Check my website for even more details! ► albopepper.com/long-term-weed-control-with-ground-cover-plants.php

One great thing about sweet woodruff is it does GREAT in a semi-forested yard. So if you live in a wooded yard with tons of shade and lateral root structures AND tons of deer, sweet woodruff is one of the few plants I know of that thrive in that environment and deer don't like it very much. ALSO, in May and June, it erupts with tons of beautiful small white flowers, and it only gets about a foot high so it won't becoming annoyingly tall like some ground cover. It even seems to do well with acidic clay soil with rocks/roots/erosion issues. And has a really delicate graceful look on a landscape despite being super hearty. Great stuff!

You are so calming.I love how you don't scream at me when you start. I love to watch you and your yard. It's beautiful.

I was excited to see lingonberry. I am from north-western part of Russia and in autumn we usually go to forests to pick up berries, including lingonberry. People usually make jam out of it, or just freeze it and make pies or drinks in colder weather, as it is rich in vitamin C, E and help against cold and flu. It has many other great benefits for your health too. The leafs can be also used for a tea. I struggle to find lingonberries here in the USA, that's why I was excited that someone actually grows it :)

Great variety in limited space. Well done. Thanks for sharing your space & knowledge with us.

This is just lovely. What a work of art. I admire your project very much.

First, thanx for your level-headed approach to your specialty. I feel like I'm listening to a regular person talk plainly about a common topic instead of some over-the-top clown or psuedo-intellectual. Second, I saw your Landscape Fabrics Pros & Cons video and it left me wondering if I should use cardboard when using rocks or pebbles. Lo and behold, I found this video where you answered my question. But you know what's really funny? I've been working on my front and back yards moving rocks from the front and placing them inside a concrete barrier that runs the length of my back fence. For the first half of this project, I used HD weed block fabric but I just was uncertain if it would do what I wanted, meaning no weeds. I bought this house I Oct 2020 and by Jan (I'm in Sacramento CA) weeds had broken through and were taking over my front yard. I didn't want that to happen in the back. Well I switched to 6mil plastic hoping it would not cause a problem while giving me the weed protection I was looking for. Now I know I made the right choice so I can proceed with redoing my front yard knowing it will turn out the way I hope. Preciate the info.

Love the sweet woodruff (except needing to be moist) and the sedum stonecrop is my favorite. So glad you're doing videos again....love your channel!!!!

Just beautiful! Love all your groundcovers and will check out the "Stepables" looks like a great place to start. Thanks R

Sweet woodruff does nicely in both sun and shade in our very dry, very cold-winter-hot-summer area. We have several beds where it fills in for other plants. The foliage and the cute little white flowers are very attractive. But I am not sure it is a very good deer deterrent....the deer here just walk right through it, take naps on top of it....Now, the thymes, the deer aren’t much interested in! But as you mentioned, they sort of get lanky and die out in the middle. I try to train the new growth towards the center...it doesn’t totally fill it in, but it helps. Thanks for a nice, clear explanation of your choices!

Thanks - the video actually provided me with options for the rear of my property which backs up to an alley way and has a tiny border outside of my fence. My husband hates having to go back there and cut down all the weeds and if he forgets, we end up getting fined by the city. So much appreciated!

Awesome footage. It's great to see with my eyes exactly what you're talking about as you do it. Thank you.

What a wonderful garden and use of space.

First time viewer...I like you! I'm subscribed!

Great to see you back. Please post more vids!!! Love your work ❤️❤️😊

I really like your delivery. Very informative. Cool stash too

Bonus on Sweet Woodruff. I planted it on the edge of my lawn and it started to creep on to the lawn. For me, a lazy mower, it’s green, controlled height, smells wonderful when mowed. If I had an entire lawn of sweet woodruff, I’d be a happy gardener.

This is a great video and I appreciate the natural gardening. This is the first video I have watched of yours and will check out more.

Love the look of the gravel backyard

Beautiful yard! Very inspiring for sure.

Thank you a knowledgeable and well presented video.

Very informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

One of the best vids on the topic

Just in time for us. We are re-landscaping our front yard. We find your videos very informative. Thank you.

Thank you for the information on the types of ground covers you’ve dealt with. I like the sedum stonecrop. I have some now and it has kept the weeds and grass growing at bay.

