Native Plants

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Sunday - January 11, 2009

From: Wesley Chapel, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Groundcovers
Title: Ground cover for damp areas
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I am looking for a cover ground plants that tolerate damp areas. Any suggestions?

ANSWER:

There are a number of plants that serve as ground covers and like damp soil. You didn't say what height you were interested in, if it was for foot traffic on a lawn, shade or sun, etc. So, we chose two of our favorite groundcovers, several sedges, as most sedges are fond of damp soil, and some grasses. All those listed are native to Florida, and should be commercially available. We will list them in order of height: the first two are pretty low, clinging to the ground; the sedges tend to be about one foot tall and, unfortunately, many of them look a lot like weeds; finally, the grasses are taller, but are attractive and hold their places year-round. Follow the plant links to the webpage on each plant to find out if it does best in shade or sun, its height and the type of soil it likes, then make your selection based on the location where you will be using it. When you have made your choices, if you have difficulty finding the plants you want, go to our Native Plant Suppliers section, type your town and state in the "Enter Search Location" box and you will get a list of native plant nurseries, seed companies and landscape consultants in your general area.

GROUNDCOVERS

Calyptocarpus vialis (straggler daisy)

Phyla nodiflora (turkey tangle fogfruit)

SEDGES

Andropogon virginicus (broomsedge bluestem)

Carex albolutescens (greenwhite sedge) - pictures

Carex blanda (eastern woodland sedge)

Carex cherokeensis (Cherokee sedge)

Carex crus-corvi (ravenfoot sedge)

Carex glaucescens (southern waxy sedge)

Carex stipata (owlfruit sedge)

Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge)