Here are two must-have winter workshop tools that make winter projects a breeze: The Reconnx Nail Kicker NR-101 and the Oneida Dust Deputy. If you want to use reclaimed lumber for a project, but it’s full of nails, the Reconnx Nail Kicker will save you loads of time. The Oneida Dust Deputy hooks up to your shop vac and stores the dust, preventing clogs. Originally published as "Winter Workshop Wonders" December 2007/January 2008 MOTHER EARTH NEWS.
The best ground cover plants spread readily to cover lots of ground without becoming unruly. These 33 plants are vigorous but controllable ground covers.
Shade Loving Ground Covers are an excellent option for sun-deprived areas. Pick one out for your garden from the given list.
Dichondra repens is a small, prostrate, herbaceous plant native to New Zealand and many parts of Australia. It is occasionally known as kidney weed in Australia and as Mercury Bay weed in New Zealand. Most commonly called dichondra in Australia. The plant often occurs in forest, woodland, and grassland habitat types. It can also be found in lawns, where it may be deliberately planted or come up as a weed. In California as well as parts of China it has escaped gardens and naturalized in some habitats. The plant is a perennial herb that has a creeping habit, with roots forming at the nodes. The leaves are kidney-shaped to circular and measure 0.5 to 2.5 cm (0.2–1 in) long. The base of the leaf is heart-shaped and its apex rounded. The upper and undersurface of the leaf are covered in fine hair. The tiny yellowish-green flowers can appear at any time of the year, more profusely from September to February and most so in November. The fruit is a hairy, two-lobed capsule.This species is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and can be used as a lawn substitute or ground cover in gardens. It comes in shades of green through grey. Season: Perennial USDA Zones: 8 - 11 Height: 2 inches Width: 36 inches Environment: Full sun to partial shade Foot Traffic: Light
Just about everyone knows what ginger looks like and that it's a tropical plant. Before modern international trade, fresh ginger was a real treat. Early colonists in the US found a tasty substitute that that
The best ground cover plants spread readily to cover lots of ground without becoming unruly. These 33 plants are vigorous but controllable ground covers.
Carnarvon Gorge National Park, Queensland, Australia.
WOODLAND SCENICS FOREST BLEND BUSHES (BAG)Models medium to high ground cover, such as bushes, hedges, shrubs and trees, and is the perfect product to make medium to large trees. Use for any scale.FC149 - Bushes Forest Blend Bag - 21.6 in3 (353 cm3)
Woodland gardens can encompass an entire wood or surround a modest cluster of trees but all seek to emulate the designs of nature.
There are many beautiful and resilient plants from the woodland understory of eastern North America that can enliven a shady landscape on your property and change your perception about gardening […]
Discover the world of Outdoor Plants that Grow Without Sunlight and add a touch of natural beauty to your living space.
