Groundcovers Archives | Gardening with Charlie

How to Grow: Strawberries

Learn about the best varieties and how to grow strawberries in your garden. Listen to Podcast: podcast transcript How to Grow: Strawberries I know it’s summer when I can go harvest strawberries (Fragaria). The sweet, juicy red fruits signal the beginning of the fruit season in my garden. I’m always amazed at how fast they grow and ripen. From small plants popped in the ground the previous year, comes a full bed loaded with green fruits that ripen to red almost overnight with warm weather. When you see the price of fresh strawberries...

Groundcovers Perennials

How to Grow: Ferns

Learn about growing ferns in your garden, including unusual varieties to grow. Listen to podcast: podcast transcript Sun Requirements Part sun, part shade, full shade Bloom Period and Seasonal Color Grown mostly for their green ferns. Some ferns turn a golden color in fall Mature Height x Spread 1 to 4 feet x 1 to 3 feet Added Benefits Fall color, native, deer resistant New England woodlands and shady areas are loaded with native ferns. They are so ubiquitous in our region; we often overlook them as garden plants....

Groundcovers Podcast

How to Grow: Groundcovers

Learn about groundcovers, including how to plant and grow them. Listen to podcast: There's only one thing I hate more than swatting Japanese beetles, it's weeding around trees and shrubs. Sure I could mulch them all with bark, but it looks kind of dull and uniform. I crave some color and the solution is shade-loving, flowering ground covers. But instead of growing the common vinca or pachysandra, consider some more colorful alternatives. Here are some options. We all know ajuga or bugleweed. It's a widely adapted ground cover that grows...

Groundcovers Shrubs

How to Grow: Juniper

Juniperus spp and hybrids Other Name common juniper Sun Requirements full sun Bloom Period and Seasonal Color Junipers are grown for their evergreen foliage in various shades of green, gold and blue Mature Height x Spread 1 to 40 feet x 5 to 20 feet Added Benefits Native, deer resistant You see them everywhere in New England. Junipers are common evergreen plants in many landscapes. This group is huge and varied. They all have attractive green or blue-green needles and blue berries that add winter interest to a...

Groundcovers Shrubs

How to Grow: Cotoneaster

Cotoneaster spp Other Name rockspray cotoneaster Sun Requirements full sun, part sun Bloom Period and Seasonal Color Pink flowers appear in spring followed by red berries and colorful fall foliage Mature Height x Spread 2 to 3 feet x 5 to 8 feet Added Benefits drought tolerant, fall color, deer resistant Cotoneaster is a low growing, colorful shrub with attractive small flowers, berries and fall foliage color. The long spreading branches look particularly attractive when grown to cascade down a wall or bank. You...

Groundcovers Vines

How to Grow: Winter Creeper

Euonymous fortunei Other Name climbing euonymous Sun Requirements full sun, part sun, part shade Bloom Period and Seasonal Color Blooms are not significant. Mostly grown for the colorful foliage that's variegated white, yellow and green with tinges of purple. Mature Height x Spread 1 to 2 feet x 2 to 4 feet Added Benefits drought tolerant, fall color Winter creeper is a versatile plant. It can be trained into an attractive low growing ground cover, mounded shrub or a vertical vine. It's semi-evergreen so winter creeper...

Groundcovers Podcast

How to Grow: Hellebores

Learn about growing hellebores or Lenten roses in your garden as a groundcover. Listen to Podcast: Although we grow this plant as a perennial flower, it also has other devious uses. During the siege of Kirrha in ancient Greece, the invading armies poisoned the city's water supply with crushed roots and leaves of this flower causing the protecting armies to be weakened by diarrhea and overwhelmed. That's a good reason not to eat the leaves of your Lenten rose. Lenten or Christmas rose is more widely known by its botanical name, hellebore....

Fruit Groundcovers

How to Grow: Edible Groundcovers

In the desire to grow less lawn and more plants, ground covers are often touted as a solution. Once established they can also help keep weeds away and provide a beautiful visual alternative to grass, bare soil or bark mulch. Ground covers grow in sun or shade depending on the type. Use the amount of light in your area as your first filter in looking at ground cover options. Ground covers especially work well in shady areas, under trees or in front of shrub borders. Some ground covers, such as vinca and lily of the valley, have attractive...

Groundcovers Herb Perennials Podcast

How to Grow: Mint

Listen to this podcast and read about growing and caring for mint plants including how to stop them from being invasive. podcast transcript One of the biggest drawbacks to mint is not getting it to grow, but keeping it under control. But it’s worth the effort. Mint is a flavorful herb that comes in many flavors, such as spearmint, orange, melon, apple, and chocolate peppermint. Not only is it a great addition to drinks, teas and cooking, the plant is an attractive ground cover as well with colorful pastel, blue or pink, colored...

Groundcovers Herb Perennials

How to Grow: Thyme and Oregano

When it comes to flavoring recipes, Mediterranean herbs are some of the most popular. While rosemary and basil get lots of press, don’t forget the low growing, perennial herbs, such as thyme and oregano. Oregano offers that robust flavor we associate with pasta sauces. Thyme leaves have fragrances such as lemon, orange and nutmeg depending on the selection. Both herbs compliments fish, meat, cheese and vegetables featuring beans and squash well. They are both beautiful plants with white or pink flowers How to Use in Foodscaping Most thyme...

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