@Albopepper

5 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Thanks for watching Mare. :)

Very informative and easy to understand . Presented calmly , which is a relief in this mad world , thankyou . Just subscribed 😊

I now *plant densely* . *Liriope and mulch* have been go-tos. For nonwinter: *bulbs* for sun and *hosta* for shade. Oh, and *grass* . Grass- cultivated weed that it is - helps rest the eye like nothing else. So i aerated and re-seeded grass also.

Thank you! Very informative. I have a steep bank off the front yard that stays weedy and ugly all summer (in W. TN) so I need a nice looking ground cover to reduce erosion, and look nice, instead of being an eye sore.

Sweet Woodruff is a happy plant here on the Northern California Coast. The other plant I love is chamomile, especially if you have a place you’d like a garden bench. You can plant the bench right in the chamomile circle for a fragrant resting spot.

Thanks for sharing this information. I really appreciate this.😊 love your containers around your yard.

Nice garden and list. Thanks for the tour.

Congrats! You've crafted yourself a beautiful home!👍

Great Garden! Thanks for the video!

I love how neat and organized it all looks! I’m in southwest Pennsylvania! Thank you for this video!

Thank you. I have been looking all over for this information and you make it easy to search through your video and find the exact info on a rewatch.

Hi I’m zone 6a 🥶🥶🥶 Michigan! I so excited that you TEACH! By example. Beautiful garden layout 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Glad to meet you🙋🏽‍♀️👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

@Albopepper

2 жыл бұрын

Ooooh! Same growing zone. Awesome! I'm happy to share the things I've learned from trial & error. ;-)

Wow! Beautiful garden! I got some great ideas from you, thank you!

Lovely garden and very helpful info; just what I have been looking for in my sunny/hot inland SoCal yard. I have some ice plant that is doing well but want to diversify a bit. Looks like red thyme may do it for me. Have a lot of sun and not much shade in summer.

Your garden is beautiful & this video was really helpful. Thank you!

What a lovely garden!

I love seeing your garden because it's a lot like mine. Mine is small, with very small side yards (like 5 ft wide) so I have to grow fruit as espaliers too or my neighbors get mad if any branches come into their yards (they are the kind of folks who have nothing growing on their property but just keep it mowed down all the time so my stuff probably freaks them out a bit). Anyway, I am getting ideas from you regarding good groundcovers. I'm also trying to make everything I plant either edible, medicinal or attracting pollinators. Many of them are natives as well. It's so fun!

Great video, lots of information, I changed my front lawn into a garden, tightly planted and works well to combat weeds and dogs. Thanks for sharing 👍❤️😊

@April-py3jc

11 ай бұрын

Soubds great. What plants did you use ??

Thanks . I always appreciate hands on experience. Nice presentation..very articulate. First the negative. I have found Sweet Woodruff a bit too bullyish. Plants that thrive in my Alberta ( zone 4) garden as ground covers. Very favourite is Bunchberry. Nice shape leaves, White flowers, red berries. Magical. Like many plants slow to take off but then spreads quickly. Easy to contain. Second is Dryads...love them. Nodding yellow flowers and fuzzy seed heads. Another overlooked is Hepatica...not sure why it’s pricey but mine spread easily and welcome as the first spring blooms. Finally, Veronica whitelyi...just nice and great purple coloured flowers...fuzzy and soft.. I live in a dry climate but also MOSSES! They are fantastic and you can Get Instant results. Look into videos for easy to use mosses. Re bear berry. I give mine a modest haircut. They are a woody plant and will spread better And thicker if Pruned.. Takes about 3 to 4 years for good coverage. If not pruned they get lanky. Again, thanks. I will try a couple of your suggestions.

@susanfreeman5340

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing information.

This is great! Thank you so much for sharing this valuable information.

This is my dream - to plant things with at least two purposes. Decorative, protective (e.g. thorny berry bushes around perimeter of property), edible, shade, windbreak, good for birds/bees/other critters, etc.

Your garden is really nice! I love your use of ornamentals with edibles. I was also SO EXCITED to see that you have that particular variety of sedum. I’m a landscape designer and that green sedum, I call it ‘moss sedum’ (which probably isn’t actually its name), is a fantastic ground cover. I’ve grown many varieties of sedum but none have ever came even close to the vigor and thick plush mats of foliage that moss sedum creates. It’s also so ridiculously easy to propagate. I just pull handfuls out of one patch and throw them on top of where I want them to grow, keep it watered and viola, it grows and fills every void you want it to. I’ve seen it growing straight out of cinderblocks and on top of concrete. It will grab onto the tiniest cracks and fill them completely. And to top it all off, if you don’t want it somewhere, you can easily remove it with no digging or any effort at all. I looove that sedum. That is my number 1 ground cover!! That, paired with ole creepy Jenny can create a really bold and bright design.

