Hello, we've recently removed the cement base cladding from the bottom 'skirt' of our bungalow, exposing the original vertical slats. To conceal flaws we decided to paint the slats a dark colour.
The problem I have now (which I also had before but it's worse now) is dirt splashing up from the garden strip in front of the house. Earlier this year I planted Hydrangeas in this strip with the hope that they'd grow bushy and fill a lot of the strip as a cheap and cheerful way of filling that space for a few years until it is built over with a deck.
Its a fairly large area to weed at the moment as well.
So! Ground cover! Mulch! Both!
I had a browse at garden carpets at Bunnings today and came home with a couple of Rosemary Prostrata. The label said it would have flowers from late summer through winter (which i like as the hydrangeas get very ugly through winter) but the research I've done online since I got home didn't seem to agree with winter flowering. I'm also wondering whether it would look ridiculous in the quantity I need it.
Would love any advice on the suitability of the Rosemary and any other solutions. :-D
oh_hunnihunni,
Nov 11, 6:30am
River stone mulch stops dirt splashing up. quite pricy though!
rodeoraz,
Nov 11, 6:40am
Did you mean to have a full stop in between river stone and mulch! Or is there such a thing as rivers stone mulch! At Bunnings today I saw they had pea straw and Lucerne for $19 for a 90L bag. No idea how far that would go though! And maybe overkill when it's not a vege garden!
thejewellerybox,
Nov 11, 8:50pm
Ajugagrows faster than rosemary and will be able to cope when the hydrangeas start to shade them.Ajuga also flowers late winter through to spring, which will work with the hydrangeas . Add a few punnets of allyseum or violas as they will spread fast while everything else gets going.
rodeoraz,
Nov 11, 11:46pm
Thanks so much for those suggestions thejewellerybox!
So would you suggest I plant the Ajuga at it's recommended spacing but fill some of the space temporarily with allyseum and voilas!
eagles9999,
Nov 12, 12:08am
While as you say Hydrangeas dont look too good in Winter they are very easy to grow from cuttings so you could plant a lot morequite cheaply
rodeoraz,
Nov 12, 12:28am
This is true. I have planted them with the current spacing because this is what it said on the label. Perhaps I could temporarily fill the space with some cuttings and then transplant them elsewhere when they start getting too big!
laurenlee,
Nov 12, 1:51am
I have beautiful hydrangeas,and underneath i planted flat growing campanula.They do well in shade or sun and have masses of blue bell -like flowers-(starting flowering now actually,)but a dainty leaf all year round.I never have to weed because they are such a good cover
oh_hunnihunni,
Nov 12, 3:50am
No full stop missed out, river stones make a good mulch. Ask vintners, lol. The stones let moisture drain through and hold it in the soil, moderate sun and frost temperatures and prevent soil loss - by splash erosion or wind. Just get them from a landscape supply company, rather than harvest your own.
enpointe,
Nov 12, 5:51am
I would do gravel over weedmat.
rodeoraz,
Nov 13, 1:02am
Thanks for all your suggestions!;-)
oh_hunnihunni, I must have "river stone mulch" out the back then. We have a square framed area covered in river stones (with weed mat underneath) for the washing line and raised vege garden.
Pity there isn't enough to steal some for the front. Mind you - those things are kid magnets! Both my young children and other visiting children seem to be drawn to picking them up and carrying them around. They end up all over our lawn :-/
oh_hunnihunni,
Nov 13, 1:34am
They are so deliciously tactile. I carry a bunch of them around with me from house to house, white flat ones. I make 'drawings' with them in my gardens, spirals, lines, circles. They glow at night under a good moon. Lovely things, So I understand the kids.
rodeoraz,
Nov 13, 9:01pm
I've been going through our budget which is looking very sad for covering 9 sqm with groundcover. :(
But! I have talked to the local school who has a massive pile of wood chips from a tree that was cut down a while ago, and the caretaker said I can help myself! Yay!
I read that wood chip can inhibit nitrogen as it breaks down but this is not necessarily a bad thing for my hydrangeas!
Anyway, I'll give that a go in the short term and look into your suggestions a bit more to plant in the future.
Thanks heaps :)
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