Natural Ground Covers

PeppermintPatty

PeppermintPatty

🐢. 🐳. 🐢
Location
Canada
Every spring I’m fascinated by all the different types of plants that naturally grow and cover the ground. There’s a diverse variety of cultivated well known ground covers , from Periwinkle to English Ivy, however there are many more less known natural / organically grown kinds.

What types of ground covers do you like or have grown and where and why did you use them.

Feel free to add photos.

On my daily walks I can’t help notice them.
The bright reddish colour of these makes them really stand out.
IMG_0217.jpeg
Small white waxy flowers create such a classy look throughout the forest floor. IMG_0252.jpeg
Plain moss that hugs old forest stumps , slate along the river or anything it can get its roots into.
IMG_0260.jpeg
These little pinkish purple bells look so pretty.
IMG_0250.jpegOr this leafy stuff. I’m not sure what it is. IMG_0251.jpeg
 

Jeni said:
have the last one growing i pull as a weed lol maybe it is a simple clover as neighbor was trying that a couple years ago instead of grass.
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I’ve no doubt many of these ground covers will be considered weeds. Moss certainly isn’t cultivated. I’m just interested in ground covers in general whether cultivated or uncultivated.
 

BC Flash said:
I have "Forget Me Nots" on the edge by the sidewalk. Low maintenance and I love the blue blooms from late spring to early autumn. (I am in zone 8 growing zone)

Don't Let Forget-Me-Nots Take Over: A Care Guide | HappySprout
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‘Forget me Nots’ reminds me of the seeds that came with the card when we had our first shepherd euthanized. I spread them everywhere so that I’d never forget her.
IMG_0275.jpeg
Periwinkle
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English Ivy - it’s an evergreen
IMG_0279.jpeg
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Every spring I’m fascinated by all the different types of plants that naturally grow and cover the ground. There’s a diverse variety of cultivated well known ground covers , from Periwinkle to English Ivy, however there are many more less known natural / organically grown kinds.

What types of ground covers do you like or have grown and where and why did you use them.

Feel free to add photos.

On my daily walks I can’t help notice them.
The bright reddish colour of these makes them really stand out.
View attachment 291772
Small white waxy flowers create such a classy look throughout the forest floor. View attachment 291774
Plain moss that hugs old forest stumps , slate along the river or anything it can get its roots into.
View attachment 291775
These little pinkish purple bells look so pretty.
View attachment 291776Or this leafy stuff. I’m not sure what it is. View attachment 291777
Click to expand...

I was intrigued by the red in your first photo. So much so that I had to find out what it is. If I understand correctly, they are British Soldier Lichen.
 
Magna-Carta said:
I was intrigued by the red in your first photo. So much so that I had to find out what it is. If I understand correctly, they are British Soldier Lichen.
Click to expand...
That’s very good. Yes you’re right. I looked it up. Isnt that interesting? What a suitable name too or Cladonia cristatella. It’s really quite striking while you’re out walking and not a colour one would expect to find in the spring. I suppose it’s technically summer but they’ve been out for months now. Thanks

IMG_0280.jpeg
 
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PeppermintPatty said:
Every spring I’m fascinated by all the different types of plants that naturally grow and cover the ground. There’s a diverse variety of cultivated well known ground covers , from Periwinkle to English Ivy, however there are many more less known natural / organically grown kinds.

What types of ground covers do you like or have grown and where and why did you use them.

Feel free to add photos.

On my daily walks I can’t help notice them.
The bright reddish colour of these makes them really stand out.
View attachment 291772
Small white waxy flowers create such a classy look throughout the forest floor. View attachment 291774
Plain moss that hugs old forest stumps , slate along the river or anything it can get its roots into.
View attachment 291775
These little pinkish purple bells look so pretty.
View attachment 291776Or this leafy stuff. I’m not sure what it is. View attachment 291777
Click to expand...
Beautiful; I wish it were green like that around here without running up the water bill sky-high.
 
We had t hat English ivy outside the door here...wifey wanted
it gone, so by hand i tore it out and dug the place up for new
flowers....then I spent months and mucho $$$$$$ getting rid of
the ivy rash...just like poison ivy to me at least..... :mad:
 
PeppermintPatty said:
I’ve no doubt many of these ground covers will be considered weeds. Moss certainly isn’t cultivated. I’m just interested in ground covers in general whether cultivated or uncultivated.
Click to expand...
The second photo appear to be Trilliums, the Provincial floral emblem of the Province of Ontario. JimB.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Every spring I’m fascinated by all the different types of plants that naturally grow and cover the ground. There’s a diverse variety of cultivated well known ground covers , from Periwinkle to English Ivy, however there are many more less known natural / organically grown kinds.

