Native Plants

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Wednesday - July 23, 2008

From: Middletown, NJ
Region: Northeast
Topic: Groundcovers
Title: Groundcover for sunny yard in New Jersey
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Hi. I'm looking for ground cover for a mostly sunny section of my yard. The ground we are looking to cover is next to a slight hill with in a few feet of an in ground pool. I would like something that grows short, maybe a few inches, that also has a thick root system to keep the top soil in place. Thanks

ANSWER:

Grasses and sedges are excellent in holding top soil in place because of their fibrous root systems. The grasses listed below are not low-growing, but they are ornamental and clumping. You could perhaps use some of them in association with other groundcover plants. The sedges are shorter than the grasses and evergreen or semi-evergreen. The Christmas fern grows up to two feet high, but the remainder of the plants are low-growing.

Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats) shade, part shade

Deschampsia caespitosa (tufted hairgrass) part shade

Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye) shade, part shade, sun

Muhlenbergia capillaris (hairawn muhly) sun

Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem) part shade, sun

Carex blanda (eastern woodland sedge) shade, part shade, sun and evergreen

Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge) shade, part shade, sun and semi-evergreen

Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper) shade, part shade, sun

Phlox subulata (moss phlox) shade, part shade, sun and evergreen

Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern) shade, part shade, sun and evergreen

Gaultheria procumbens (eastern teaberry) shade, part shade and evergreen

Mitchella repens (partridgeberry) shade, part shade and evergreen