Great ideas - thanks - much appreciated!

Great seeing your ground covers. My favorite currently out is Kurapia since we can finally fill in a whole lawn all at once now that we produce it in sod form.

Nice garden, good info. Thanks! I’m in the northern panhandle of Wv so we’re nearly neighbors. I’ll check out your posts in the future.

Thyme has to be treated as something that needs to be replaced every three years. Yes, you can trim out the brown centers and let the space be recolonized but that can result in a gap you don’t know what to do with. I find the best results come from starting new cuttings and dividing the younger plants. This way, I have young plants in the pipeline ready to fill the space when needed.

We put creeping thyme in between our flagstone walkways but a good thing for brick walkways / patios to keep weeds at bay is polymeric sand.

will try the sweet woodruff! it's native here in Germany and you can use it for flavoring drinks - it's medicinal and slightly psycho-active which is why in Germany you drink "Mai-Bowle" a type of punch with woodruff to get slightly high ;) you drink it in May before the woodruff flowers because after that the concentrations of coumarin are getting too high

Great informative video! I originally bought Brass Buttons to represent ferns in an outdoor model railroad. I brought a few plants home and put them in the planter around my mailbox and they do well, with little maintenance. I also really like kinnickinick but did not bring any plants when I moved. I dug a few starts from an area where I used to work and they did really well. Thanks for reminding me of them. Regular moss is a big enough problem for me that I won't be adding any to my landscape. Way too many slugs to grow strawberries on the ground here in Western Washington (Zone 8b), for me anyway. A neighbor has Sedum Stonecrop and it is pretty invasive. I have managed to keep it out of my yard so far. I have done the Creeping Thyme and I didn't care for the way it looks when the centers die off but it is pretty nice otherwise. I have an area under my cedar trees where I can't get anything to grow, except weeds. Some native Oregon Grape sprouted up and I have been encouraging them along and they have really taken hold. Not really what I would call a ground cover but anything green under the cedars looks wonderful. I look forward to more watching more of your videos.

Looks beautiful. Nice designing with your plant selections.

I loved this video so much that I'm watching it for the 3rd time. Love all the info..thanks!

I've had very little experience with Sweet Woodruff, but what I have experienced I like - mostly because it's such a cheery-looking plant.

@Albopepper

4 жыл бұрын

I agree! Mine is looking quite nice and filling in very well. Just be sure to place it in a spot where you can control it as it likes to spread.

@patriciaribaric3409

4 жыл бұрын

@@Albopepper I planted some under a weeping willow; it didn't like that spot at all.

Thanks for your very informative video. My interest is in finding low level ground covers suitable for incorporating into my g-scale garden railway. Your video has given me some great ideas for what to use!

Great job of explaining each one. Question: If I was to choose a ground cover to choke-out weeds from under raspberries, which variety would have the best coverage and not compete with their shallow root system? Thank you!

First time viewer. I read several comments and all I can say is “Ditto “! New subscriber too!

@colourfab

3 жыл бұрын

Ditto here, too!

Thank you so much for all your valuable information m. I can’t remember the name of my favorite, but it was the second from the last one you showed. I’m scrolling through your videos to get help with a few things and have already found some ideas that may work. Any thoughts on what to do with a western side of a house where a diseased tree was cut down and about 8” of moldy mulch hauled away? Now, it’s hot, sunny, and has no sprinkler system extension there. I live in SE MI, and was thinking of a smallish fruit tree and a pathway of something pretty. I’m a single, tiny woman, so I need low maintenance, but I live gardening! Again, I thank you for sharing your knowledge! 🙏🌻

This was incredibly helpful, thank you!

@Albopepper

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for watching! :)

This is just what I was looking for. I have an edge area around my parking bay that is covered in huge wild vegetation that looks unkempt. I’m in Central PA in an urban area, so this is perfect!

My yard in East Tennessee is over run with wild Violets. They are very tough. Where they grow it is very wet in winter and spring. Summer and fall it is very dry. It makes a beautiful sight when in bloom and the low growing heart shaped leaves are attractive too.

