Affordable Perennial Groundcover Seeds?

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dividedsky Indianapolis, IN(Zone 5b) May 12, 2009

Long story short, I screwed up bigtime. I have about a 500-square-feet area that, to my consternation, doesn't get the requisite amount of sun for a vegetable garden, but isn't in complete shade, either. I could throw some grass seed on there, I guess, but I thought maybe I'd help cut down on my friend's mowing chores (it isn't my yard) by seeding it with something a little more low maintenance.

Can anyone give me some suggestions? The soil is very fertile and more clay than loam. What would you suggest, where could I buy it in that quantity for a good price?

Is this a practical idea? I'm finding that some perennial seeds (flowers) can be difficult to germinate under controlled conditions, so is there a high chance of failure, here? I want to fix this, not make more of a mess of it.

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NatureLover1950 Vicksburg, MS(Zone 8a) May 12, 2009

How many hours of sun per day does this area get? Some veggies will grow very happily in part shade. I can think of cucumbers and lettuce off the top of my head. Seems like there are some herbs that don't mind a little shade too. You could mix them in with some flowers and it would be practical and pretty at the same time.

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dividedsky Indianapolis, IN(Zone 5b) May 12, 2009

I wish I could give you an accurate number of hours, but I haven't spent enough time there to know, for sure. I thought 6-8, but I was wrong. Went there around 3 pm and it was completely shaded. There's a fence on the east side, but I thought that if they didn't get much early morning sun, it would be ok. The afternoon shade combined with the morning shade kills my plans of pumpkins, zucchini, yellow squash, snap beans, tomatoes, peppers, 12-different herbs . . . ugh. Makes me sick to think about how I could make such a huge mistake.

I'll still plant the flowers that I intended to plant in exchange for her letting me use her yard. Got lots of seeds, so if you have any suggestions for part-shading loving annuals, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for the suggestion on going ahead with the cucumbers and stuff. Only problem is, if I find a place for the sun-loving stuff, I'll end up with gardens to tend in two different parts of town (3, actually, another long story). I'm starting to think that the gardening gods are very strongly suggesting that I find another hobby.

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