Hardy groundcover suggestions?

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swampdiamonds Gowrie, IA(Zone 5a) May 24, 2009

I'm looking for some suggestions on groundcovers. I'm transitioning some large portions of my lawn to cut back on mowing, but I do want something green. I live in zone 5, and the area I most want to fill in is on the east side of our house. It gets full sun until around three o'clock in the afternoon, and then it is shaded for the rest of the day. It's pretty well-drained back there, but we do get occasional heavy heavy rains in the summer.

I'd prefer that it: a) spread quickly and aggressively, like a weed--it seriously would not matter if it was super invasive and pesky, and b) be tough enough to withstand occasional foot traffic (it might get stepped on once or twice a week). The area is separated from the lawn with landscaping block, but I wouldn't care if it wanted to spill on over.

Any suggestions? If you have a suggestion, what's the best spacing to ensure proper coverage? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) May 24, 2009

www.stepables.com has a good search engine that lets you put in your zone, amt of sun/shade, amt of foot traffic, etc and gives you suggestions. You can order the plants from them, but you don't necessarily have to, just write down the names of the ones that look interesting and you can probably find a flat of it at a local nursery too.

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lakedust South Wales, NY May 24, 2009

Bronze bugle weed!! It has reddish purple colored leaves with purplish flowers. It spreads really rapidly....it almost took over my lawn! Thats what you want for quick growth in your area. I am in the same zone and mine is on the east side of the house. Its low-growing to about 6-8 inches. And it really is very pretty and showy. Good luck!

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lakedust South Wales, NY May 24, 2009

Oh....correction....bugle weed also comes in green. I forgot to add that!

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Allison28 May 26, 2009

I've had great luck with lamium -- comes in a few pink colors and in white. It spreads like crazy and is easy to transplant. I don't have it in places that get foot traffic, however, so am not sure about that. I've also done the low growing sedum that are stepables, but they didn't come back that well this year...could be our yard conditions.

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