The Yard Stop Garden Center Podcast

Ground Cover Plants

The Yard Stop

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0:00 | 27:40

If you're a low maintenance kinda landscaper than you won't want to miss this episode! You can utilize your ground cover space with just plants and we're telling you how. 

Join Emily and Zoe with their special guest, Heather for an educational conversation. 

https://youtu.be/bQCObBXCRW4https://yardstopgardencenter.com/


SPEAKER_01

Welcome back to the RCO podcast. Thanks for tuning in, guys. There's three of us here today. I'm Emily, my co-host Zoe, and our guest speaker Heather. We're excited, guys. Today we're going to be talking about the ground cover plant. Heather, welcome to the podcast. Heather works in the sales office. He's worked here for five plus years, right, Heather? Yep. Awesome. And he also comes with a lot of plant knowledge as well as doing all the thought sales. That's a fun. You love that? I do that. I love the thought. I think we should get started. Absolutely. We've got a lot of questions for you. So once again, welcome. I think me and Zoe are going to be taking asking questions. Zoe, do you want to start first? I'll hand this mic back over to you. This is a really fun podcast, guys. Free way.

SPEAKER_00

Um, how did you get your knowledge on ground cover plants?

SPEAKER_02

Um, it'll be over the years. So it's basically working here. Start off like at the Leesburg location, and then did most of the ordering in plants there. And over time, you just figure out what you like, and it helps having an interest in plants, and then you just gotta go know what works, and then you go from there, just accumulate over time, and you do have an interest, yes, that's genuine, that's organic.

SPEAKER_01

You do. I think your information is more valuable if you really want it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, do you have gone cover at your house?

SPEAKER_02

I do, I do. I use it as uh my grass because I hate sod. Oh you don't like sod? I am a low maintenance person. Artificial turf? No, that's expensive.

SPEAKER_01

Wait, organic, low maintenance person. She's an organic girl. I'm sorry. I don't know why I took the mic from you. Oh, it's okay. I mean, honestly, if I don't have to hold it, I'm okay with it. Okay. Okay, so you use ground cover in place of sod. So you can do that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you got your two main choices, they're gonna be Sunshine Mimosa, which we have, and perennial peanut, which we have. You want to do the EcoTurf perennial peanut because that acts more like grass. The golden perennial peanut turns more of a yellow, hence the golden in the name. Hence the name. Yep. And sometimes people get confused when things turn yellow that they think they're dying when it's actually supposed to be that color. So ecoturf is the better choice. It spreads, it has a nice little yellow flower, and then you can mow it. I did Sunshine Mimosa because I found that it's a little bit more hardy, and it's I planted one plant, and now the whole front of my yard is covered, and I don't have to worry about weeds, I don't have to worry about maintaining grass or sod or anything like that. That's insane.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I didn't know that was a thing.

SPEAKER_02

It's a thing, it was just for beds. I don't know if it can be a thing for HOAs because they've got their their requirements. Um, but yeah, it's a thing that you can do instead of having to do all the chemicals and all the watering for your sod.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Uh, what ground cover plants? I feel like she just answered this. Would she recommend? Oh, for like county zone 9B, which would be what you just said, right? Shonzamiosa?

SPEAKER_02

9B, I don't have like off the top of my head list. If there's the ground covers that we carry work for this area, and ground cover category is kind of weird because it's really gonna be subjective on the person. Basically, it's something that covers the ground. Sometimes it's spreading, it continues to cover the ground, sometimes it's mounding, and they call it a ground cover. So for this area, you're gonna see a lot of sunshine mimosa, the perennial peanut. You got jasmine, which is gonna be the ground cover, the Asiatic jasmine. You have different types of color on that. So uh the Blue My Mind, that's considered a ground cover. Wait, the blue days blew my mind. Oh well, blue days are technically the same thing. Blue My Mind is the proven winner version of it, and we found that it performs better. So that's what we carry here at the yard stop because during the hot summer and the cold winters, it just is more resilient than the actual blue days. So think of them like sisters, one's better than the other, though.

