Weekly Garden Tip

August 20, 2006

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

If you’re getting tired of mowing large expanses of turfgrass, there is an easier solution. Reduce the size of the turfgrass and put ground covers in it’s place. Ground covers are used in many landscape settings as an alternative to turfgrass and especially works well when you have areas of dense shade where turfgrass doesn’t do well or if you have uneven ground which makes mowing difficult.

Ground covers are small plants or vines generally that are kept less than 24 inches in height and require little maintenance once well established. Unlike turfgrass that needs sometimes weekly mowing, many types of ground covers never have to be trimmed or only trimmed at the very edges of the beds where they meet driveways, sidewalks or other obstructions. Ground covers can have colorful foliage, too, and a few even have attractive fragrant flowers.

If you like to see examples of ground covers, visit the Mounts Botanical Garden at 531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach. Their 14 acre garden has many examples of plants used as ground covers.

If you have areas of dense shade that are moist, you might try growing ferns as ground covers. Many low growing ferns are quite excellent and require minimal maintenance to keep them attractive.

In hot bright sunny locations plants such as lily turf, dwarf oyster plants and mondo grass make excellent ground covers.

If you want vining types, Confederate jasmine, particularly the small leaf types do well and in fact are used at the Mounts Botanical Garden in several areas.
If you want ground covers with color, many popular bedding plants can be used as ground covers. These may have to be changed twice a year with the seasons, but at least you don’t have to mow them and provide a lot of heavy inputs of fertilizer and control for weeds.

Some ground covers have colorful flowers and the dwarf crown of thorn which stays under 10 inches is a good example. Some of the trailing type lantana also have attractive flowers that also attract butterflies and, in fact, many types of ground covers can be used as either nectar sources for butterflies or even larva food.

The Palm Beach County Extension Service has an excellent free publication on ground covers that can be picked up at their local offices and you can call the Extension office for advice about ground cover possibilities for your own landscape. Dial 233-1750 in the north and central county area or 276-1260 in the south county area.