40 
House & Garden 
GROUND COVERS FOR THE NORTH 
Have You Ever Considered a Grassless Lawn?—Here Is a Method of Treating that 
Patch Where You’ve Never Been Able to Get a Good Sod 
HUGH SMITH 
The black area on the map represents the states in which the plants 
listed below can be expected to prove satisjactory as ground covers 
GRASSLESS lawn seems 
at first thought to be an 
anomaly, for we have come to 
think of the word lawn as syn¬ 
onymous with turf. Few people 
have appreciated the possibili¬ 
ties of using plants as ground 
covers to replace sod. Their 
use, however, opens many pleas¬ 
ing opportunities for the about- 
the-yard man who is desirous of 
bettering the garden-like effects 
of his home lot. 
Ground covers have many 
uses, but we shall consider them 
here only as a replacement for 
grass. The plants make a good 
substitute on slopes too steep to 
grow sod satisfactorily, and in 
shady locations where difficulty 
is met in raising grass. They 
conserve labor because frequent 
clipping is not necessary to keep 
them in order. This phase appeals to the busy 
man of today who mows his own lawn. Their 
more natural and informal appearance endears 
them to many plant lovers, especially those who 
like to escape at times from the more stereo¬ 
typed methods and materials of planting. Most 
of them, too, are flowering plants and lend a 
gay touch of color to the home setting. 
In making the study to find those plants best 
adapted to this use in the North, I have taken 
the North to mean those states where Kentucky 
blue-grass is the predominant variety of grass 
used in lawns. This gives us a reasonably 
uniform area of plant growth which is graphi¬ 
cally shown, by the black portion of the map. 
The plants, together with notes on the con¬ 
ditions best adapted for them, are given in the 
chart. In Group A they are listed in the order 
of their widespread use as indicated by the 
recommendations of the agricultural experiment 
stations and the citations in extensive collateral 
writings. Group B comprises those plants not 
given a consensus of citations but which are 
worthy of trial. It is thought best in this sec¬ 
ond group to indicate the special location where 
each plant has proved its merit for ground- 
cover use. These lists give the home-maker a 
wide range of choice in whatever locality he 
may reside. 
Once established, the ground-cover lawn 
maintains itself well, increas¬ 
ing in compactness each year. 
^^'here sumach is used it is ad¬ 
visable to cut over the patch 
each autumn with a scythe. 
This encourages low and heavy 
growth. 
The remainder of the plants 
need very little care, with the 
exception of Hedera helix, 
English ivy, which in the more 
northerly states is apt to win¬ 
ter kill unless protected with a 
covering during the severe 
weather. It is worthy of note, 
in connection with English iv}', 
that it may sometimes be used 
very effectively as a combina¬ 
tion with grass, instead of an 
out-and-out substitute for it. 
The darker shade of its leaves, 
and their different contour, are 
pleasing when they appear 
among the grass blades about a lily pool, sun¬ 
dial or other garden ornament feature. In 
most cases the plants need some pruning to 
prevent their overruning the grass and domi¬ 
nating the situation. 
The greater freedom in the architecture of 
all homes, combined with the utilization of a 
vastly varied terrain in each municipality, 
gives an equal freedom in the use of plant 
materials to meet these new conditions. 
Ground covers offer charming possibilities for 
adapting the setting to the home of today. 
Their use increases greatly each year, and we 
may look forward to seeing them firmly estab¬ 
lished as a solid principle in landscape work. 
Scientific Name 
Common Name 
Average 
Conditions 
Shade 
Sandy 
Conditions 
Color 
Additional Information 
GROUP A. 
Lonicera japonica var. halliana 
Hall’s honeysuckle 
X 
Yellow and white flowers 
Vine 
Vinca minor 
Periwinkle, (Jround myrtle 
X 
X 
X 
Blue flowers 
Vine 
Rosa wichuraiana 
Memorial rose 
X 
White flowers 
Vine 
Ampelopsis auinquejolia 
Virginia creeper, Woodbine 
X 
Dull green foliage 
Vine 
Cdastris scandens 
Bittersweet 
X 
Scarlet berries 
Vine 
Evonymus radicans 
Creeping evonymus 
X 
Vine 
Forsythia suspensa 
Weeping golden bell 
X 
Yellow flowers 
Shrub 
Hedera helix 
English ivy 
X 
X 
Vine 
Lycium chinensis 
Matrimony vine 
X 
Red berries 
Vine 
Rosa setigera 
Prairie rose ’ 
X 
Deep rose to white flowers 
Shrub 
Lycium vulgare 
Matrimony vine 
X 
Vine 
Rhus aromatica 
Fragrant sumach 
X 
Shrub 
Symphoricarpos vulgaris 
Coral berry 
X 
Small red berries 
Shrub 
Berberis Thunbergii 
Japanese barberry 
X 
Red berries 
Shrub 
Clematis paniculata 
Virgin’s bower 
X 
Small white flowers 
Vine 
Fragaria chiloensis 
Wild strawberry 
X 
Herbaceous plant 
Lonicera japonica 
Japanese honeysuckle 
X 
Vine 
Nepeta glechoma 
Ciiil-over-the-ground, Ground ivy 
X 
Light blue flowers 
Herbaceous plant 
Pachysandra terminalis 
Japanese spurge 
X 
X 
Herbaceous plant 
Tecoma radicans 
Trumpet vine 
X 
Vine 
GROUP B. 
Shrubs 
Amelanchier botryapium 
Dwarf juneberry 
X 
Illinois, Pennsylvania 
Amorpha jruticosa 
False indigo 
X 
Dark purple flowers 
Kansas, Pennsylvania 
Jasminum nudiftorum 
Yellow jasmine 
X 
V ellow flowers 
Maryland 
Juniperus sabina 
Dwarf cedar 
X 
Montana, Nebraska, N. Dakota. Evergreen 
Ligustrum vulgare 
Privet or prim 
X 
Leaves smooth. Black berries 
Pennsylvania. Evergreen 
Vines 
Bignonia radicans 
Trumpet vine 
X 
Nebraska 
Clematis virginiana 
Virgin’s bower 
X 
White flowers 
Maryland 
Evonymus radicans variegata 
Japanese evergieen ivy 
X 
Maryland. Evergreen 
Rosa 
Baby rambler roses 
X 
White to carmine flowers 
Washington 
V itis 
Grapes 
X 
Massachusetts, New Hampshire 
Eckinocystis lobata 
Wild cucumber vine 
X 
X 
Colorado 
Herbaceous Plants 
Lysimachia nummularia 
Yellow myrtle 
X 
Massachusetts 
Mehlotus alba 
Sweet clover 
X 
X 
White flowers 
Kansas 
Phlox subulala 
Moss pink 
X 
X 
Pink and white flowers 
Kansas, Massachusetts 
Sedums 
Stonecrops 
X 
X 
White to purplish. Yellow 
Illinois, Minnesota 
Ajuga reptans 
Bugle plant 
X 
X 
Blue flowers 