SPEAKER_00

How tall and wide do ground cover plants grow? Depends on this one.

SPEAKER_02

It's really subjective again. So typically, when you think of a ground cover, you're probably thinking maybe three inches up to a foot. That's something that stays low, is what I have in my brain as a ground cover. Maybe a foot's a little too high, but when the name, it's anything that covers the ground, really.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

So, like with the Blue My Mind, it can get up to a foot and then it can spread, I think maybe two to three feet. So it's a nice little clump. So we got some clumpers, but if you do the Asiatic jasmine, that's gonna spread out to maybe like six to twelve feet. It's basically just gonna be a vine that goes on the ground and it can go to town and and make a beautiful ground cover.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_02

So it's really it's kind of tough to give you specifics. Um, you'd have to just look at each plant that you like and then see how it performs and then what kind of look you want.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Wow. Um, and then I feel like some would be for shade and some would be for sun.

SPEAKER_02

True. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Can you name a few of your favorites for sun and a few of your favorites for shade?

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Sun, you got sunshine mimosa, perennial peanut, your tricolor jasmine. That's the most beautiful jasmine in my book. You got the wheel, the the white, the pink, and the green leaves, and it actually blooms. So that's kind of cool. Where the other one's just green. Yeah, plain green. And um as far as shade, you have a juga, which is a cool plant. It gets a flower and it has some pretty cool leaves. Uh ground covering in the shade. You can also use Mondo grass. So you do have a grass that can help kind of go through through things there. Uh it doesn't really perform like a typical sod, so it performs more like a plant, right? Let's see what else is in the shade world.

SPEAKER_01

You got a lot in your pocket there.

SPEAKER_02

I have to go kind of like go walk through the shade house in my brain and see what we got.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I mean, you did name a few. I feel like if customers or people really wanted to know what we have, they could just come visit the yard stop themselves.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, because it is going to be very subjective on what they like. There's some succulents that can actually perform as ground covers. So if you have like the rocky terrain, sandy terrain that nothing grows in, then it would be good to do a succulent, but they're classified as succulents. No one really times to think about them as ground covers, but they can spread and do that sort of like sedum. Is sedum like a ground cover? Can be a ground cover. Um you got the portulaca, the purse lane, those can do the same thing. There's even uh rosemary, it's called rosemary carpet. That can be a ground cover, creeping time, also ground cover. We did just get creeping time in this year, and that sold pretty well. So we'll try to continue to get that. It's just hard to find. Rosemary carpet, also very hard to find. Wow. Can tend to not perform so well, right? Um, and if you want, you can also always like put ivies on the ground. Any sort of vine can go on the ground and and spread out. It's just you got to be aware of where it's going.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Um, I'm curious too, if you can put it in the ground and it spreads, you can also put it like plant it in a pot and it'll just instead of spreading, it'll just kind of fall on the sides, right? Yeah. So you can put most, you can put all ground cover plants in pots, or is it just some?

SPEAKER_02

You can. Um, it depends like how vigorous it's gonna grow, if you have to give it to a bigger pot or if it's gonna stay root-bound and what kind of look you're going for. Like if you put the blue my mind in a pot, right? It's just gonna stay there and look nice and clumpy and beautiful. But if you put something like the jasmine in a pot, then you're gonna get that trailing effect.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_02

So you just gotta know what the plant does.

SPEAKER_01

What yard layouts would you recommend ground cover plants for? Or can anyone, if they just don't want to do sod, can anybody do it for any yard?

