GROUND COVER TO PREVENT WEEDS IN NATIVE GARDEN BEDS? (forum)

Daniel12345 starts with ...
Hi guys,

We have native gardens around our house with rocks bordering edges to the grass. Despite, weed mat, newspaper, pebbles, bark chips we develop weeds like crazy and grass grows in the beds etc between all the shrubs...


Interested in ground cover plants (i.e 1cm to 20cm high) that will fill up the areas between shrubs thus preventing weed growth/ hiding weeds...... i am aware of a bright purple leafy plant that does the job, not sure what it is called...

Ideally we would have a combination of purple/ murone, yellow, green etc - a range of ground covers to solve the problem.

ideally, plants would be no maintenance, little attention, and put up with mixture of heaps of sun and limited sunlight...


Thanks in advance.

Daniel

Time: 21st June 2016 8:22pm

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GG says...
Hi.
Ground covers will rarely solve the problem in your situation in the short to medium term. Plant any and all the smaller plants you like and over time they will do the job provided they blanket ALL the light from reaching the ground.
If the grass you're fighting is buffalo or couch you can win. If you're fighting kikuyu you're stuffed no matter how much you plant.
I have found grass clippings do the job. Lay them heaped very thick into a mat (a few inches thick when freshly mown). They will: add nutrients to the soil; retain moisture in the soil; prevent light from reaching the soil; and will heat up during decomposition thus suppressing weed and grass growth. If you see grass shoots appearing in it, flip the heap/mat upside down to kill off the seedlings. Simple.
Good luck.

Time: 25th June 2016 11:06am

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About the Author GG
Lindfield
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