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Beat
the Weeds and Save Time
in the Garden
So often new
gardeners are put off the idea of gardening by thinking about the time
it might take, and the hard work involved. The popular idea of a
low-maintenance garden is one of covering the space with decking and
gravel, planted with a few grasses and pots of evergreens.
However, I have
discovered an ideal way to help thwart one of the most time-consuming
chores in the garden - that of weeding.
This came about
almost by accident, as I have a cat who thinks that any uncovered
ground is a glorious litter tray! I quickly had to find a way to cover
up as much of the soil as possible, but soon realised that ground cover
plants gave me the even greater benefit of vastly reducing the number
of weeds.
Of course, there
are many gardeners who enjoy the time spent weeding, and I admire them
tremendously - there are great physical and mental benefits to spending
time outdoors among your plants.
But for those of
us whose time spent in the garden must be limited because of work
commitments or perhaps physical limitations, there is a way to enjoy
our plants with a minimum of fuss. Of course, time has to be spent on
the initial ground preparation and planting, however, this would
probably take far less time than laying decking and gravel!
Weeds are great
survivors and they very quickly take over any bare patch of soil. Once
they take hold they can very easily smother existing plants and become
notoriously difficult to get rid of.
So the idea is to
find plants that form dense clumps or spread via their roots to cover
the ground.
As with most
plants, there are ground cover plants for each season when they are at
their best, and some that look good all year round.
One word of
caution. Because some of these plants spread quickly - which is of
course what we want - they also don't actually know when to stop! So
you may need to cut them back occasionally to keep them within their
allotted space.
What to plant?
I have discovered
that plants such as bugle (ajuga)
- you can get plants with purple, bronze or variegated foliage;
euphorbia - with stunning acid-green flowers in early to late spring;
lesser periwinkle (vinca minor);
bergenias - commonly known as elephant's ears; as well as small-leaved
variegated ivies, all provide year round ground cover. Another
advantage of these particular plants is that they are also slug and
snail resistant!
In spring and
summer, you can use aubretia, arabis, alyssum and candytuft (iberis), which all hug the ground.
And particularly useful, and providing some height to a border, are
aquilegias - the old-fashioned cottage garden varieties - which after
flowering retain their foliage in attractive clumps. They also
self-seed prolifically, giving you extra plants each year.
Another favourite
plant of mine is the hardy geranium. Some varieties do die down in the
winter - weeds don't grow much then anyway - but the plants soon romp
away in spring and provide ground cover and masses of flowers all
summer.
Other useful
plants to use for ground cover are herbs. Among a wide variety to
choose from are comfrey, feverfew, catmint, golden marjoram and mallow.
So there you have
it! Once your ground cover plants are established, you’ll no longer
have to spend hours on your knees, but can spend quality time in your
garden.
Fran Barnwell
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Fran
Barnwell
Rowan House, Lower Dimson
Gunnislake, Cornwall, PL18 9NT
fran@newtogardening.com
© Linda Frances Barnwell :
www.NewToGardening.com
All Rights Reserved : Fran's Guide to Gardening
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