide down into the flat area of my backyard in a heavy rain. I'm also facing YDS's high school graduation in June. Need to get the place spiffy for that. People gave me a pass last year for ODS's graduation. They won't give me a pass 2 years in a row.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Mar 17, 2016 11:20:44 GMT -5
sorry, ladies....it's my fault. my roommate and I brought the snowblower down to the basement last weekend.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Mar 17, 2016 11:21:37 GMT -5
Oohs! Those are beautiful! Mine never grow that full!
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 17, 2016 11:24:43 GMT -5
Do you have the Stella D'oro lilies or the tall orange ones? I have the orange tiger lillies. But, I like these yellow ones...love that they are dwarf... (GRG adds them to her list.)
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Mar 17, 2016 11:25:25 GMT -5
sorry, ladies....it's my fault. my roommate and I brought the snowblower down to the basement last weekend. yeah I got cocky and put out my spring wreath
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Mar 17, 2016 11:26:31 GMT -5
The Stella D'oro are really pretty and they stay in bunches like that, they don't spread at much as the tiger lilies. I have both, but I like the Stellas better.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Mar 17, 2016 11:35:06 GMT -5
My husband put snowblower away too.
Oh and those yellow flowers are in every.single.yard around here. When we first moved here I thought that there was one gardener doing everyone's houses in Northern MA, Southern NH
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Mar 17, 2016 11:36:11 GMT -5
Do you have the Stella D'oro lilies or the tall orange ones? I have the orange tiger lillies. But, I like these yellow ones...love that they are dwarf... (GRG adds them to her list.) I have purply, pink, dark red, and white lillies. The only thing I don't have, are tigers, actually.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Mar 17, 2016 11:38:44 GMT -5
I'm also facing YDS's high school graduation in June. Need to get the place spiffy for that. People gave me a pass last year for ODS's graduation. They won't give me a pass 2 years in a row. That's why I've been out like a mad person the past few weeks. We're doing a thing for DD1's First Holy Communion pretty soon. It might be nice enough for our guests to be outside. So, I'd like to tidy up as much as possible. ETA: It's only supposed to be in the lower 40's this weekend. Blergh. I'll have to move fast and wear lots of layers.
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