Ground cover

[David M]

Looking for ideas for a low/no maintenance ground cover. Need to plant on a slope by new fenceline. Slope would be too steep for mowing.

Suggestions?

David

Ninole Resident

[Andrew]

Monstera

[allngood]

This might work for you. Nice stuff.
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/sustainag/Co...peanut.asp
Allen

[allensylves]

I agree with Allen. Frank Sekiya has it under his fruit trees on a fairly steep slope in Waimanalo, Oahu. It makes a great ground cover. You might even make some money or swap the trimmings, since it is usually propagated from cuttings.

Allen
Baton Rouge, LA & HPP

[Rumi in Hawaii]

We've tried about 6 different kinds of ground cover here, in Mountain View, because we don't want to have to mow. I bought a small pot of lysamachia (may not have that spelled right) from Rozett's Nursery in HPP about a year ago, and put it in a bigger pot. Later on, I separated sections of it and planted it out on our cinders, made sure it was watered if we went thru a dry spell, and occasionally threw a bit of Osmokote on it. Today, we have about 30 sq. feet of the stuff, and it's still growing great. I love it - its light-colored foliage and small yellow flowers are wonderful to look at, the bees like the flowers (which means they're in the vicinity of our gardens to pollinate), it's very very soft to walk on, and it's definitely choking out anything else that tries to grow in the places it's planted. I wish I had bought a ton more at first and planted it all over the cinders where we wanted a ground cover. That'd be my advice - buy enough at first! In my opinion, perennial peanut isn't nearly as attractive nor does it form as tight a "seal" over the ground to keep out grass/weeds.

Katie

Wherever you go, there you are.

[Mitzi M]

David,

At what elevation do you live? About how much rain do you get? Is your slope sunny or shady? And - last question - what kind of soil is there on the slope?

Personally, I think it's easy to make a mistake with groundcovers in Hawai'i. There are some old standbys that work great at first because they spread quickly and cover well. But pretty soon they are covering darn near everything and you can't get rid of them! On my personal hit list are wedelia (that cute yellow daisy) and dissotis/Spanish Shawl - A magenta flowered melastome. They're both pretty invasive if they like the neighborhood.

[David M]

Thanks for suggestions so far.
Looks like the perennial peanut requires mowing, which I want to avoid. I'll reread the website.

We are at 1100 ft elevation. About 120 inches rain/yr. Slope will be sunny, exposure approx N to SE.
This slope will be the berm sloping down from the pool lanai to the fence surrounding the pool.

Will probably be planting this in about a month.
David

Ninole Resident

[Mitzi M]

Actually, Perennial Peanut (Arachis pintoi) dosen't require mowing but will tolerate it. It's very compact and if planted densly enough will cover and choke out weeds quite effectively. It's quite attractive, and once established can tolerate neglect. I think it might be a good plant for your slope. Depending on your budget and the area to be covered, ideally you'll want plugs at about 1' centers or 4" pots at 2'-3' on center on well prepared soil. For a large area you might consider "hydro-sprigging" - basically chopped up live sprigs applied with a tackifier.

You might try Lillyturf (Liriope muscari)or its shorter cousin, mondo grass. There are a few varieties - all attractive on a slope and do not need mowing.

Other good native grouncovers for slopes include 'Ae'Ae(Bacopa monnieri)which is very low and compact, has pretty white flowers and thrives in sun and moist soil. Also consider the native sword fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia). It fills in fairly fast and makes a nice dense 10"-18" cover. Good luck!

Mitzi

Uluhe Design
Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com

[JWFITZ]

Uala piko, and you can eat it.

[David M]

Hmmmm, edibles, interesting thought. I suspect that might involve replanting as opposed to something I plant once and let it go (grow)?

Maybe do several, creeping types, like squash, melons, cucumbers...

More info: The slopes will likely be about 6-8 ft wide and about 150 ft long.

David

Ninole Resident