SPEAKER_02

Um, typically with the landscape jobs, they like to do the tiered thing. So you start with ground covers and then you work your way up in height based on the plants, but it's gonna be totally subjective, up to the customer. Right. They want to see what they want to do. Some people like to they have the oak trees that they think are bare underneath, and then you can plant like some jasmine underneath it, so you can have some something covering the ground. Um, I've seen laria peas planted around it that are able to do well, but that's not typically considered a ground cover, but it still does the same effect. Yeah. Uh oyster plants, oh geez, they they'll go anywhere and do anything for you. They're quite resilient except when the cold.

SPEAKER_00

Would there be a type of ground cover that's more hardy when it comes to the winter versus one that's not?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Umosa, perennial peanut. Those are more hardy. More hardy. Uh trying to think what else. Your jasmins are gonna be nice and hardy. So your purple queens and the oyster plants, they are very cold sensitive. So it'll look like they've melted after if they've gotten a frost. They'll probably come back because they're just I don't know, they're vigorous that way. Um, but there is a good chance that that they won't. So those are kind of hit and miss. What else blew my mind? That one, it can take some damage, but it's also sometimes depends on how cold we get. So, whatever ground cover you're looking at, you want to find out the cold hardiness and just do a little bit of research on each plant so you know exactly what you got, where to put it, and if it's a good fit for you.

SPEAKER_00

Um, can ground cover plants be invasive? If so, which ones? And do we sell them?

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. Invasive in the terms of like an invasive species in in Florida, we don't carry those. We don't like to carry in invasive plants. Now, as far as invasive as it going places that you don't want, that could be the oyster plant because it likes to travel. It could be the purple queen, it likes to travel. Um, some of the succulents, like if do you have the mother of millions? That's the mother of millions, millions. What is this? It's the succulent, kind of looks like a donkey ear, but all of the babies are on the edge of the leaf. And any sort of vibration, if you touch it, and they just spread everywhere. It is the mother of millions. So the wind takes it, it's gonna cover. It's not technically thought as a ground cover, but it does the job quite well. I think it's maybe a calendar, something in that family, but it's insane. Once you have it, it's there, you're gonna dig it out. Some people love it. Obviously, I'm not too fond of it.

SPEAKER_00

So I just off subject, I can't imagine going out to my backyard and stepping on like a succulent. And I mean, for your grass, sensory.

SPEAKER_02

So you're thinking ground in in your brain, ground cover is what you're gonna use instead for sod as grass.

SPEAKER_00

Right, like if I walked outside, like is that not weird?

SPEAKER_02

Not really, but if you have an area that you don't want weeds to grow, you could put that succulent ground cover in because it's beautiful, you like it, and it's gonna cover that. Not as a natural grass, though. It's gonna joke out.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, okay. But as far as I think of ground cover as something that would go in a bed, it's news to me hearing it from your yard, bro. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I am the lowest makeup.

SPEAKER_02

Don't start on grass. Don't run my sprinklers, and I don't want to do any chemicals, so yeah. Sunshine mimosa, you can walk on it like grass. That's no problem. Perennial peanuts, you can do the same thing. Pretty sure you can do the same thing for jasmine. Those are like the three that are could be pseudo-sawed with the look, but most of the time it's gonna be perennial peanut or sunshine mimosa.

SPEAKER_00

Well, speaking about care, um, and you you know, experience this, how much watering, mowing, or pruning do they require?

SPEAKER_02

So if you're using it as like a yard, right? Um, I did nothing. I just planted in the ground and let the rain take care of it. So mow it? I can I mow it. Oh, yeah, you're from the watering. Yeah, just watering. I don't do any treatment on it.

SPEAKER_01

Um, I bet your yard looks amazing too.