@dcjmn3p5

4 жыл бұрын

You can eat them too! The leaves and the flowers. I throw them in my family's salads and even the teenagers are ok with it.

@countess7125

4 жыл бұрын

I am So glad to find someone who Loves these beauties! Did you know you can make a lovely jelly after making a simple tea from the flowers of those Wild Violets?! My good friend won the "most original" award at our local fair for her heavenly tasting/scented entry a few years back! There are several types around, ours are Labrador Violets. I don't mind them in the yard or Woodland settings, however they tend to grow and spread viciously and push out, as well as strangle other already settled plantings in a garden bed! They actually smothered the roots and killed an 8 year old well performing rose of mine before I even knew what had happened! I no longer allow them to take root in the beds. Which is difficult as they spread by both seed and by rootlet! It's amazing how each plant behaves differently from place to place, depending on soil and temperatures! They must love Virginia's red clay because in the spring our yards are covered for a time with this and deadnettles alone! :)

@prettypothos4me290

3 жыл бұрын

Nancy Webb I have them all through our property so when some appeared at the edges of my new flower garden I left them and they got really big and beautiful and then the deer ate them. i thought they wouldn’t bother them because they grow everywhere else!

Nice review of your plantings. That’s an unusual stonecrop (Sedum) . I’ve only ever come across the succulent ones here in UK.

Love your paradise garden,thanks for the overview

@Albopepper

5 жыл бұрын

Thank-you for watching! I appreciate it. :-)

Thanks good stuff. Very inspiring and feels easy to accomplish.

Outstanding video; v happy subscriber, thanks!

Great to see another video from you and what a great video. We are trialing dichondra in our pathways due to the evergreen nature and how it works in the heat and cold.

@Albopepper

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching Joseph! Dichondra looks like a pretty cool option. I hope it works out well!

hi! new subscriber! great video, some suggestions i've never heard of before. Looks like you are in Pittsburgh, me too!!!! Go Steelers!

I like how you did that, Albo. It looks nice. I will stop throwing away my cardboard. Today, I begin saving cardboard for my ground areas.

Looks awesome

Love your what you do and how you do it. One of the best❤️

Love it!!! I have just started gardening mainly pots. This is and inspiration!!! Thank you.

Cool. I’m on SW PA. Thinking about creeping thyme in this rocky area that keeps getting hammered with seeet woodruff & burdock. Creeping thyme vs Burdock... 🤔 Not sure anything can crowd THAT out.

Wow i was thinking of landscape fabric and gravel right over my ugly walkway! Now i know it can be done! Thanks

@great-garden-watch

3 жыл бұрын

Is the gravel at all slippery with plastic underneath?

@Albopepper

3 жыл бұрын

If you make quick abrupt steps, like lots of pivoting, you might skid or slip a little. I have no issues. But I wouldn't run on it or anything.

Great video! Enjoyed the list as well as the precursor to the list. And the recommended resource is an unexpected surprise!

Love rupturewort. I live in the sand hills of NJ. Herniaria is one of the few lawn alternatives that thrives in this poor soil.

I love Angelina seedum. It spreads quickly in sun or shade in my horrible clay soil where nothing else survives. It changes colors throughout the seasons and is easy to control.

@leanne4670

2 жыл бұрын

Ditto on all of the above, esp horrible clay soil.

@RocketPipeTV

Жыл бұрын

Where can I find seeds?

Appreciate the information in an easy to follow format.

Great information. Thank you

Al that was a great video on ground covers. I may have to come back for a refresher if a custo er ever asks about ground covers.

Wish you a fruitful season 👍

@Albopepper

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching Filipe! :)

I really appreciate this video as I am always research a plant that will choke out the weeds and look pretty.

you should try microclover for ground cover...looks beautiful, very green, almost like the perfect grass, yet its drought resistant (once established), its very tough and chokes out weeds, plus it provides nitrogen for your soil automatically, so perfect! I have just created my micro clover lawn this spring time and it looks so beautiful, the neighbors are all wondering what it is..:-)...

@Albopepper

4 жыл бұрын

I love it! :)

@asmsski

2 жыл бұрын

can the be effective in north side shady area?

@mojavewolf1

2 жыл бұрын

Is that hard to plant ? I’m a widow and live in the foot hills in Southern California . I’m on a budget but want something to choke out the weeds !!

