The right plant in the right place
Nothing prospers so little—or looks so sad and out of place—as a patch of ground cover planted without regard to how much sun or shade evolution has fitted it for. Plants need conditions like those they enjoy in the wild, and the ground covers that will grow best in your garden are those that naturally grow in a similar habitat. If the area you wish to cover lies under a heavy roof of conifers, you will do best to use such typical forest ground covers as ferns or mosses. But if the area receives full sun and is unprotected from the wind, look to the plants that grow naturally on open fields or moors —the many varieties of heather, for instance, or bearberry or cotoneaster.
Although nature provides ground covers for nearly all imaginable conditions of climate, illumination, soil and moisture, these plants are usually categorized by their light requirements. Those growing on the forest floor and those growing in the wide open spaces even look different. As a general rule the forest dwellers, as exemplified by the three shown at the right, have leaves of an exceptionally dark green, indicating the added chlorophyll they contain to make the most of dim light for photosynthesis. Plants that grow in full sun, illustrated on the following pages, vary from the dark green of the cotoneaster to the red and yellow of sedum.
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gardentree.net » Garden furniture — December 7, 2009 @ 2:46 am
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gardentree.net » Plant problems and solutions — December 12, 2009 @ 3:11 am
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