What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the weeds.

wrote:
What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er
swimming pool in Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense
groundcover to stop the weeds.

How far from the pool? Will it experience the patter of little feet? What
is the soil like? What have you tried there?

There are things that will grow in salty soil but they are not likely to
take foot traffic and they are not that dense that they will exclude
everything else. Maybe somebody else can name a miracle plant that will do
the job but I would be thinking of astroturf or pavers.

David

wrote in message
...
What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er
swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the
weeds.


Capers (Capparis spinosa rupestris) grows to a metre

Lomandra native mat rush

NZ Spinach

Santolina

wrote in message
...
What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er
swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the
weeds.

i have some purple ajuga (aka bugle flower) which is the hardiest, most
weed-excluding ground cover i have ever seen. it doesn't care if you walk on
it (although you'd eventually wear a path, i suppose).

possible points against: when flowering, it's covered in bees, & some people
seem to attract bees, which could be comical (yet unfortunate) near a
swimming pool.

i'm also unsure how it feels about salt, but considering its general
unstoppability, i'd say that's not too much of a problem (particularly since
it wouldn't get _that_ much salt on it).

ground-covering verbenas are also pretty vigorous & basically impossible to
kill, but don't exclude weeds quite so effectively.

kylie

wrote:
What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the weeds.

Wandering Jew, if it can be contained
http://www.weeds.asn.au/weeds/txts/wand_jew.htm

--
Anne Chambers
South Australia

anne dot chambers at bigpond dot com

On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:43:46 +1000, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:

What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er
swimming pool in Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense
groundcover to stop the weeds.

How far from the pool? Will it experience the patter of little feet? What
is the soil like? What have you tried there?

It is a new pool, I had 5 m of garden mix delivered so the soil will be very good. I
haven't tried anything yet, but the plants will be between 1 and 2 m from the pool so they
will probably get splashed.

There are things that will grow in salty soil but they are not likely to
take foot traffic and they are not that dense that they will exclude
everything else. Maybe somebody else can name a miracle plant that will do
the job but I would be thinking of astroturf or pavers.

I had one idea in case people tread on them, juniperus conferta, very spiky! :-)

On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:37:43 +0800, Loosecanon wrote:

Lomandra native mat rush

Is there a beach version of this?
The ones I know are fresh water only and all have spiky tips and can cut
hands if you are not careful. that is the large easy to grow ones. the
lovely small ones do mat well, but are exceedingly slow growing and I'm
sure they are not impact resistant.

wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:43:46 +1000, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er
swimming pool in Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense
groundcover to stop the weeds.

How far from the pool? Will it experience the patter of little
feet? What is the soil like? What have you tried there?

It is a new pool, I had 5 m of garden mix delivered so the soil will
be very good. I haven't tried anything yet, but the plants will be
between 1 and 2 m from the pool so they will probably get splashed.

There are things that will grow in salty soil but they are not
likely to take foot traffic and they are not that dense that they
will exclude everything else. Maybe somebody else can name a
miracle plant that will do the job but I would be thinking of
astroturf or pavers.

I had one idea in case people tread on them, juniperus conferta, very
spiky! :-)

So dealing with foot traffic is not an issue and the sun and soil are good.
Hopefully the small amount of salt won't be a big problem either, it will
tend to leach out to some extent in a high rainfall area like Sydney. It
seems to me you have quite a range of choice. Why not get some books from
the library that have landscaping plants or plants by usage category (eg
Swane's 'Australian Gardening') and go through the chapters on ground cover
for some you like.

David

"terryc" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:37:43 +0800, Loosecanon wrote:

Lomandra native mat rush

Is there a beach version of this?
The ones I know are fresh water only and all have spiky tips and can cut
hands if you are not careful. that is the large easy to grow ones. the
lovely small ones do mat well, but are exceedingly slow growing and I'm
sure they are not impact resistant.

Probably no beach version but they grow in sand and clay. They can handle
wet and dry conditions. They are not growing in the pool so should be able
to handle the occassional overflow from bombies. My experience is that they
grow quick and tuft out but maybe that is Perth's climate being ideal. I
have seen these cut down to 15cm and back up to normal height in a year.
They are at a medium height so would detract people walking on them. You can
mulch around them to which will keep the weeds down until they are
established.

On 16/06/2010 4:23 PM, Anne Chambers wrote:
wrote:
What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er
swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the
weeds.

Wandering Jew, if it can be contained
http://www.weeds.asn.au/weeds/txts/wand_jew.htm

No wandering jew please.
It will takeover.
Try some of the low growing Aussie native plants.

Eremophila maculata "Spotted Emu-Brush" Arid Outback


A compact rounded shrub 4'x4'.


Narrow shiny green leaves and spotted long red tubular flowers winter
and spring.

Followed by glossy oval fruits. Grows well in light to medium soil in
full sun or

partial shade, an attractive rockery and tub plant.

Well established in Phoenix gardens. Plant In clusters for best effect.

writes:
What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the weeds.

Harbourside, couch grows in the beach sand where it now and then gets
covered with salt water. Buffalo does well on soil which occasionally gets
inundated by salt water. Pennywort seems to thrive in wet soil very close
to the waterline.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:30:50 +1000, wrote:

What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the weeds.

Concrete ??

On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 06:17:56 GMT, "0tterbot" wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er
swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the
weeds.

i have some purple ajuga (aka bugle flower) which is the hardiest, most
weed-excluding ground cover i have ever seen. it doesn't care if you walk on
it (although you'd eventually wear a path, i suppose).

possible points against: when flowering, it's covered in bees, & some people
seem to attract bees, which could be comical (yet unfortunate) near a
swimming pool.

Or quite disasterous and deadly, if someone is, or becomes allergic to bee stings.

i'm also unsure how it feels about salt, but considering its general
unstoppability, i'd say that's not too much of a problem (particularly since
it wouldn't get _that_ much salt on it).

ground-covering verbenas are also pretty vigorous & basically impossible to
kill, but don't exclude weeds quite so effectively.

kylie

wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:30:50 +1000, wrote:

What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er swimming pool in
Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense groundcover to stop the weeds.

Concrete ??

Painted green ?

--
Anne Chambers
South Australia

anne dot chambers at bigpond dot com

Anne Chambers wrote:
wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:30:50 +1000, wrote:

What would be the hardiest groundcovers to use next to a sal****er
swimming pool in Sydney? It is a sunny position. I want a dense
groundcover to stop the weeds.

Concrete ??

Painted green ?

Green paint will wear off and require re-painting. Add green colour to the
concrete and it will last forever.

David