Need advice on plant selection
 

I have a small corner in my back yard where it rarely gets sun light.
When the house was built, it was sodded.
After 2 years, the grass (Bermuda) is dying/dead.
In addition to lack of sun light, the ground has eroded due to rain.
There is no rain gutter above this corner and it gets hammered when it
rains.
There is about an inch or two deep erosion in this area directly below the
roof line.
I am thinking about planting shrubs that can tolerate lack of sun light
and heavy and concentrated rain pounding.
Any suggestions?
I prefer something that grows slowly and would NOT grow more than 3-4 feet.

In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

I have a small corner in my back yard where it rarely gets sun light.
When the house was built, it was sodded.
After 2 years, the grass (Bermuda) is dying/dead.
In addition to lack of sun light, the ground has eroded due to rain.
There is no rain gutter above this corner and it gets hammered when it
rains.
There is about an inch or two deep erosion in this area directly below the
roof line.
I am thinking about planting shrubs that can tolerate lack of sun light
and heavy and concentrated rain pounding.
Any suggestions?
I prefer something that grows slowly and would NOT grow more than 3-4 feet.



You will need to re-build the soil there and put in a good creeping
ground cover to prevent additional erosion. Creeping myrtle is a common
commercial property landscaping creeper, and you can try some Hostas in
amoung that as they are a shade loving plant. ;-)

K.

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Jay Casey wrote:

I have a small corner in my back yard where it rarely gets sun light.
When the house was built, it was sodded.
After 2 years, the grass (Bermuda) is dying/dead.
In addition to lack of sun light, the ground has eroded due to rain.
There is no rain gutter above this corner and it gets hammered when it
rains.
There is about an inch or two deep erosion in this area directly below the
roof line.
I am thinking about planting shrubs that can tolerate lack of sun light
and heavy and concentrated rain pounding.
Any suggestions?
I prefer something that grows slowly and would NOT grow more than 3-4 feet.


If you are looking for something freeze hardy you might consider dwarf
yaupon holly. The relatively dense small leaves will break up the rain
and they don't grow too big. If the bermuda lasted 2 years it can't be
dark in that corner since bermuda is a full sun grass. I would also
suggest a thick mulch like shredded cedar to keep the soil from eroding.
Just try to get the rain to go through several buffering layers before
hitting the ground. Works for me.

Jay Casey Wrote:

I am thinking about planting shrubs that can tolerate lack of sun
light
and heavy and concentrated rain pounding.
Any suggestions?
I prefer something that grows slowly and would NOT grow more than 3-4
feet.

We have a ground cover in a small section of our back yard. It started
as about 5 plugs. It took about 5 years or so before those mostly
covered the area of about 4' by 20'. However in the summer it has to
be trimmed back about once a month so it doesn't overgrow the concrete
sidewalk. It is green year round. It has survived ice storms and days
on end of temps over 100 degrees. It does well when there's lots of
rain and with hardly any water at all.

The only thing I'd mention is when choosing a ground cover is not to
plant it near the house or garage. As it can creep/climb/grow up the
walls. Thus the ground cover growing there can weaken the wall
structure in time. Or there will be additional work in keeping it
trimmed back away from the wall. Also keep in mind that if choosing a
ground cover instead of something else that it is also a good place for
critters to make their home. Fortunately we've not had any problem with
snakes. We do however have frogs that live in ours. So in choosing the
type of ground cover you'd like choose not only on looks, rate of growth
and heartiness but what kinds of animals and insects it can attract
and/or repel.

His ~angel~


--
His angel

We have a ground cover in a small section of our back yard. It started as about 5 plugs. It took about 5 years or so before those mostly covered the area of about 4' by 20'. However in the summer it has to be trimmed back about once a month so it doesn't overgrow the concrete sidewalk. It is green year round. It has survived ice storms and days on end of temps over 100 degrees. It does well when there's lots of rain and with hardly any water at all.

The only thing I'd mention is when choosing a ground cover is not to plant it near the house or garage. As it can creep/climb/grow up the walls. Thus the ground cover growing there can weaken the wall structure in time. Or there will be additional work in keeping it trimmed back away from the wall. Also keep in mind that if choosing a ground cover instead of something else that it is also a good place for critters to make their home. Fortunately we've not had any problem with snakes. We do however have frogs that live in ours. So in choosing the type of ground cover you'd like choose not only on looks, rate of growth and heartiness but what kinds of animals and insects it can attract and/or repel.

His ~angel~