What types of ground covers do you like or have grown and where and why did you use them.
Click to expand...
Great pictures, thanks. I wish we had an attractive or even harmless natural ground cover.

Utah is high desert, vegetation is pretty ugly. Eventually we get sagebrush, but they grow slowly. Goats head is what comes in quickly, its an awful invasive and covers the ground. Its an invasive so not exactly natural but its what we get. Produces huge quantities of awful burrs, can easily puncture a bicycle or lawnmower tire. Like someone threw down a carpet of tacks... We don't have some of the more aesthetic desert vegetation found further south. Irrigate and our options get much better.

Goat's Head Burrs
440px-Trte_003_lhp.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribulus_terrestris
 
officerripley said:
Beautiful; I wish it were green like that around here without running up the water bill sky-high.
Click to expand...
These are all naturally watered with rain.

hawkdon said:
We had t hat English ivy outside the door here...wifey wanted
it gone, so by hand i tore it out and dug the place up for new
flowers....then I spent months and mucho $$$$$$ getting rid of
the ivy rash...just like poison ivy to me at least..... :mad:
Click to expand...
What? What a shame. I love English Ivy. It’s so traditionally looking.
jimintoronto said:
The second photo appear to be Trilliums, the Provincial floral emblem of the Province of Ontario. JimB.
Click to expand...
No! They definitely aren’t Trillums. I spent most of my life in Ontario and we had trilliums growing throughout the forests there and some in our garden. This is what Trilliums look like. They are much bigger, the flower petals aren’t as fiat and shiny, there’s only 3 petals ; not four , the centres are completely different and so are the leaves.
IMG_0281.jpeg
The other flower
IMG_0252.jpeg
 
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Alligatorob said:
Great pictures, thanks. I wish we had an attractive or even harmless natural ground cover.

Utah is high desert, vegetation is pretty ugly. Eventually we get sagebrush, but they grow slowly. Goats head is what comes in quickly, its an awful invasive and covers the ground. Its an invasive so not exactly natural but its what we get. Produces huge quantities of awful burrs, can easily puncture a bicycle or lawnmower tire. Like someone threw down a carpet of tacks... We don't have some of the more aesthetic desert vegetation found further south. Irrigate and our options get much better.

Goat's Head Burrs
View attachment 291824
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribulus_terrestris
Click to expand...
Just OUCH! I had to look them up. They are much smaller than I expected but that spike still looks painful. I wouldn’t want to sneak through a line of these bushes to get somewhere. You must have a lot of sand.
I guess we are really lucky to have such interesting ground covers. Thanks for showing pictures of what’s out your way.
IMG_0284.jpegIMG_0285.jpeg
 
Alligatorob said:
It is, one barefoot step onto them is an experience not soon forgotten... They do have a kind of nice flower, not even close to worth it.
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My first response was ‘ I guess you don’t walk around barefoot’ but I erased it cause I never walk around barefoot. I hate stepping on spikey things or even getting scratched by spikey things like rose or berry bushes.
What types of things grow natively where you live?
 
PeppermintPatty said:
My first response was ‘ I guess you don’t walk around barefoot’ but I erased it cause I never walk around barefoot. I hate stepping on spikey things or even getting scratched by spikey things like rose or berry bushes.
What types of things grow natively where you live?
Click to expand...
In my yard, sagebrush is the native thing. Not bad looking... from a distance and I like the smell. However they were taken out of our yard years ago and grow too slowly to be worth trying to replant.

No I don't go barefoot outside, but these things have a way of showing up anywhere. In the bathroom mat, even in the bed... probably blame the dog for that.

Sagebrush
Sagebrushsjc.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_tridentata
 
Alligatorob said:
In my yard, sagebrush is the native thing. Not bad looking... from a distance and I like the smell. However they were taken out of our yard years ago and grow too slowly to be worth trying to replant.

No I don't go barefoot outside, but these things have a way of showing up anywhere. In the bathroom mat, even in the bed... probably blame the dog for that.

Sagebrush
View attachment 291867
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_tridentata
Click to expand...
A nice sage bush is wonderful. We had a huge rosemary bush at one time.

If you have a dog it’s no wonder you have them in your house. Our dogs bring in so much stuff it’s crazy. Sometimes my bed feels like I just shook out my rugs on top of them at times and I groom them daily. 😳
 
officerripley said:
Wow, that looks like somewhere I'd love to live. Where I grew up actually got rain and fog once in a while; I miss that.
Click to expand...
I’m learning to adjust to it. I’d much rather have this cooler weather than the hot scorching 🥵 weather others are having.
Where are you from Ripley?
 
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