I don't have any pics to post right now of the area but I can get a couple tomorrow and post them tomorrow evening.
This area is a fairly steep bank.. beside our horse riding arena. It isn't too steep for hubby to mow with a push mower.. but he just hates hassling with it.. and I don't blame him.
I want something EASY.. and something that spreads fairly large.. as it is a decent sized area and I don't want to go broke buying plants for it.
I don't care if it is low growing or a bit taller. Something that blooms might be nice, but it wouldn't have to... but it needs to be prolific all summer.. and drought resistant would be great, so I don't have to add yet another spot to water.. and obviously a perennial is a must.. I don't want to replant again next year.. lol
- bishop weed as a ground, (fast growing green white leaves) This is what it looks like around my hostas. It is aggressive I have to pull it up every year but I like it as a ground cover. CLICK TO ENLARGE
- bushes, Forsythia bush, rose of sharon, This is a rose of Sharon. You know what a Forsythia looks like it will give you your spring blooms. I have this color ROS white and pink. CLICK TO ENLARGE
-in between I planted daylilies. This Daylily is another agressive grower I do not know the name. CLICK TO ENLARGE
The hill is always in bloom with something and all are fast spreaders.
This summer I am digging up a lot of things to move with me. If you want any of these let me know this summer. You will have to remind me because I will forget with the move and everything.
Those are pretty, Cinta. I live on a flattened place on the side of a mountain. My hills are too steep to mow. More like cliffs. I plant things on top to drape down as much as possible. I also tuck Just about anything into the cliff faces that I can. Iris' are a favorite for that.
~Tina
Drama Free Zone. What every gardener loves the most, Begins and ends in rich compost. (Tina)
Thank you very much! I like the bishop weed.. it is pretty. I wonder if it is expensive.. I will have to research it a bit.
I don't think I want to go with Forsythia and rose of Sharon.. don't they get pretty big? I have one Forsythia that limps along every year.. lol I should probably figure out why it isn't doing so well and do something to help it. I digress..
I never knew Day lilies and Irises were aggressive.. at all! I thought they were more delicate. Hmm..
I had also considered Strawberry Lipstick plants.. they are pretty.. but I am not sure how they would do there.. I haven't researched them ... just know that they are pretty. lol
Anyone with any more suggestions, please keep adding them. Thanks!
I have Bishop's weed, the variagated variety....it is the most invasive thing I have ever seen. DH bought me three plants when I first started gardening and had no clue....it's been 10 years and I am still pulling it out by the handfuls...certainly a great plant if you plant it as a hillcover, it chokes out grass.
~~Tam~ You can bury all your troubles by digging in the dirt.
That sounds just about perfect!! lol We won't have to pull it out.. if it starts moving out into the yard, he will just mow it.
One concern I do have though.. I wonder if it is poisonous to horses. This area that I am talking about borders our fence line and our arena. I will have to check on that and if I can't find any information, maybe our Extension office might know.
Ok, from what I could gather so far, it isn't poisonous to horses, but in RARE cases can cause Photosensitivity in them. So I think I would be ok.. I doubt they would even eat it.. but I didn't want to plant something highly fatal within their reach..
FYI...All daylilies and Iris are not aggressive. There are new hybrids that will limp along like your Forsythia. The two I posted are old and they are not the new hybrids that have been breed recently.
I do not know others experience but I have to baby all my new daylilies and iris. They are usually fancier and take and require more attention and still they do not spread as fast as the historic varieties.
enrique has a good idea, you could plant melons and such there.
Hmm.. I considered it.. but I think I would rather grow something that is going to choke out the grass there.. and grass just grows up with the melons.. and it still looks horrible.. but thanks!!
And Loz, I am not familiar with the Seedum you suggested.. I will have to look it up.. I would really like something drought tolerant.. so I don't have to worry so much about it. Ya know??
Sedum is great.....a perennial that is very hardy......I don't have any red creeping sedum but I have a lot of the tall sedums..........I barely have to water them at all.
The red sedum is very pretty!! I wonder what I could mix in with it to make it more interesting.. it says the sedum doesn't bloom til late summer.. so maybe something earlier blooming.. hmm.. even the bishops weed that cinta has would look cool with it.. I wonder if they would try to kill each other off..
I love sedum and I have the red sedum it grows slow and not aggressive enough to choke out the weeds. If you wanted to do a rock garden that would work good on a hillside. You could lay weed block and lots of rocks on top of the weed block and plant the Sedum in between the rocks.
