Native Plants
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Monday - June 18, 2007
From: Schaumburg, IL
Region: Midwest
Topic: Groundcovers
Title: Looking for cover
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I live iin Schaumburg, IL and have a difficult spot (extreme sun and heat in summer (South Side of house). I'm looking for a very short ground cover - < or + to 6 inchees. Does Arabis hirsuta fit this requirement?ANSWER:
We don't have a great deal of information about Arabis hirsuta (hairy rockcress) in our Native Plants Database; but, the information from Plants for a Future and University of Washington indicates that it should work for your site.
Here are a few other suggestions of plants that grow between 6-12 inches high and are native to Illinois:
Heterotheca villosa (hairy false goldenaster)
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (kinnikinnick)
If you are willing to have a slightly taller ground cover for a hot sunny location, you might consider Artemisia frigida (prairie sagewort) or Artemisia ludoviciana (white sagebrush).
More Groundcovers Questions
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July 13, 2016 - I live in Atascosa county in Pleasanton Texas, I have an abundance of Live Oak and Ash trees shading my property and need a groundcover for my backyard which is nothing but sand and where I have dogs ...
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Groundcover for gravesite in Maryland
March 13, 2013 - I know this is very unusual question but here I go. I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and I am looking for a low ground cover for my grandparents grave. The soil is very sandy and I am looking...
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Groundcover for Road Frontage in NC
March 12, 2015 - I need a fast growing ground cover or perennial flower for 1,000 feet of road frontage about one acre that will choke out weeds. I do not want to do much ground prep or any ground prep. I do not want...
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Need to plant something in the cracks in my patio in Skipperville, AL.
February 06, 2012 - Mr. Smarty Pants,
I have a cement patio full of cracks. I would like to grow some sort of plant or plants in the cracks. I live in lower Alabama, and my patio is in full sunlight. Do you have an...
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Low Ground Cover for Steep, Shaded PA Site
February 17, 2014 - I am located in Downingtown, PA, right on the border between Zone 6 and 7. Please provide a recommendation of a native ground cover for the following conditions: steep slope (greater than 45%), full s...
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