The authors of Planting in a Post-Wild World make the case for breaking with horticultural tradition to create sustainable landscapes that are no less beautiful
According to Cheryl Meola many of following plants are mosquito repellents. You can find more info about the plants there on his blog here. This list also shares the plants listed on Prepper Centra…
Just about everyone knows what ginger looks like and that it's a tropical plant. Before modern international trade, fresh ginger was a real treat. Early colonists in the US found a tasty substitute that that
You’ve probably used groundcovers in your garden for some time now, whether it’s to control erosion, replace lawn under a shady tree, or simply to decrease garden labor. But here’s the thing — you can’t really eat ivy, mondo grass, or Asian jasmine, can you? Which brings us to our topic of the day: edible groundcovers. I love it when a plant does double-duty, don’t you? And when one of those duties is serving up a side helping of food, I’ll take seconds, thank you. If you’ve got some ground to cover and would like more food to eat, plant some of these and watch them take off. Edible Herb Ground Cover Plants Creeping Thyme: (Thymus serpyllum) This tiny aromatic herb offers a wide array of leaf color, tiny flower color, and heights. But they’re all adorable, edible, ready to choke out weeds and light up your pathways. Give it full to part sun (a minimum of 4 hours of direct sunlight a day) in order for it to perform its best, and extra soil moisture as it’s getting established. Once it’s established, it’s actually fairly drought tolerant, but it will still appreciate a little care every now and then. Because there are seemingly endless varieties of creeping thyme, each will have its own flavor, scent, and culinary uses. Prostrate Rosemary: (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’) This fragrant herb is often passed over in favor of its more upright, bushy form, but this trailing variety is a scented keeper. It’s more commonly observed spilling over walls, but it’s that very same growth habit that makes it an excellent evergreen groundcover. Pinch off some rosemary to garnish salad, add to marinades, and pump up your cocktails (rosemary simple syrup is divine) — just give it plenty of sun, well-drained soil, and enough water to get it going. Read More: Spiral Herb Garden Edible Desert Ground Cover Plants Mint: (Mentha spp.) Who doesn’t love mint? This fragrant, fast-growing herb can be quite the vigorous grower, so don’t plant it if you don’t truly want it to cover some territory. It grows best in full sun (but will take a bit of shade) and ample soil moisture. Harvest the tips regularly for salads, marinades, teas, lemonades, and cocktails — I even throw mint into my chocolate-flavored smoothies. Mint is a particularly ideal groundcover in-between stepping stones in walkways; it’ll release its fragrance as it’s brushed against. Alpine Strawberries: (Fragaria vesca) Now, while alpine strawberries don’t serve up the large fruits of the garden strawberry (Fragaria ananassa), their fruit in nonetheless amazingly delectable. And though you may not opt to cover a hillside with Alpine strawberries, you can successfully interplant them among your other veggies. Their ground-hugging habits are more manageable than garden strawberries because they don’t spread by underground runners, so you can plant them without anxiety. Give them full to part sun (if you live in a hotter climate), rich, well-drained soil, and consistent moisture. See Also: Cover Crops for Your Edible Garden Share The Garden Love
These beautiful compact perennials can be used as ground covers for shade to add interest to your garden while helping to keep the weeds down.
Ground cover plants can replace grass lawns with edible alternatives. Many of these hardy low-lying plants are edible, native species that will spruce up not just your backyard but your kitchen as well.
Get some shade garden design ideas and inspiration (with pictures) for both small front yard garden beds and larger backyard woodland gardens
How low can you grow? 😎 🌱
Cascade mountains photography of the forest in early summer. Enjoy a photo tour of a hike near Seattle, WA, on the Snoqualmie River.
Maianthemum canadense (Canada Mayflower) is a vigorous rhizomatous perennial with pairs of large, oval, wavy-edged, shiny dark green leaves, 3 in. long (8 cm), arising directly from rhizomes. In late spring to early summer, sprays of tiny, white, star-shaped flowers are held on delicate stems just above the foliage. They give way to showy, ruby red berries in late summer. Spreading by underground roots, Canada Mayflower is a magnificent ground-covering plant for woodland gardens. Do not plant it with other, less aggressive woodland wildflowers, as it would overwhelm them.
Woodland Scenics Forest Green Blend Bushes 353 cubic cm (21.6 cubic in) Particle size approximately 7.9mm - 12.7 mm (5/16 in - 1/2 in) Models medium to high ground cover, such as bushes, shrubs and trees, and is the perfect product to make medium to large trees. Use for any scale. Six realistic colorfast colors. Attach to Tree Armatures with Hob-e-Tac®. Use Scenic Glue™ to attach to layout. Purchase the Scenery Manual for additional information about how to use the Landscape System.
For the best prices on All Gold Japanese Forest Grass plants and many other Perennials and Ornamental Grasses, Shop online at Garden Goods Direct.
Japanese forest grass plant is slow-growing and requires little extra care once established. The plants are evergreen and show best in a partially shaded location. Read this article for tips on growin
Explore Edith J Carrier Arboretum's 447 photos on Flickr!
