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Shrubby area needs groundcover.....
D0rdogne_Damsel
Posts: 4,184
I am looking for ideas too for my bit of 'wilderness' garden. It's up in the corner adjacent to a farmer's field and my absent neighbour's 'garden', so always a fight against nettles, bracken and brambles. I have given everything a really hard cut back and clear out to the boundaries.
It is quite shady because there's a few big trees overhanging from the neighbour, including a giant holly tree. I have a laurel/rhododendron hedge border, which I am trying to keep just about head height (bear in mind I am quite short so not that high 
)
)In that corner there are mostly shrubs, Pieris, Mahonia, Kerria and an Hydrangea, then a couple of apple trees before it joins my rose garden. There is a little path all the way around between the fence and the shrubby area. It has taken me two days to clear the ivy and nettles from this path, I am going to put some woodchip mulch around it now it's clear to try and keep the definition of the path.
So, the problem is the shrub area. It is clear of weeds. There are some hellebores already there, some lovely snowdrops, which I have divided and spread around a bit more. There are some primroses that have sort of done their own thing, I am going to re-site them this afternoon to a more suitable spot, along the edge of the path I think. There is some Vinca Major which has got a bit carried away with itself, I think I might give it a haircut and try and get some cuttings in in appropriate places. But, what else can I put in to serve the purpose of groundcover so I am not looking a bare soil between the shrubs. Something tolerant of shade and acidic soil, that might give the nettles a run for their money and won't need much maintenance from me, it really is a bit of dead corner but I do want some element of control.
As ever, ideas, advice and thoughts and suggestions always appreciated.
- “Coffee. Garden. Coffee. Does a good morning need anything else?” —Betsy Cañas Garmon
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Erythroniums should like it there and pulmonaria too and probably bergenias. I'd have thought heucheras would be good too and vinca minor which I prefer to major.