SPEAKER_02

It's just doing a lot better than what the sod was used because I didn't do anything with the sod. They just let it go. Oh yeah, this looks really good. I don't do anything with it, dude. Yep. So pretty peanuts the same way, low maintenance. You can put like a sprinkler system on it to make sure that it gets what it needs. Um, sunshine momos are the same thing. I just don't because I saw it out in a pasture and it was doing just fine. And I was like, that's the plant for me. So if it can grow out here, it can grow my yard. Yeah, and all I do is I mow, I use my little weed eater, and when it flowers, all the bees are happy. The little pink pom-poms pop up. Wow, and then you look like little Dr. Seuss house for a hot minute.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that's adorable. I love that. Yeah, yeah, that is pretty cool. So then that takes us into the next question on I guess like the maintenance, watering, mowing. I just did that saluteing. Oh, my bad. We did that, we covered that. Okay. So, but it really depends on the plan. Like, watering and fertilizing.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you can fertilize. This is it depends on where it's gonna be for you. So we have a bunch of ground cover options, and it depends on who you are. If you like going out there and you want to fertilize, like you should fertilize because the soil's pretty depleted here. So if you unless you put like good dark dirt in and you continually do some compost on it. But yeah, you should fertilize, you'll get the best out of your plant. You should weed it, and then you should go in. And if you want to shape it, however you want to shape it, that's fine. Junipers can also be a ground cover, pretty low maintenance, right? Um, but you can't really walk on those. That's gonna be more of a decorative edging type of situation.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, so there are ground covers that are more for decoration and succulents for sure. Yeah, like I feel when I see like when I think of like ground cover, like succulents, I see them planted around like a tree base, like edging or something like that, but not something that I would plant like in my yard to walk on.

SPEAKER_02

Right. So it's all up to what you want, really. I mean, you could do like a whole yard of juniper, right? I don't think that would look the best and it won't be that cost effective, but you could do it. It's just all on like how you want things to look, and if you live in a HOA, what they'll allow you to do.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_02

So if you want a yard that you can go and you can walk around and you can play in, then I wouldn't advise doing juniper.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But if you want something that is like a zero escape that you don't have any yard and you want just rock, and then you can have like a low juniper edge, that would look nice. So it there's a there's different strokes for different folks.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's real. I don't think we can say that. I don't think we can. I think we can leave that in there. I mean it's true. You know, that's why there's so many plants because everyone's got a different stroke. Put in quotation marks. Um man, we love this one. I think we will. We'll leave it in there. You think? I don't know. Different strokes for different folks. Um, would you need to laugh at it? Oh, um are there common pests or diseases that ground covers are prone to?

SPEAKER_02

Uh yeah. If anything gets too much water, it's usually gonna develop a fungus. That makes sense. Pest. Uh yeah, you know, I have the common ones, um like mealy bugs. I've not really experienced seeing too many of those on the ground covers. I don't know why. So I was it's a it's a possibility for sure. Right. But I don't I've not come across it as being something that's super problematic. I know, because like um hibiscus in the rainy season, they begin to develop a bunch of mealy bugs because of the nitrogen and the water. Yeah. But if if I have mealy bugs on my hibiscus, I'm looking at my sunshine mimosa and it's just fine.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So yes, it's a potential problem, but I don't really see it happening too often.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Sounds like ground cover plants are very like hardy. Yes, like they're durable if you take care of them the right way. Um, well, I guess this brings us to our last question. Did you want to do the last question, Zo? No, okay. Oh, okay. I'm gonna take it away. Um would you say that can you can you use certain ground cover plants as like a bugger pellet repellent? Would you say a what? A bug repellent.

SPEAKER_00

A bug repellent. A bugger pellet. I was like, what the heck is it?

SPEAKER_01

A bugger pellet? Yeah, bug repellent. So it could be the same thing, or it could be like a new word, new way to say bug repellent. That's why I was bug pellet. I'm gonna come out with a bug pellant spray. Okay, sorry. We're off topic. Bug pellet.

SPEAKER_02

Um not really. So the whole bug repellent thing, it's a great idea. And there's like lavender and lemongrass and like the citronella, which yeah, they can repel bugs, but it's only when you're kind of petting the plant and rustling the leaves and getting that oil to excrete from disturbing the plant. There aren't any ground covers that I know of that have any sort of bug repellent situation. Maybe that creeping, the creeping rosemary or the rosemary carpet. Yeah. But then you'd have to go out there and you kind of have to like crush it up a little bit to get that smell for that smell to come out.

