Can we talk about ground covers?

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Ground covers are the basis of every landscape.

It doesn’t matter if its plants, rocks or mulch. Every landscape has some sort of groundcover

You're most likely familiar with the usual suspects:

- Mulch

- Pine Straw

- Rocks

Sometimes, trees like sycamores, maples, pines, and oaks are planted to produce mulch seasonally. Which reduces some of the need for seasonal groundcover installation.

BUT

Some of the best ground covers aren't any of those.

They're plants.

Plants like jasmine, drift roses or liriope can be planted en masse to create a unique look that could match any style landscape! Groundcovers can be utilized to fill in 'empty holes' in the landscape, and in return, provide you with tons of different patterns, flowers, colors, and textures instead of the weekly weeds that pop up in the typical landscape!

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Think about the life cycle of your landscape.

The truth is, in our environment:

• Rocks will

  · Age

  · Grow weeds

  · Fill in with debris and dirt
  
  BUT

  That’s not to say that rocks don’t serve their purpose! Rocks are an excellent choice for drainage issues like soil erosion. Just know that the ambient temperature around rocks is considerably higher than around other options like mulch. Make sure to leave room around the plants for the roots to breathe!

• Mulch and pine straw will

  · Need to be replenished regularly

  · Mulch will easily wash out on a slope without proper knowledge and implementation of drainage techniques

  · Grow weeds if not on a consistent maintenance schedule
  
  Organic mulch such as pine bark or pine needles is a great option to feed and protect your plants/soil throughout the growing seasons!

• Plants will

  GROW

Get creative!

Guide destructive runoff safely throughout the garden with an attractive option like this dry creek.

Plan For Growth!

If you like to see a lot of mulch in your flowerbeds. Make sure to plant with spacing in mind.

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Though we can take care of all landscaping needs here, we are gardeners at our core and believe that a true southern garden is loaded with these 'groundcovers'. Our long growing seasons paired with being in between the two rainiest cities in the country allows plants to grow on asphalt and walls/trees.

We simply believe that we should be embracing this gift.

That's the beauty of using living plants as a ground cover!

Healthy groundcovers are always growing and will easily crowd out troublesome weeds that would otherwise show up in empty spaces of the garden.

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But how much does installation cost?

The cost varies dramatically based on a few reasons:

• Market and availability

  · Sometimes growers aren't actively growing certain plants. This usually means that you're either going to be waiting a while, getting them shipped in, or substituting. Alternatively, some plants grow quickly, like liriope, which makes them more available. Others, like creeping cedars, tend to grow a little slower.

  · Plants and landscape materials alike have different price values. Wood, steel, stone and plants are all market price items.

• Preparation

  · Every landscape is a vastly different scenario. Some landscapes have optimal soil health and are a blank slate. Others may need unhealthy plants removed and some nutritional enrichment with amendments. Our goal is to provide the plants with an environment where they will thrive.

• Scope and Size

  · Are we planting on a slope? If so, that needs extra care

  · How soon do you want it to fill in? When planted in mass, adding or subtracting a few inches between plants could easily alter the number of plants by a third.
  
  · Is there extra scope beyond installing the groundcovers like irrigation or lighting installation? All of these play a factor into what goes into a landscape quote.

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