Learn about these 10 ground covers for shade that have stood the test of time and will grow and thrive in your shady spot.
Line defined: a long narrow mark or band, a straight or curved continuous extent of length without breadth, a contour or outline considered as a feature of design or composition, a notional limit or boundary, a length of cord, wire or other material serving a particular purpose... "Sight line" defined: a line extending from an observer's eye to viewed object or area. Jackson Pollock painting, Summer 1950, photo: Hans Namuth Image Source: National Gallery of Australia A simple line can be powerfully expressive thing. It can speak volumes of the action that created it: the rapid downward slap of a brush loaded with paint or the fluid gestures of an arm as it loops the dripping paint brush over the surface of a blank canvas. The gardening equivalent of a Jackson Pollock painting! The vertical line of a tree in Marion Jarvie's garden in Thornhill, ON In a garden, there are certain lines which the eye gravitates to and follows: the vertical line of a tree trunk, the curve of a pathway, a length of fence or the horizontal line of the horizon. Brian Folmer's Botanical Garden near Walkerton, ON The eye shoots along the simple straight line at high velocity. Speed lends a certain sense of drama to the distance the eye is able to cover so quickly. Private Garden in Rosedale, ON To pull off this kind high drama, you need to keep the eye focused and moving. I think this works best when the line of sight is created using a single material, in this case fine gravel. In this and the previous example, the plantings have been deliberately kept simple and repetitive to reinforce the linear perspective. Private Garden, Forest Hill, Ontario You might think that you need a big garden to effectively use the power of converging straight lines, but here we have a much more humble sized walkway as it intersects with a little courtyard just outside a suburban front door. The journey is not nearly as long, but the effect of projecting the eye in the direction of the urn is still quite effective. This is the garden that actually got me thinking about the subject of this post. In this backyard garden nothing stops the eye from shooting rapidly down one side of the garden, across the back and up the opposite side. Unlike my earlier examples, here the rush with which the eye travels down the parallel straight lines of the flowerbed and fence does not work in the garden's favour. There are no design elements present that invite you to relax or linger. I think that the unintended result is that you are much more likely to be dismissive of what is actually quite a nice planting. A simple quick fix for the problem would be to break up the fence line with vines, evergreens or small trees. She could also soften the line of rocks with plants that spill forward over the edges of the raised beds. Curves are more relaxed than straight lines. Private Garden on Ward Island near Toronto, Ontario When used well, a simple curve can feel like a bit of a grand gesture. Marion Jarvie's garden in Thornhill, ON As evidenced by the next three photographs of Marion Jarvie's garden in Thornhill, Ontario, the bold sweep of a curve also has a certain elegance to it. Marion Jarvie's garden in Thornhill, ON Marion Jarvie's garden in Thornhill, ON Private Garden, Brampton, ON The eye can still makes pretty swift work of a simple curve, but trek does not end as abruptly as it tends to with a straight line. The curvaceous lines of the flowerbeds in this garden in Rosedale, Ontario are more complex and it only stands to reason that it takes the eye much longer to make the trip around the garden. Private Garden in Rosedale, Ontario Again be aware that the objects you place in the garden can greatly impact your experience of it. Here a bench has been added to the previous image. The straight line of sight to the bench now trumps the sweeping curves of the flowerbeds. The effect on our perception is not better or worse; just different. Brian Folmer's Botanical Garden near Walkerton, ON When a line, in this case a path, vanishes into the distance it creates a sense of mystery. In terms of an overall strategy with your garden's design, it is not a bad idea to keep at least some of your cards close to be vest. Private Garden, Forest Hill, ON This looks like a woodland park, but is actually a suburban garden in downtown Toronto. Who knows what's just around the bend! And that uncertainty is intriguing. Private garden in Milton, ON- More of this amazing garden in the coming weeks There is no right or wrong in using lines in your garden's design. It's more about using lines to show off your plantings to their best advantage.
