What are you using as ground cover?

I’m losing the battle against my neighbor’s weed farm (literal weeds like goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria), not even the fun ones) and need some good suggestions for ground cover. I’ve already planted a ton of geraniums and they’re great, but some variation would be nice. I live in Denmark, which means winter temperatures occasionally get down to around -20 oC /-4 oF.

  • pragmakist@kbin.social
    2·
    1 year ago

    Hosta?

    I just went out to take a closer look at the one spot in my garden where I have goutweed and I notice that they are limited by dense trees, nettles, Clematis, and the occasional application of a scythe.

    I guessing you wouldn’t want those, so Hosta?

    Just note that I have to meticulously fence my Hosta, or the deer will hunt it to extinction.

    • Shivs@kbin.socialOP
      1·
      1 year ago

      Great suggestions - I actually already have clematis growing up some elder trees close by the spot I’m looking to cover. It took three seasons to really start growing so I didn’t consider it a viable candidate but maybe I was just unlucky?

      Hostas sound perfect for the place I have in mind and deer won’t be an issue there - thanks for the suggestion. Do you have any favorites? It seems like there are a ton of variants to choose from!

      • pragmakist@kbin.social
        2·
        1 year ago

        I’m a patient man but I will admit that if I could I’d kill off all the Clematis on my grounds.
        And the clamatis would stop killing my trees and bushes.

        Mayby I’m just unlucky, but then again the Clematis had decades to establish itself before I got here.

        As for Hosta I’d suggest you choose them for their size. You want them to outgrow the goutweed, but otherwise work well with the space. I’m not sure that the smaller Hostas are tall enough to shade out the goutweed.

        As far as I can tell, with the very limited harvests I’ve had, they all taste more or less the same though.

        • Shivs@kbin.socialOP
          1·
          1 year ago

          I had no idea they were edible! Now I’m definitely getting some.

          I can totally see the clematis getting out of hand now that it actually started growing. It will be interesting to see what happens next year but so far, it looks great. Is your clematis wild type or cultivar?

          • pragmakist@kbin.social
            2·
            1 year ago

            Seedlings from a cultivar.

            I’m pretty sure I killed the parent, but my grounds are a bit large, 17000m^2.

  • Dent7777@kbin.social
    2·
    1 year ago

    Lupines? They self-seed, improve the soil, stand relatively tall and thick, and are very pretty to boot! Not to mention they are cold hardy.

    • Shivs@kbin.socialOP
      2·
      1 year ago

      Maybe some tall clovers could worth giving a shot but the types naturally growing around here are out-shadowed by the goutweed.