There was a recent thread which mentioned Vinca minor as a potentially
good ground cover plant where it could be confined by hard landscaping
edges.

We have a large roadside border between our boundary wall and the
pavement. It is supposed to be maintained by the LA but they long ago
ceased to manage it due to budgetary constraints and advised us to
look after it ourselves. It is planted with mature conifers, some
shrubs and some tete a tete narcissi and primroses for a bit of spring
colour.

The border is in shade for much of the day and the soil is poor. To
keep the weed growth in check we were thinking of laying bark
chippings or planting some ground cover. It occurs that Vinca minor
might be useful given the growing conditions but a question is would
the Vinca strangle the tete a tete and primroses? The border is
bounded by our wall on one side and the pavement on the other which
should contain it.
--
rbel

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:

I have V. minor alba growing in a shady corner on poor soil, and it is
slowly smothering everything else of comparable size there, which
includes primroses and English bluebells, so I doubt your tete a tetes
would survive. But it is slow, like it's been growing there several
years and hasn't yet completely overwhelmed everything. If I made the
effort, I could probably control it. V. major OTOH is a thug! I have
it at the opposite end of the same bed, behind a greenhouse, and the
other day I saw it pushing up through the greenhouse floor!

Yes. It doesn't completely overwhelm full-sized daffodils, but
does stop them spreading - the tete a tetes would have trouble,
and the primroses no chance.

To be fair, V. major doesn't push - it sneaks - you will already
have had a gap there. It is lily of the valley which pushes,
and can hold its own with V. major!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2014-05-06 17:35:08 +0000, rbel said:

There was a recent thread which mentioned Vinca minor as a potentially
good ground cover plant where it could be confined by hard landscaping
edges.

We have a large roadside border between our boundary wall and the
pavement. It is supposed to be maintained by the LA but they long ago
ceased to manage it due to budgetary constraints and advised us to
look after it ourselves. It is planted with mature conifers, some
shrubs and some tete a tete narcissi and primroses for a bit of spring
colour.

The border is in shade for much of the day and the soil is poor. To
keep the weed growth in check we were thinking of laying bark
chippings or planting some ground cover. It occurs that Vinca minor
might be useful given the growing conditions but a question is would
the Vinca strangle the tete a tete and primroses? The border is
bounded by our wall on one side and the pavement on the other which
should contain it.

You could also look at Pachysandra terminalis.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On Wed, 7 May 2014 17:59:00 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 2014-05-06 17:35:08 +0000, rbel said:

There was a recent thread which mentioned Vinca minor as a potentially
good ground cover plant where it could be confined by hard landscaping
edges.

We have a large roadside border between our boundary wall and the
pavement. It is supposed to be maintained by the LA but they long ago
ceased to manage it due to budgetary constraints and advised us to
look after it ourselves. It is planted with mature conifers, some
shrubs and some tete a tete narcissi and primroses for a bit of spring
colour.

The border is in shade for much of the day and the soil is poor. To
keep the weed growth in check we were thinking of laying bark
chippings or planting some ground cover. It occurs that Vinca minor
might be useful given the growing conditions but a question is would
the Vinca strangle the tete a tete and primroses? The border is
bounded by our wall on one side and the pavement on the other which
should contain it.

You could also look at Pachysandra terminalis.

Many thanks for the suggestions. We have Bugle in one of our
wildflower beds and Pachysandra in a shrub bed, I was hoping for
something with a somewhat longer flowering period which I believe the
Vinca provides, but if it is likely to swamp the tete a tete and
primroses an alternative will be necessary.
--
rbel

On 06/05/2014 18:35, rbel wrote:

There was a recent thread which mentioned Vinca minor as a potentially
good ground cover plant where it could be confined by hard landscaping
edges.

We have a large roadside border between our boundary wall and the
pavement. It is supposed to be maintained by the LA but they long ago
ceased to manage it due to budgetary constraints and advised us to
look after it ourselves. It is planted with mature conifers, some
shrubs and some tete a tete narcissi and primroses for a bit of spring
colour.

The border is in shade for much of the day and the soil is poor. To
keep the weed growth in check we were thinking of laying bark
chippings or planting some ground cover. It occurs that Vinca minor
might be useful given the growing conditions but a question is would
the Vinca strangle the tete a tete and primroses? The border is
bounded by our wall on one side and the pavement on the other which
should contain it.




How about Chiastophylum oppositifolium? It would cope with the
conditions, spreads well and flowers late spring into early summer,
effectively taking over in flowering from the Narcs Tete a Tete and
Primroses. It may even mingle well with the bugle (Ajuga) that was
suggested. It would be nice to find something that would offer
flowering later in the summer, otherwise the border will be without
bloom then. Possibly Campanula poscharskyana (sp?) which will tolerate
some shade, but may flower less.

http://www.farreachesfarm.com/Chiast...um-p/p2505.htm

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay