Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Thursday - October 11, 2012
From: Kingsland, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Lists, Groundcovers, Grasses or Grass-like, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Groundcovers for Kingsland TX
Answered by: Larry Larson
QUESTION:
I am looking for a list of native ground covers and grasses(not lawn grass).ANSWER:
Mr Smarty Plants has a couple of ways to assemble that list.
The first is the direct way. If you go to the “Mr Smarty Plants” link under EXPLORE PLANTS, you will see that you can search Smarty Plants for keywords. Inserting “groundcover” gets you way too many responses [256]. All of these give you lists and recommendations for groundcovers. Here are some pretty good answers for places close to Kingsland:
Sunny and shady lawns from Austin
Groundcover for Austin yard
Wildflower Lawn for Round Rock, TX
Native replacement for non-native Bermudagrass in Leander TX
Grass for shady area
These are all lists that Mr Smarty Plants put together for specific situations in nearby cities.
Another approach is to make your own list. Under “RECOMMENDED SPECIES” – there are lists for both Central Texas and the Edwards Plateau. If you choose “Grass/Grass-like” under General Appearance for the Edwards Plateau collection, 48 different natives will be selected. Groundcovers are a bit harder to sort out, but if you choose Herbs and 0-1 feet tall, there will results a list of 49 low plants, most of which will make a good groundcover.
Here are some pictures from excellent choices from those listings.
From the Image Gallery
More Groundcovers Questions
Groundcover for under oak in Plano, Texas
May 15, 2009 - I live in Plano Texas USA. I have a huge live oak tree in my front yard and a large Cape Myrtle as well under these trees no grass will grow so we have dirt or mud when it rains. Fact is the front y...
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February 06, 2015 - Do you know of any on-going research using Paspalum vaginatum as the prime plant (monoculture) for use in phytoremediation.
Utilizing this plant in Vegetated Swales, Spreader Swales, Grassy Swales,...
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Sunny and shady lawns from Austin
April 28, 2012 - My front yard has a large bed surrounded by a mix of St. Augustine and Bermuda grass. Last summers heat killed off about 90% of the St. Augustine, which we would like to replace anyway to conserve re...
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Ground cover for roadside in Elk Rapids MI
July 13, 2010 - Elk Rapids, MI (Lake Michigan, East Grand Traverse Bay)
Greetings –
We are looking for a native ground cover that will cover an area along a roadside, about 100 feet from the Lake Michigan shorelin...
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Non-invasive sun ground cover for Atlanta GA
June 29, 2011 - I would like to find a non-invasive ground cover for zone 7 (Atlanta, GA) in full sun. I had a bed of ivy with daylilies on a slight slope. I have pulled up the ivy but want something that is not as i...
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