"simy1" wrote in message
oups.com...
how badly do you want to cover that patch? if it is really dry it will
not spread as much as some of the other posters say. In my case, it
spreads mildly in a 2-hr sun location (it took 3 years to cover an area
of 4X6 sqft, starting from five trasnplants), but other ground covers I
have (like vinca minor, lilyof the valley, and mint) spread much faster
with less sun. It spreads about as fast as sweet woodruff, slower than
ivy and slightly slower than lamium. As you say, it is best planted in
a situation where it is the only cover, with perennials coming out of
it. If even ivy did not take, it may be your only choice. It is almost
certain that it will not spread much. Maybe place a barrier only in the
direction of the woodland. Your mower will make the edge towards the
house.

I have tried lamium and it died. Lily of the Valley is growing, but not
spreading much after three years. Since the area is covered with wild
strawberry, I thought that Fragaria Lipstick
might work, but it is dying, and the surviving plants look like hell.
planted some common orange daylilies and they are surviving but not
spreading. Since it is bone dry and pretty shady, almost nothing grows
well. Since the roots are rather shallow, it seems like a root barrier
might be successful if you monitored it for roots trying to escape over the
top. The information I have read say that the variegated form is not as
invasive as the solid green. Some sites say the seeds are not viable and
other say it spread by self-sowing. I am inclined to try it since nothing
else is working but I don't want to release something invasive into the
woods. That said, the neighbor also lives adjacent to the same woodland and
hers hasn't escaped.