![]() I can't cope with the fine points of what does and doesn't "invade", I think this is overblown to a large degree, and one has to appreciate the fact these plants fill a space one needs filled. Neither Sweet Woodruff nor Vinca minor should in my opinion be denied a place in the garden - my Sweet Woodruff is spreading nicely in a patch where I want coverage in the shade - and it sort of disappears in winter to some degree. I have read that birds/insects spread the plant as well, perhaps it does produce seeds, but honestly I don't think it is a serious problem. I have seen it in parklike settings where I am sure it is not welcome, however, but so does one see grass! dandelions! clover! Oregon grape! Things that grow and develop are a nice change from things one struggles to grow. I tend to be a bit nonconformist re the doctrines of what is invasive - I like Vinca minor and grow it in my garden, and it does spread by runners, in my case very slowly and certainly within the gardener's control - but I need the coverage. It does not spread very much, the thyme does a bit but in a nice carpetlike way.Ĭheck out the closed forum called Groundcovers - some of my posts are there, and others too. John's Wort is on the market now in some nurseries and it is one of my favourites - it shows a little brownness as seen in the middle photo in mid-winter, the middle photo shows a newly planted small one which is greener because just from the nursery, but returns to a lovely tight mat of very low tiny delicate-stemmed mid-green leaves with a slightly silvery effect in summer photo close-up on right makes the leaves look large-ish but they are tiny, and tiny yellow star-like flowers in July. It doesn't seem to spread - I wish it did. Remember, though, that some types of hosta need a bit more sun to achieve their best color. This is an enormous genus of landscape plants, comprising dozens of species and hundreds of hybrids and named cultivars. Corsican Mint looks similar and smells minty when walked-on, but I don't find it very evergreen - it stays green but dies down to very low and quiet in December-January. When you hear mention of ground covers for shade, Hosta immediately comes to mind. I have a garden full of tiny thymes, the Elfin Thyme being super-tiny but it retains its greenness all winter, and some "presence", if not trod on too much. I think all the fuss about being invasive is unnecessary, at least around here. It will try to invade your grass area a bit, but just pick up the strands as they head that way and arrange them where you want them, anchoring the stem down in the soil with a bent wooden toothpick, to hold them for an inch or so in the soil, and they will attach roots there. I have a variegated green-and-yellow- leaved one which is nice, quite colourful, and the blooms are more of a lighter mid-blue than the darker blue of the regular. I use Vinca minor, I don't find it spreads all that vigorously and it is very nice and evergreen but surges forth in spring. It's quite pretty when in bloom in summer, a nice cover when not. For a ground cover that at maturity will have standing blossoms and some larger leaves at about 6 inches high, I have Sweet Woodruff - seen in photo at left - which is a semi-evergreen perennial - mine dies down in my area quite markedly in winter but pops back up quite well in early spring, now showing the rounded multi-leaflet leaf clusters.
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