{"id":4049,"date":"2023-02-19T11:14:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T11:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/?p=4049"},"modified":"2023-03-02T18:55:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T18:55:55","slug":"perennials-ground-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/perennials-ground-cover\/","title":{"rendered":"Perennials for Ground Cover"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"827219ce0a87fa193c09e84c4c9a0f12\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:20px 0 20px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- MOINSBD Link Top -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4387862990858706\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"6762903103\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"link\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<h4><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4201 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Convallaria-502-x-502.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"502\" height=\"502\" \/>CHOOSING THE RIGHT PLANT FOR THE JOB<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>One of the great things about Jeepers Creepers\u00ae is that they offer solutions to what many gardeners perceive as problem areas.\u00a0 To help you find the right plant, we&#8217;ve created an amazing search feature on our sister site:\u00a0 <a title=\"Jeepers Creepers \" href=\"http:\/\/www.jeeperscreepers.info\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.jeeperscreepers.info\/<\/a> that can be used in a number of different ways.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FOOT TRAFFIC:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you plan to walk on your Jeepers Creepers\u00ae plants, choose your varieties based on the required <strong>traffic tolerance<\/strong>.\u00a0 We recommend that plants not be walked on until established, or whenever the soil is soggy wet.\u00a0 Caution!\u00a0\u00a0 Plants growing between paving stones or as a lawn substitute can present a <strong>hazard for tripping or skidding<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>No foot traffic:<\/strong>\u00a0 Plants are either too tall to walk on, or too delicate to withstand it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Light:<\/strong>\u00a0 [1 shoe]\u00a0 Walking directly on these once or twice a week will not cause serious damage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Moderate:<\/strong>\u00a0 [3 shoes]\u00a0 Withstands being walked on once a day or so, generally fine between paving stones.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Heavy:<\/strong>\u00a0 [5 shoes]\u00a0 Nearly as durable as a regular lawn.\u00a0 Low mat habit allows for easy travel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>KNOW YOUR LIGHT CONDITIONS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Full Sun:<\/strong>\u00a0 Think full, all day sun, with at most only a few hours of shade in the early morning or late afternoon.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Part Shade:<\/strong>\u00a0 Direct sun hits the area for only about half the day.\u00a0 Morning sun followed by afternoon shade, or vice versa.\u00a0 This also includes dappled shade caused by a tall canopy of small-leaved deciduous trees, giving filtered light with occasionally beams of direct light.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Full Shade:<\/strong>\u00a0 A common condition under large-leaved trees, evergreens or on the north side of buildings.\u00a0 Note that under dense evergreens and large deciduous trees conditions of extreme dry shade can make it difficult to grow anything without regular deep, weekly watering all season long.\u00a0 See below about &#8220;Extreme dry shade&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>SOIL MOISURE CONDITIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This varies widely from region to region and from one year to the next.\u00a0 The most critical thing is knowing the conditions during the heat of summer.\u00a0 If your soil generally dries out in July and August and you can&#8217;t supply extra water, choose <strong>drought-tolerant<\/strong> selections.\u00a0 If you can supply deep regular weekly watering during dry spells, select plants for normal (average) moisture conditions.\u00a0 If the area remains constantly moist through the growing season, select moisture-loving varieties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Extreme dry shade<\/strong><br \/>\nGrowing anything in the extreme conditions of dry shade under shallow-rooted large trees (i.e. maples, willows, beech, but also pines, spruce, cedars and others) is difficult.\u00a0 A tiny little groundcover finds it very hard to compete with the thirsty root system of a huge tree.\u00a0 Look for plants that are rated as both drought tolerant <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and<\/span> suitable for partial or full shade.<\/p>\n<p>Plants rated for average to moist conditions will grow fine if you are willing to commit to watering them weekly throughout the growing season.\u00a0 If you go away for extended periods during the summer then a mulch of pea gravel, bark mulch or other decorative material might be a better choice for those extremely dry and shady parts of the garden.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2375\" style=\"width: 320px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2375\" class=\" wp-image-2375 \" title=\"Vinca-minor-JC-wm\" src=\"http:\/\/staging13.do180.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Vinca-minor-JC-wm.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" height=\"310\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2375\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Periwinkle (Vinca minor)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>If a slightly taller plant might work in dry shade, consider using English Ivy (<em>Hedera helix<\/em>), Creeping Lamium (<em>Lamium maculatum<\/em>), False Lamium (<em>Lamiastrum galeobdolon<\/em>), Japanese Spurge (<em>Pachysandra terminalis<\/em>), Periwinkle (<em>Vinca minor<\/em>), Barrenwort (<em>Epimedium<\/em>) or Bigroot Cranesbill (<em>Geranium macrorrhizum<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p><strong>GROWING Jeepers Creepers\u00ae IN THE SOUTH:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the hot &amp; humid Zone 7 to 9 regions of the Southern USA, many of the plants grown successfully further north are just not happy.\u00a0 Southerners should consult local reference books on perennials and groundcovers to find which are recommended for your area.\u00a0 In general, many alpine plants native to high mountain regions will hate humid summer weather.\u00a0 Also, plants with hairy or fuzzy leaves can rot from all of that summer rain and humidity, especially when the nights are warm.<\/p>\n<p title=\"Jeepers Creepers\">For more information on Jeepers Creepers\u00ae, our &#8216;Down Low and Fun to Grow&#8217; groundcovers, visit <a title=\"Jeepers Creepers\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jeeperscreepers.info\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.jeeperscreepers.info\/\u00a0<\/a> &#8230;<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHOOSING THE RIGHT PLANT FOR THE JOB One of the great things about Jeepers Creepers\u00ae is that they offer solutions to what many gardeners perceive as problem areas.\u00a0 To help you find the right plant, we&#8217;ve created an amazing search feature on our sister site:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.jeeperscreepers.info\/ that can be used in a number of different [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-perennials-101","category-perennials-for-special-purposes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4049"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4202,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4049\/revisions\/4202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}