Hi,

We live in the Northern Virginia area (near DC) and have a hilly area off of
our front porch (it goes downhill from our walkway) that is partial shade.
One side of the hill is the front of the house/foundation, and there's a
grassy area at the bottom of the hill.

We had originally had planted some Vinca on the hillside, and it seemed to
do pretty well for about 3 years, but weeds (some kind of grass) have taken
over. We chose the Vinca originally because we wanted ground cover that
wouldn't invade into the grassy area at the bottom of the hill or damage the
front/foundation. Also, we have a lot of deer roaming around, and my wife
wanted something that they wouldn't completely devour.

Anyway, it seems like the Vinca won't do well in that area, so we're
thinking of digging it up, putting in some new top soil, and planting some
Juniper (the spreading kind).

Can anyone tell me if this would be a good or bad choice? Will the Juniper
invade the grass area and/or damage the front wall/foundation?

Thanks in advance,
Jim

"Ohaya" wrote in message
news:3r31d.2024$fA1.291@lakeread02...
Hi,

We live in the Northern Virginia area (near DC) and have a hilly area off
of
our front porch (it goes downhill from our walkway) that is partial shade.
One side of the hill is the front of the house/foundation, and there's a
grassy area at the bottom of the hill.

We had originally had planted some Vinca on the hillside, and it seemed to
do pretty well for about 3 years, but weeds (some kind of grass) have
taken
over. We chose the Vinca originally because we wanted ground cover that
wouldn't invade into the grassy area at the bottom of the hill or damage
the
front/foundation. Also, we have a lot of deer roaming around, and my wife
wanted something that they wouldn't completely devour.

Anyway, it seems like the Vinca won't do well in that area, so we're
thinking of digging it up, putting in some new top soil, and planting some
Juniper (the spreading kind).

Can anyone tell me if this would be a good or bad choice? Will the
Juniper
invade the grass area and/or damage the front wall/foundation?

Not the best choice - junipers really prefer an area that gets full sun.
Much shade and they get a tendency to fungal disease called tip blight,
specially the groundcover forms.They will also be leggy and sparsely
foliaged. Japanese spurge or Pachysandra terminalis is an evergreen
groundcover that does very well in shade. It is taller, denser and faster
growing than the vinca, so will supress weeds better. And it is supposed to
be deer resistant, although deer can eat anything if they are curious or
hungry enough.

pam - gardengal

Not the best choice - junipers really prefer an area that gets full sun.
Much shade and they get a tendency to fungal disease called tip blight,
specially the groundcover forms.They will also be leggy and sparsely
foliaged. Japanese spurge or Pachysandra terminalis is an evergreen
groundcover that does very well in shade. It is taller, denser and faster
growing than the vinca, so will supress weeds better. And it is supposed to
be deer resistant, although deer can eat anything if they are curious or
hungry enough.

pam - gardengal


Hi Pam,

Thanks. We'll take a look at that. What about the grassy area and the
foundation/wall? Will the Pachysandra be a problem with respect to
that?

We had originally considered "crown vetch", but after doing some
searching, we nixed that because it is apparently really invasive (into
the grass), and we did not want that.

Would the Pachysandra be ok?

We're still kind of puzzling over what happened to the Vinca. It was
really doing well for a number of years, then all of a sudden this
spring, "Bam!", it was being overwhelmed.

Thanks,
Jim

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 17:50:24 -0400, "Ohaya"
wrote:

Anyway, it seems like the Vinca won't do well in that area, so we're
thinking of digging it up, putting in some new top soil, and planting some
Juniper (the spreading kind).


*I* can send you some Vinca that will choke out *anything* else,
but...

You might want to check on the drought tolerance of the juniper you
pant to use. Inexperienced landscapers installed half-a-dozen at my
house (200mi south of you) and they were all dead within 3 years after
a couple of dry summers.

And after ten years when they are just way too big, call your local bonsai
group and someone will come dig them out and haul them off for you :)

John


"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 17:50:24 -0400, "Ohaya"
wrote:

Anyway, it seems like the Vinca won't do well in that area, so we're
thinking of digging it up, putting in some new top soil, and planting
some
Juniper (the spreading kind).


*I* can send you some Vinca that will choke out *anything* else,
but...

You might want to check on the drought tolerance of the juniper you
pant to use. Inexperienced landscapers installed half-a-dozen at my
house (200mi south of you) and they were all dead within 3 years after
a couple of dry summers.

I got very low ground hugging juniper and love the look with mulch underneath.
Ingrid

"Tex John" wrote:

And after ten years when they are just way too big, call your local bonsai
group and someone will come dig them out and haul them off for you :)

John


"Frogleg" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 17:50:24 -0400, "Ohaya"
wrote:

Anyway, it seems like the Vinca won't do well in that area, so we're
thinking of digging it up, putting in some new top soil, and planting
some
Juniper (the spreading kind).



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