SPEAKER_01

So, in theory, they technically can be bug repellent if you would like extract it and like right, really manipulate the and it's gonna be like plant or whatever.

SPEAKER_02

What bugs are you talking about? Are we talking about fire ants? Nothing's gonna get rid of fire ants. Are we talking about mosquitoes? Maybe maybe if you planted some right, um, lavender, that's not gonna be a good one. Lavender doesn't perform too well around here, it's a little bit too humid, too much moisture, and it develops a fungus and can die pretty easily. Yeah, but if you keep it in a pot and then you tender, love, and care, then you can go out and you can move it around and it can emit its smell. But I've not really experienced any ground cover that can keep those nuisance pests away in a big way.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like you'd have to have a massive acre farm with nothing but you know, that kind of plant for it to actually be effective if it was going to be effective.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I would love to go to a lavender farm and see if I get bit by a mosquito. Yeah, I would just I'm willing to bet I would.

SPEAKER_01

I'm willing to go mosquitoes don't like me.

SPEAKER_02

They don't like you.

SPEAKER_01

Oh you want to share? That's there's no way.

SPEAKER_02

How do you bear that cross? See it's real tough.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, that runs a bit. I'm just like, what's up? What's up?

SPEAKER_02

Don't even know what you're getting bit by. That's pretty sweet. What blood type are you?

SPEAKER_00

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. Do you know what hairs is? Yeah, of course. I don't think we should feel bad though, because you know, um, I just went to go get blood, get blood, get blood done, you know? Give it, yeah, yes, that part. And I did not ask what my blood type was. I don't even know why. I just forgot. Like I do not know what it is, and I was right there in the process. That's so dangerous, you know. Like we should know that. Dangerous? Yeah. Like if I was like a type, what what how many types are there? Three.

SPEAKER_02

Four. A, B, O. And then you got all the R H.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, three. A, B, sorry guys, we are A B. So we are labeling at this point. B, O, and then A B, and then all the positive negatives.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_02

This is quite a rabbit trail.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we really should have.

SPEAKER_02

But mosquitoes do suck blood, so I feel like it could have definitely been. I need mosquitoes, and as far as plants go, I've tried them all. I did have some of the um like citronella grass. You have to go out there, shake it up, and then the wind would come and carry it away. Yeah. I mean, it's a nice thing to have the wind blowing, and then it's for you to enjoy and smell. But as far as mosquitoes, it's just you're gonna have to do those uh like mosquito dunks. So where you attract them and then they just go in and die. Or you just maintain a least amount of water in like birdbath or something, something where they can't hang out.

SPEAKER_00

But I want to make two.

SPEAKER_02

Blind mosquitoes, there's no thing that detracts them. Yeah, just they attracted by white or light.

SPEAKER_00

It's pretty crazy though. A lot of people advertise that, you know, if you get this, then you push away the mosquitoes. Like even Melody with her, this is off subject. Melody with her um houseplant talk class or whatever. Uh-huh. People were like, oh, well, I want to have my house be purified with the air. I want the plants to clean my hair or whatever. And she's like, you would literally have to have your entire room filled with that plant to actually make a difference in your home.

SPEAKER_02

Well, yeah, to purify, but to add oxygen and she's like, they advertise it as it purifies your home.

SPEAKER_00

One's not gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02

Right. One tiny little four-inch isn't gonna do it. But if you have like a one-gallon snake plant in each room, it's definitely not gonna help improve, like minutely improve. Right. But yeah, I mean, NASA did it, and they're all in like a little tin can, and that's how they're testing it. And it would it would be nice to know if they had all of those plants in there. How many plants did they have to give off this sort of stuff? Right. Plants are great, and you just gotta know how they work for you and what they can do.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, agreed.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, mosquitoes.

