I would like to suggest a forum for Groundcovers, and am testing this out for interest. I am a new user of this webforum so am not that familiar with it.
Based on this and your other posting, I think all you really want to do is start a thread, in which you ask which ground covers have the qualities you seek. You can start it in the "annuals perennials etc" forum or on the hortboard, I would think.
Well, in reply to KarinL about using Annuals and Perennials, I guess that's true, but one has to wade through a lot of other stuff... I am mainly at the moment interested in groundcovers and would like to focus on that for a bit -- hardiness in Vancouver Island in winter [especially recently], walkability, denseness, any bloom, etc., etc. Since there is a move away from grass, I think it would be a valid interest group. We'll see how many agree.
My apologies for a tardy reply, but I wholeheartedly agree with janetdoyle on this subject - ground covers seem to so broad in scope and can dramatically change the appearance of a garden, not to mention make life much easier in the sense of less weeding and whatnot, that a Forum focused on this particular subject may indeed be a nice addition? Here is a brief snippet from an article extolling the versatility and inherent value of ground cover: There are always those spots in your garden where grass just doesn't seem to grow or that are either too rocky or rooty for shrubs. Groundcovers can solve all kinds of gardening problems and are often well suited to these areas. Groundcover also demands much less maintenance than a lawn as the they need only water and don't need mowing. They are useful in areas around stepping stones where grass will only be trampled. Groundcovers, along with being a great aesthetic plant, are often used as erosion control. Steep slopes, where rain water can wash away the soil, are often successfully planted with groundcovers. Their roots will hold the soil in place and prevent runoff. Where mowing is difficult groundcovers are a useful alternative... {http://www.gardenvalue.com/art/a.php?a=5 -- Gardening with Groundcovers by R Birch} Anyway - I for one would throw my hat in for a vote that Groundcover Plants & Uses merits its own Forum...
Thank you to Laughing Dog, because groundcovers are usually desired for a particular reason, not so much as a garden but as an area needing cover which is also required to be attractive and relatively tolerant to either moisture or dryness -- or even a frontage or border to a garden and, in our case, as a small garden on a patio. We have tried for the first time this spring both blue- and white-star creeper and various thymes which seem to do very well, because garden centres in the Victoria-Saanich area of Vancouver Island have lots available, but there are others out there I wonder about. The small-leaved bright yellow-green Ogon, a type of sedum, is a pretty, vigorous but not invasive example, but does it really survive Victoria winters? I'll look for the book mentioned - I also bought Perennial Ground Covers by David S. MacKenzie (Timber Press, Portland, Oregon) via Amazon.ca, which is a very useful and large paperback volume with many groundcovers listed, but not a great deal of design or placement advice. Anyone interested in corresponding on groundcovers and what they do in the winter should lobby for a group on this topic -- I hesitate to give out my email address owing to the web-based email-grabbers which distribute spam.
