Ground cover advice required!

[StoatOfManyColours]

I have a foliage garden, anything lovely and leafy goes in. Plants are bamboo, fatsia, heuchera, ferns, brunnera, climbing hydrangea etc etc.

I made the garden from scratch a couple of years ago and there are still lots of empty spaces where I either don’t have enough plants, or those that are there haven’t filled out yet.

I’m SICK of weeding, and am thinking of planting some galloping ground cover like mind your own business or pachysandra terminalis, in the hope of covering every last inch of soil.

Is this a good idea, or will my irises never flower again, and my lawn be eaten by rampaging ground cover?

I like the look of mind your own business when it’s cascading down the side of pots etc, but I’m not sure whether a foliage garden looks better with bark between the plants.

I’m now a bit puzzled stoat. You are looking for rampant ground cover in a leafy garden growing ferns, foxgloves, bamboo and brunnera, but you’re worried about poor sandy soil and cold coastal winds? Is it for the same or different part of the garden?

Sorry, should have been clearer. The ferns and brunnera are mostly in a damper bit (small garden but bearing the legacy of brownfield site new build backfill, so some areas are heavy clay and 10 feet away it's sandy), but cope with the sun fine. The bamboo are in large pots, and seem pretty resistant to the wind, provided I keep them well watered and fed.

We brought in top soil for the lawn when we sowed it about 18 months ago.

So you’re looking for low-growing spreading plants for poor soil in an exposed coastal site??

What about oregano or marjoram? Tough as oldboots, happy in light and heavy soil (at least ime), spreads quickly and smells good!

Yes Trethew, but ideally the same plant could be grown in the damper, heavier soil too so it looks more unified.

Those are interesting thoughts, Sergeant, I hadn't thought about herbs.

I think so far the Muehlenbeckia is my favourite. I think I'm going to try one and hope that as it's ground cover it will be sheltered a bit from the wind by what's growing above it.

First choices would be:
Ajuga Chocolate Chip - easy, fast and always looks tidy
Saxifraga umbrosa
Alchemilla mollis
Persicaria affinis Darjeeling Red

Could also try:
Erigeron karvinskianus - Mexican fleabane, pretty and seeds freely
Erigeron glaucus
As suggested above, herbs: marjoram, thymes in variety, Corsican mint,
Salvia officinalis - culinary sage
Osteospermum - find hardy form
Persicaria vaccinifolia
Leptinella squalida

I love Mexican fleabane, think it would be a lot happier in the dry, sandy soil than the damp. I’ve seen it growing pretty close to the coast too. It has been my only success in hanging baskets this year as it’s relatively drought tolerant

Ajuga has not thrived in my beds (think it got shaded out by bigger plants) but is thriving in my lawn! It’s a bit of a spreader but that’s what you want, by the sound of it. It tolerates my heavy, wet clay.

I love periwinkles - the 'lesser' ones are good, and there's a variagated one too, as well as different colour flowers. But avoid the large one as that's a real thug!

Ooh! We may have a winner! I'm going with Leptinella Squalida. No flowers, carpet-like, looks at home in a foliagey-tropical type world. Could be the one...

I have Leptinella ,it is teeny tiny teeny ,good between paving stones and cracks .Mine is generally brown ish rather than green .

mistle thanks for your mention of lesser periwinkle .Ive never considered that but have some tricky areas that it might be good for .And I'm rather fond of plants that some consider too rampant - lamium ,forget me knot - because they grow so well !

Where did you get your leptinella? Can’t find any online to deliver here without huuuuuge delivery costs.

I got mine from www.plantsforsmallgardens.co.uk/search.asp?plant=L

but it happens to also be sold in a garden shop near me in SE London .

Thanks. Unfortunately there’s a £26 delivery charge to where I live. Bugger!

Not sure where you are ,NI ??

Have a look on ebay ?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leptinella-Squalida-Platts-Black-9cm-Pot-Alpine-Perennial-Groundcover-Plant/163118106963?hash=item25fa98c953%3Ag%3Av88AAOSw8b1aTTyJ&_sacat=19617&_nkw=lepintella+squalida&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=m570.l1313#shpCntId

Yes, I’m afraid so. Postage to here is a nightmare.

Would never think to look at eBay, thanks! (Although just to be annoying, I want the green one, not Platt’s Black )

It needs to be in good strong sun to be fully black

I'm not sure that there is a green one and another type that is black .

I think there's only one type which is starts off green but gets darker with sun .

Is that correct @Trethew ?

Ah, the ones i’ve seen with dark foliage have been called Platts Black, so I presumed the others were a non-variant (don’t know the science!).

There are several varieties of Leptinella around. The ordinary L squalida is green with a bit of a bronze hue, but doesn’t get dark. In my experience Platts Black is distinctly different in colour. The Beth Chattp gardens used to sell both varieties but I haven’t checked if that is still the case. It is sometimes sold under its synonym Cotula. It does have flowers too, tiny yellow bobbles, but they are few and not long lasting

Chatto

Yep, Trethew, that's the one I want.

Interesting ! I'd like a green one .

There's this one - 3 plants for 9 eoros ,delivery 20 euros .
www.ebay.de/itm/3-x-Cotula-Leptinella-squalida-Fiederpolster-Bodendecker-3-29-pro-St/262967474373?hash=item3d3a1538c5:g:xooAAOSwcF1bJ6VI#shpCntId

or 10 for 30 euros with same shipping
www.ebay.de/itm/10-x-Cotula-Leptinella-squalida-Fiederpolster-Bodendecker-2-99-pro-St/262967474440?hash=item3d3a153908:g:xooAAOSwcF1bJ6VI

I have an organic wild life friendly garden and I use ivy as ground cover, you can get the variegated type which adds interest, it's brilliant, provides food for the birds and cover for the hedgehogs. It also keeps the ground from drying out easily.

It's in the beds with large flowers, like phlox, and shrubby hydrangeas It keeps down most of the weeds,, is easily controlled by mowing round the beds and pulling up where I don't want it.

Is the ivy really not invasive ppeat ?

I have lots of wild dark green ivy round my garden ( from untended plots ) and it grows at the speed of light . And sucks all the moisture out of the soil .

Maybe the variegated kind is less thuggish ?