Ground Cover Question?
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| ive never heard of that!
i've got the same situation, more because of the many dogs than the sunlight issue. Let me know what you find out, my yard is also grassless. |
| We had good luck with Vinca it is a great ground cover for shady areas. Green in the winter and purple flowers in the spring and summer. Stay away from ivy unless you don't mind it taking over your trees and house!
Lark |
| We also have no grass thanks to pulling out a lot of it to put in a patio. The rest of it just sort of disappeared with the dogs running around all over it. We live in a brand new house and the sod that they put down really never took. I've been playing with the idea of just putting down a layer of pea gravel, similar to what I've seen in some dog parks. Our backyard is pretty private so the idea of not having grass wouldn't be too ridiculous and we'd keep in the front so no one would ever have to know! |
| Hi,
This site might help you. Just remember the easiest solution..don't fight nature and get plants that are local to your environment and not those imported from other places or you'll be fighting them to grow in your area. Another possible solution is to purchase grass already grown (squares) as they will have the best chance of rooting for what you describe. Lastly ground cover that is like that of small shrubs will prevent dogs and people from walking on it...hense making your yard smaller. You are correct to think about moss as a solution. I have heard of what you are talking about, although haven't tried it myself. Most people always want green lawns and I personally love moss. It soaks up the rain without leaving the yard muddy, soft to sit on and you don't do a thing in order for it to look good. Cats don't scratch it up either. http://www.mossacres.com/ Marianne and the boys |
| Yes, I've heard of that technique. Generally that technique is useless and even more so with k9s.
You didn't say where you live. Successful plant growth depends on how much your dogs will be on the material as well as sun light and root interference from below. Trees and ground covers have a hard time living together in the best circumstances, but add children or pets and things really get bad. Contact your County Extension agent for recommendations. You'll find them in the phone book usually in the state listings, but they can show up anywhere. They are associated with your agricultural university, that might be in the phone book listing. Anyway, they have horticultural experts for your region who are not interesting in selling your plants as would a nursery. If you are in a moderate to large town, more than likely there's a Master Gardener associated with the Extension office. They are trained to help you with these questions. Give me an idea of where you live and maybe I can be more helpful. I owned my own horticultural design and consulting firm and worked for the state university/extension service. I've trained and continue to train master gardeners for our area. |
I LOVE vinca, plus it covers dog poop and allows it to disintegrate  |
| I live in North Carolina. The problem really hasn't been Barkley, its the lack of light. The canopy above is really very dense, hence the moss idea. I've never heard of Vinca. I'll look into that as well. |
| WE live in Virginia, so somewhat similar climate. Our backyard backs up to woods and we have several trees in the yard, too, so there isn't a ton of light (only at certain times of day). When we bought our house it was right about hurrican gaston and our yard looked like a bog. And it does tend to get fairly muddy after a good rain. We just tried putting in grass and it actually worked. It took a while and some areas are sparser than others, but you could maybe try it. Also, we have a drainage system in the middle of the yard that seems to help with some excess water. We started our grass from seed... |
| What about Zoysia Grass?
I think we're going to sod our whole yard with it this year. It seems to be the only grass that's still alive in our yard after the dogs tearing up the turf. I know it looks ugly brown in the winter but anything is better than mud IMO. Dee you're in a great location for it too. The sod that we want to purchase, we actually have to get it shipped from NC. |
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