For all you landscapers...I need some suggestions.

I absolutely adore vinca. I have a lot of slopes in my yard too, and the vinca does really well there. It makes a good ground cover. You have to keep it coralled -- it'll take over everything given half a chance. But that hardiness is part of what I like about it, too. It's nice and dense and crowds out most weeds (I usually have to wade in there and get out the occasional dandelion or poison ivy sprout).

It also tolerates low light very well.

I also just like how it looks. Mine is in bloom right now, periwinkle (another name for vinca!) flowers everywhere.

good choice

This is totally crappy... the picture didn't import right into AppleWorks and I didn't get the side part which I wanted... but a rough idea:



It looks like your lawn is at first rather flat, then dips down. I made a line where I thought it started to really dip. I'd recommend planting vinca just from there down, and enforcing that line where the lawn meets the vinca. Then you have the driveway on one side, road presumably at the bottom, what's on the right side though?

I'm most emphatically NOT a landscaper -- still pretty clueless about most of this, but learning, and I have a yard similar to yours. (Lots of trees, meaning that most of my yard is part or full shade, and lots of slopes.)

You could also have a curvier shape to the vinca area, and then plant flowers (impatiens or other part-shade or full-shade plants) along the driveway...



Doesn't have to be flowers either, could be hostas or coral bells or something. (Well, they have flowers too, but the leaves are the interesting part.)

Sweet potato vine.

When I bought a crape mytle 3 summers ago, a tiny spring of this was growning in the pot.

By the end of that summer, it covered the entire garden.
I did my best to pull it all up, but in the Spring it came right back.
Last Summer I just dealt with it, keeping it in check by pruning back it seemed constantly.

This year I finally got it all up and out.

You just can't kill it.

Oh, don't get me wrong, it's very pretty, and I like it. It just wasn't in my plans for my garden, since it's small. It will just take over.

It has dark dark purple leaves, the new growth is bright green. The underside of the purple leaves are a different color, and it was enchanting when a breeze would flutter them around.

Kudzu?

No kudzu Roger - thank you very much!

Soz - you went above and beyond! Thank you so much! I love the idea of the vinca. and I like how you made the curvy parts in there ...the right side of the yard is the same...many trees and it slopes down to the road. I might try to get a pic for you of the whole thing....it's a mess right now. I have spring wild flowers and lots of little wild violets, I won't let the Prof. cut them until they start going away...let the neighbors talk!

I like the sweet potato vine idea as well Chai. I have big planters I put out in the summer, in between the azaleas there in front of the steps...I may fill those with the sweet potato vines...that way they won't take over, but I would still have color.

I can't wait to tell the Prof. I am ready to get some color up there too. I am thinking about paining my front door red. I like red.

Thank you all so much !

Hey Soz - does the Vinca come back each spring or do you have to replant it?

I like Vinca minor (oh, never Vinca major) for its prettiness in some situations - but it is an exotic invasive; birds carry it - see Green Witch's post here -
http://able2know.org/topic/118082-1#post-3280422

and this from Invasive.org -
http://www.invasive.org/species/subject.cfm?sub=3081

I hesitate to do suggestions for a climate and land I am so unfamiliar with re humidity, etc., Mismi. I will though suggest hiring a professional for a consultation - a local well respected landscape contractor - or at the least, that you ask your question in the absolute best nursery somewhat local to you - or look around the local arboretum for similar planting situations (they usually have some signs with the plant names), if there is one. Also look around your neighborhood..

On 'landscaper'.. that could be anybody, any mow blow go person.

There are also groundcover type shrubs worth investigating.

Yeah, I painted my front door red too! Well, more of a crimson-red

The vinca should do very nicely, great idea! Around the tree you could
plant colorful impatiens to give it more color. Here pink caladium with impatiens

That's very pretty Jane...hmmm...I am trying to figure out how to get them all in there....I would have to find a job this summer too...HA! not gonna happen.

Thanks! I am going to take some pics of the entire yard tomorrow so you can see. from the top as well...it will give you a better idea...and you will see what a mess it is right now....but it has wildflowers!

The whole point of gardening is the hard work and great expense.

If you don't fancy that what's up with letting it grow naturally. It doesn't look to be in the way.

Are there any local garden clubs? County extension agent?

Both are really good sources of information - and sometimes plants. Some people might be happy to trade ground cover for some wild flower plantings.

good idea, our local garden club has a plant and seed exchange every spring and fall

I've got vinca in a couple of trouble areas in my yard. They don't bother the strong native plants (co-exist nicely with johnny jump-ups and the like), and stand up well to kids' foot traffic. You can't crush the stuff - just dent it, more like. I've tripped in it a couple of times when I wasn't paying attention but that was my fault.

You live in a city, ehBeth, and I've specified it in cities with no problem, at least that I'd ever heard back about.. but we've no clue how close Mismi may be to southern forests.

Beth lives in a city with harsh winters. I am not liking the idea of vinca in large patches in the south. Even here in MA, it invades wooded areas with abandon. As Soz says, it sort of squelches other weeds. In the woodlands, weeds=native wildflowers.

So, you have two landscape types warning you away from vinca. It'll do the job, be uniform and potentially boring in large swaths, but may invade into local landscapes.

I won't see the plant guru until the weekend, but I am not a big vinca fan for mass growth either...

(there is other verra cool stuff for the planter with pizazz)