The bishop weed would over take the sedum because it grows too slow. They would not be good companion plants.
Try moss roses you can grow them from seeds and they are very drught tolernt! my gma has a ground cover its more elavy and it will choke out the grass and other plants it growes very fast and needs little watering it doesnt flower though but has many colors. ill have to tke a pic and show it to u she doesnt know what it is...
pleaseee... Betty Crocker aint got nothing on me =)
Portulaca(moss rose) is one of my all time favorites!!!! BUT they are annuals, not perennials like she's after and she may not like that. Here is their plant profile.
Hmm.. Ok, well, I think I am still leaning toward the Bishops weed.. I do want something Perennial for sure.. though I do grow Portulaca/Moss rose and I love it!! The Red Sedum is gorgeous, but I don't want to plant it and have the Bishops weed kill it off.. I might get some for another spot in our yard.. ;)
So there isn't really anything that will grow WITH the Bishops weed, correct? That it won't kill off?
Yes, I showed you I have it growing with my hostas and the daylilies. Bishop weed would grow with Iris also. What it grows good with is something that grows up-right. You cannot have something competing with it as a ground cover because it would cover it up but upright aggressive growing plants can grow with it.
jiff: click on that picture to get its description and say that one more time !! i can arrange to supply you with a few -- I'm sure tamara can do likewise.
actually i did. they are still beautiful and would be great for a small bed i have here. i'd love some, but i'd be shocked if they survived our summers...
the bishops weed - pretty as it is - will end up going all through everything!!! i'd really say that you shouldn't use it - especially if there's any possibility of it being harmful to the horses!
wild violets would be wonderful - over a few years they spread decently and if they go further than you want, they're easy enough to pull up to stop them. you could also do vinca minor. yes, that will spread (and fairly quickly in a really sunny spot - again, it's easy enough to pull up to keep it in check.
some different bulbs that will naturalize would be good too. crocus, daffodil, grape hyacinth, tulip, bearded iris, daylily. if you put in some of all of those, you'll have blooms from early spring through late summer. and it would all be virtually no-care except to split some of the bulbs out every 3-4 years.
for fall color, sedum and mums and even the various asters. my shasta daisy bloomed twice last year - late spring and then in late summer/early fall, so that's another to consider. the grape hyacinths bloom in spring, die off and then sprout greenery again in late summer/early fall so it makes for a nice spot of green when other things are starting to die down (no flowers the second time, though).
i have bearded iris, grape hyacinth, daylily and the vinca if you want some.
Oh Neko, you have those violets? Those are gorgeous!!! Even if I didn't use them on the hill, I would love to put them somewhere.. LOL I don't really have much to swap, but I would be willing to pay you for a couple/few.. Let me know.. send me a PM.
Last edited by Pinkhorseofcourse; Mar 30th, 2008 at 03:18 AM. Reason: Added note to Neko
When they set seeds,around about June, I'll PM you, for sure. Sending seeds is the simplest approach, in view of across-the-border requirements regarding plants.
Of course, I understand! That would be awesome! Thank you! The only thing I have to share right now is seeds from my Hardy Hibiscus.. but I am more than willing to share!
I tried to find pictures of my hibiscus in bloom and I can't find any.. I thought for sure I had some. Anyway, the one I have is pink.. very pretty. Just let me know if you would be interested in some seeds! I am going to be starting a few soon in peat pellets, so I can keep you posted on how they do. :wink:
When they set seeds,around about June, I'll PM you, for sure. Sending seeds is the simplest approach, in view of across-the-border requirements regarding plants.
violets set seed???? where...how do I harvest them---mine are past the blooming stage---this picture is from several weeks ago....4-16-08 if I read right......
Last edited by JunieGirl; May 22nd, 2008 at 02:30 PM.
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Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!! .....
Oh, do they ever set - and scatter - seeds! Here's a drawing of a violet's structure, I got through Google,showing the seedpod borne on a separate stem, emerging from the plant's base.
The image links to a website on yard weeds re:Wild violet (Viola papilionacea).
Okay-y-y -- you asked for it. Will contact you later, when they come in....
You may want to check this one, shown here by my driveway. I tolerate it, since I'm not a turf fan. Actually, I kinda like it: It grows freely amongst other plants in my shady front yard.
Moneywort. You may find a supplier through Google,because I've seen it marketed somewhere some time ago. It doesn't make seeds, to the best of my knowledge.
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