Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-24
Landscape Planning
For the Home Owner
BT ROSE GREEDY.
Landscape Architect.
GR0UNDCOVERS TO USE INSTEAD
OF GRASS.
(s-rEFTr ~9Fejr PART III

v Last week we considered ndnerai
grcundcovers. payings of brick, stone
and gravel Under certain conditions
they make most efficient and de-
lightful substitute for grass. but
there are frequently places where
green groundcover is needed, where
nothing will take the place OF a rest
full stretch of green. 1t is generally
accepted that of all green things
which may be used to cover the
ground, well kept lawn is the most
beautiful. Nothing compares with
length of greensward in sun and
shadow. If a good lawn can he made
do not be led away by newer substl-
tttes. But in the hot Washington
Summers the sun makes 1t Her
culean task to keep the grass green
in sunny spots, and in the shade
where one must combat an acid SOIL
and fungus diseases produced by the
combination of hot weather and
moisture, the task often becomes i'm.
possible.
Fortunately there are other ground
covers of green which will thrive I'M
der conditions which will kill grass,
and it is for such places that they
will be found most valuable Those
of us who have dark back yards
tucked between tall buildings which
cut off the light know how Impossible
IL is to have a lawn. If we struggle
TO reproduce the things that grow on
a sunny suburban lot the result is
desolation. But if we accept the sun
less condition and concentrate on
plants which grow in the woods. fur
nishing them with the wood loan
which they have in their native state,
we can make real garden spot For
such a planting the natural ground
cover will he, not grass, but the low
green things which make the wood
land carpet. all the low plants from
/ to to s inches high which we dis
cover with delight in the woods.
1t is surprising how varied the
carpet may be: Partridge berry, twin
berry and mountain cranberry cover
the ground with small evergreen
leaves and bright berries; hepatieas,
wood violets and anemonies furnish
everywhere delicate flower inter
est. and the larger trilliums and wood
lilies against background of ferns
may he effectively used at the edges
where some sheiEht is desired. For
the bit of woodland on the small
place at the edge of town, the natural
groundcover of flowers, ferns, low
shrubs. and even dead leaves. should
be carefully preserved and added to
with just such planting as is sug.
gested above. Unfortunately. the
gardeners first thought is to clean up,
and in the process he usually de-
stroys the woodland carpet, substi-
tuting for it a lawn which quickly
runs out and becomes weedy In
burning the leaves he destroys a val
liable supply OF fertilizer which the
Woodland plants must have and which
must later he supplied as best he
may and at great expense.
II such groundcoyer is used in a
city garden il must be large enough
to set the garden away from the
house, so that the wild planting
seems natural and not forced. If the
lot is small, or if its planting is to be
laid out on formal lines, more
formal groundcover will be needed.
Perhaps the plant that best lends
itself to this use is English ivy IT
may he used as solid mat or may he
clipped into pattern with spaces be-
tween filled with gravel to give the
effect of formal parterre. The dark
evergreen leaves of the ivy and the
light gravel make a striking design
and one which may we'll he used in
the small formal garden. For greater
informally use the oid-fashioned
IHgFLle OF Dlue peTFlWiHkte- II is the
most useful of all groundcovers. as it |
forms a perfect mat of low foliage. |
both in the sun and in the dense |
shade which it prefers, and its small |
leaves give il a desired neatness of /
The white perriwinkle !
is attacked by a spider bat the blue /
is unusually hardy. IN bloom. its ,
flowers add 10 its effectiveness, and if |
the giant white trillium is planted with |
1t, with IT'S magnificent white bios |
some rising above the green, it is a |
sight worth seeing. For a still |
greater informality japanese spurge |
lpachysandra terlninalel may be USED. !
from to & inches :