SPEAKER_01

It's been a great podcast, guys.

SPEAKER_02

Blood type.

SPEAKER_01

Blood type.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, um eucalyptus. We do cover, we have that now. That might be a little bit more powerful of a plant because their oil is stronger. So there's like the eucalyptus. No, it's not a ground cover, it's a plant. We're talking about bugs now.

SPEAKER_00

We've moved on from covered. Okay, so okay, bugs. Eucalyptus. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Eucalyptus.

SPEAKER_00

Like that's a ground, that's a ground cover?

SPEAKER_02

No, not a ground cover.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We have it. Eucalyptus. You could cut some of the branches, dry the leaves, put it on the ground wherever you want them not to be, whatever. But that I think is probably the most powerful one if you just had a plant to choose from. Right. Yo.

SPEAKER_01

Um, it's been fun, guys. It's been real. I hate to be the party crasher, but we better end this. And it looks like I'm doing the intro. Exit. Oh. Oh, I did the intro. Oh, sure. I think you should. Because you know, this is a team effort. I think Heather should. So we need a recap. Can we call like your audio cast, like shoes off, audio cast? Oh, that is so fun. I did notice Heather's got like she just got comfy, took her shoes off, and she's got stripe socks. And I love that. I love that you feel organic and right at home.

SPEAKER_02

I just had an idea. What invasive plants, invasive ground covers. Fun fact sod's invasive. Is it? Yeah. Like crazy invasive? For not for Florida. It's not supposed to be here. They brought it in. So we were once a nation without grass? Florida.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02

Not the next person. Oh my god. Florida is a beach. It's sand. Grass doesn't grow in sand. That makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_00

That's why we're sandy. Yeah, that's why it's a pain. That makes so much sense, Heather. There you go. Because we are literally grass and everyone has to replace their things. I wonder nobody can garden here.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Wow. Did you get a compost? Why do we sell it? Well, it's because you got people coming down from the north and they're used to it. And then when they come down, they're like, oh, this isn't grass. This is crap grass. Well, yeah. This is the only grass that'll grow down here.

SPEAKER_00

I feel like everyone should know this. Is saw a technical ground cover?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Grass is the ground cover.

SPEAKER_00

Well that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01

It's not a plant, though. It's a plant. It's a weed.

SPEAKER_02

Plants are weed. Weeds are plants. Weeds are just things you don't like, but they're still plants.

SPEAKER_01

Alright. This just makes so much sense to me right now. This is really spider.

SPEAKER_02

You know that little that little flower that pops out white and it's got the little yellow center, kind of looks a little like a baby daisy, but you walk past it, you get all the stickers. Yeah. Yeah. That's a spider war. It's a weed, right? But it's great. It puts nutrients back in the ground and it's a good medicinal herb. So now to you it's a weed, but somebody else smells like chamomile. Isn't it chamomile weed? It grows alongside the road. Is that how you classify weeds? Weeds is just something that you don't like. That's all a weed is. It's like another man's trash is one man's treasure. That's all a weed is. Yeah. So to me, sod is a weed, but sunshine mimosa is a plant. I like it. But I had a lady come in and she's like, What is this thing? I was like, Oh, that's sunshine mimosa in your yard. She's like, It's all in my yard. It's like, yeah, you can leave. She's like, No, it's a weed. I want it gone. So she thinks of it as a weed.

SPEAKER_00

She thinks of it as a weed. You think of grass as a weed because you hate grass. Yep. It's all personal preference on what's a weed. Wow. Different scoops for different people.

SPEAKER_01

Different scoops for different weeds.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Well, that's it for now, guys. Thanks for tuning in. If you liked our podcast and want to hear more, we post a new episode every Tuesday. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Follow our Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with our events and weekly posts. And don't forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you guys in the next episode.