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Your local extension service, botanical garden, or garden club may have some ideas for you.
The cat is already out of the bag, as far as Vinca minor is concerned (Vinca major is even more invasive). There are literally millions of plantings of it, all around the country and it is popular for ground-cover at commercial buildings. Planting it at your place will make no difference in its spread in the locations where it's already established.
I have no trouble controlling it on my property and I've never seen it spread to neighboring property, except by slow, surface runners or deliberate transplanting. It works better than most other plants for stabilizing loose, sloping soil and it is very drought-resistant. It has colonized about 6 feet of an edge of my driveway and it has the power to drive its roots clear through 5 inches of blacktop. This has been encouraged by me, as my triple-wide driveway has plenty of width to spare.
If people want to fight invasive species, English ivy and purple loosestrife are better targets. I rip out truckloads of them every year, on public property. I have never seen a single Vinca minor plant in our region, anywhere besides plantings near residential and commercial buildings. But I have found several expanding Vinca major patches, which I will eliminate before long, from along a bike path. The V. major species will also climb into trees and shrubs, but V. minor will not. You need to make repeated pullings of this plant, to defeat its roots.
I planted clover on 2 acres that I had, that I was trying to get rid of weeds on. Clover has deep roots and is great for the soil. Clover adds nitrogen to the soil, instead of depleting it. If you have any animals, they will love to eat it - like horses or goats, etc. It's a pretty green, and will also flower. The seed is cheap and it germinates easily. I literally just threw the seed out as I walked along, like Johnny Appleseed, and it covered my property easily.
I got a variety that was supposed to be short, thinking it might simulate a lawn until I could deal with the invasive thistle. My soil was so lovely, this short clover ended up being about a foot tall LOL. But, it was still pretty and I would just stake my horse out to much on it.
Clover is much easier to deal with if you ever want to just mow it - than a thicker-stemmed plant, including vinca minor (periwinkle). Just depends on what you want in the future for that space - if you think you might ever want to plow under or get rid of the ground cover. If you think you might want to plow it under or get rid of it in future, clover might be the way to go.
I love this stuff. Red creeping thyme. It has tiny-leafed foliage and small flowers, and the roots grow deep and spread out thick and flat enough to form a mat like a cushiony felt mat. Ideal for slopes and only gets about 3 - 4 inches high (allow some +/- wiggle room on height). The foliage and flattened flexible twigs are soft and springy enough that little children could comfortably play and tumble on it with bare feet and legs without risk of getting scratched or poked.
How does vinca minor behave around adjacent bigger shrubs( rhododendrons, camellia, etc..)?
It should be okay as long as the shrubs don't have lower branches really close to the ground, otherwise you may have to keep the vinca minor away from growing under the shrubs. At my place there's a raised walled in garden section on the property that has vinca minor growing as ground cover beneath a trailing Japanese laceleaf maple and an azalea that are both spread out umbrella shaped. They have low branches very close to the ground and three or four times a year I have to get under them and cut and clear away vinca vines that have reached up and over the lower shrub branches and pulled the branches right down to touch the ground. The vinca vines also grow up and over top of a heather hedge that trails over the wall in that same section and I have to clear away the vinca vines from the heather too otherwise the vinca grows right into the heather and chokes it out. It's an ongoing process keeping up with the vinca around the shrubs.
Hello, I would like to know if anyone has suggestions for nice flowering ground cover that grows in Zone 6. I would like it to have deep roots to help hold soil sloping ground. The area has partial shade.
Thanks
I'm in zone 6 also. I experimented with a couple of groundcovers a few years ago and ajuga is my favorite.
I have the purple, green & white variety and that's my favorite. I also have the darker green/black. I divided them in the second year and will continue to do so until the spots I want are fully covered.
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How big an area is it, OP? I am a big booster of liriope. You would plant it about a foot apart and it would fill in within a few seasons. It comes in green or variegated and has flower spikes similar to lavender. It gets about 8” tall.
Once a year, in early spring, mow it down with the lawn mower or weedwacker to get rid of the old foliage.
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