On 04/02/2013 18:16, Spider wrote:
On 04/02/2013 17:49, David Hill wrote:
On 04/02/2013 16:29, Spider wrote:
On 02/02/2013 17:07, Roger Tonkin wrote:
I have a steeply sloping bed, close to the north west
corner of the house. It slopes downwards towards the
house and receives little or or sunshine being shaded
by the house.

It was planted with heathers some 18 years ago, and
they have now gone very straggly and where they've
been cut back off the wall/path unsightly.

SWMBO has decided that they need replacing, but before
doing this I was wondering if there is any other plant
that would provide ground cover for this very shady,
cold slope. It is too steep to work regularly or for
lawn, and the lawn above it is more of a moss bed than
a grass bed!

Thanks for any ideas




Have you thought of covering the top half of it with something like
Juniperus squamata 'Blue Carpet'? It would be hardy enough and easy to
trim once a year if needed. Below that you could try any number of
flowering groundcover plants, including the Hypericum calycinum Sacha
mentioned; periwinkle, epimedium. Slightly taller, but often used as
groundcover is Bergennia. It has lovely, glossy leathery leaves and
pink or white flowers. I have seen an entire bank covered in this and
it looked lovely. You could also fill in with spring bulbs like
snowdrops, dwarf daffodils and muscari. It may be too shady for crocus,
but you could try a few of the cheaper sun-loving bulbs just to see how
they perform.


If you do try Juniperus DO NOT trim it, give it a light pruning if
required but clipping can spoil its looks for a long time.



Actually, this Juniperus doesn't need pruning at all and I am not
suggesting routine pruning. I'm saying that Roger may have to trim away
growths that overgrow his path/boundary. This can be done simply by
studying how the growths sprout from the spreading branches and trimming
sympathetically any unwanted lengths. I have done it many times. Done
properly, you can't see the where it was trimmed. It just fits its
space better.

The only warning I might give about trimming junipers, is to wear gloves
to prevent skin irritation.

I remember seeing a retaining wall topped with around a dozen Junipers
which were trimmed 2 days before the owners daughter got married, the
"Gardener" took shears to the lot to clip them back.
What had been the pride and joy of the garden were massacred, they never
recovered and were removed 18 months later.