@EB321

10 ай бұрын

​@mojavewolf1 microclover is expensive and will revert to standard clover (tall and tangled) if not shorn regularly

I love what you do ,thank you for your nature friendly ideas Xx

Thank you. I live in Northeast Ohio so zone 6. I have a stone border that surrounds my pretty brick patio. It gets covered by creeping Charlie. I pulled out one side. The creeping Charlie hasn't grown back yet, but crab grass has started to grow between the rocks so I'm looking for something that can actually grow in stone. Something pretty. I don't care for any thing of the yellow green color.

I planted red creeping thyme last year and this year it's giving me beautiful magenta blooms. But it's not good at blocking weeds. I still have to pull out them out. It also grow only 12 inches wide and 1 inch tall. Creeping phlox is much better at weed control. My one plant spread quickly up to 2 feet the first year. By next spring it was all covered with gorgeous pink flowers and has grown 3 feet wide. This year I'm trying Mother of Thyme (thymus serpyllum). It grows faster than the red thyme and much better at blocking out weeds. Creeping thymes are more drought tolerant than their edible counterparts.

Thank you x one thousand!!

Another fine informative video. I am going to try some Sedum Stonecrop now in an area that is hard to mow here. I have not had good luck with the Creeping Thyme there. Thank you for the information. Take care!

@CaptivaIsland1944

2 жыл бұрын

To: Dave Nooner/ What zone are you? Take care. Thanks. Rose K.

Wonderful basket grass works for me.

I appreciate your reply. The video is informative, clear and detailed. Thank you for sharing!

Pineberries can go with with strawberries. Pineberries need a pollinator like strawberries. I like ice plants and tri color sedum plus a mixed hardy sedum for groundcover and can walk on those. Just put in a berry bed of gooseberries, blueberries and honeyberries next to various raspberries. Will be adding more pine and strawberries to fill it up and a few annuals I can just easily plant in thick mulch for some interest and color. The bee balm is spreading like crazy in flower beds so got a bit more for groundcover. I have a large yard and planting never ends. Used some cardboard to break down and kill off roots then landscape fabric underneath better.

I have a yard that is 100 feet deep and 60 wide. This is giving me some GREAT ideas as to how to proceeed. Thank you! I live in South New Jersey, 15 miles from the shore. Juliana

New follower and also new homeowner here! I love your space and how you've organized it! I have a fairly large and weed-ridden lot in NJ. I am trying to get the weeds under control and was going to use the box and mulch method to suppress, but I am the Queen of Lolligagging and will convince myself that I need to outline a plan before doing anything. Did you create a plan first or did you just plant as you went along?

Another great video! Your property looks very nice indeed! My main ground cover takes sun or shade, can be stepped on, goes dormant in times of drought but comes back with rain, it can withstand almost any winter 🥶, you can chop it down and it grows back, I grow it on all the pathways between my vegetable beds, it’s grass of course! Klaus

@debbiestevens5490

Жыл бұрын

What is it that you grow that you love so much?

Also on ground-covers make sure that you get the ph right for each type as it will grown and hold up better- some want more acidic, others more alkaline. Also the soil texture - some like the sedum prefer having some granite dust added to the soil to encourage fast drainage.

Just found your channel- very information and interesting! I just started a job at a nursery here in NE MO and will use what I learn for sure!! Thank you!

Nice video and some different ground covers I haven't seen before. I always loved Corsican Mint. Tiny creeping leaves not unlike creeping thyme. It is very easy to rip it up if it's in the wrong spot and then simply lay it on the spot of dirt you want it to be planted on because it propagates easily that way. Plus it smells great when you step on it.

@lolodee3528

2 жыл бұрын

So tiny, soft, green & pretty. And that lovely scent! Mice hate the smell, might keep them and other critters away from the house. I’ve also heard of chives as an edging. Cool idea. Never tried it.

@EB321

10 ай бұрын

​@@lolodee3528spiders avoid it also

What a lovely place. You must have many calm hours outside in the fresh air. I'm in Pittsburgh. Do you ever work as a gardener on other people's yards? Love the espaliered pear tree with three different types grafted on. I just bought microclover for a ground cover. We'll see how it goes.

I didn't know the name of that sedum. Old last gave me some in 2006 and I've got it everywhere a mower can't reach. I've even got it going between some pavers for drainage/erosion control. A few lawn services have adamantly told me it's an invasive weed that I need to pay them to kill & put grass seed down . Glad to have a name for it now.