Asking the impossible???

[albucsfan]

Hi,

Fairly new here, and I'm not sure that this is the right place for this question, but it looked like the best fit, so here goes.....

My husband just cleared a bunch of bushes (they came with the house, not even sure what kind) out of a fairly large space near our deck. We are wanting to find something to plant in their place....but here comes the impossible part...

Looking for a ground cover type plant, low maintenace, able to deal with nearly full shade (the surrounding area is house on one side, deck and woods on the other), occasional light foot traffic, and look good most of the year...

This is alabama, so we don't have much in the way of winter, but it can get cold...also, the woods are mostly oak and other hardwoods so there are A LOT of leaves falling in the autumn....

Anybody got any ideas?? Afraid I am clueless...

Thanks!
Steph

[Kisal]

I was faced with a similar situation at one place I owned. I planted Pachysandra terminalis, commonly called Japanese pachysandra, or Spurge in such a situation. It's evergreen, grows about 10 to 12 inches high, and has white flowers in the spring. I planted both a solid green variety and a variegated variety. It was very attractive, I thought. The variegated leaves brightened the deeply shaded area during the months when there were no flowers.

It's not really something you walk on, though ... but you can walk through it.

I'm sure you'll receive other suggestions as well.

[rainbowgardener]

Ajuga (carpet bugle, bugleweed) is another nice ground cover for shade. It comes in all kinds of gorgeous foliage colors and variegations, has flower spikes in spring. It's easy to grow, and relatively fast spreading, without being aggressive or invasive. Again it wouldn't like a lot of foot traffic, but wouldn't be killed if you stepped on it.

[albucsfan]

Wow, thanks both of you.

Rainbow, it wouldn't be the most walked on thing in the yard....but the kids are small and liable to run anywhere, so just something that won't die if they step on it will work quite nicely

Thanks again!!

(I actually asked at our local nursery, but they really didn't have...or reccomend anything)

[SWMOgardens]

Vinca minor works well for me. Here it is under a hosta.

[img]https://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab19/swmogardens/100_6751.jpg[/img]

Another you might look at is Liriope. A word of caution about Ajuga. My neighbor has it and in spring it is a bumblebee magnet when in flower.