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GARDENER'S
READING ROOM
The
Art of Gardening
Lawn
Care
Stop
Mowing... Start Stepping with 
Have
you heard the word about our line of STEPABLE
ground covers? Not only are they great for planting between
pavers and used as pathways, try growing them as a grass replacement.
 With
a little care and moderate traffic it is easy to keep the
plants compact and close to the ground. Vigorous and perennial,
these perfect lawn substitutes will carpet an area that once
required mowing. Choose a weed inhibiting Stepable that is
semi-evergreen or evergreen to fill a large or small area.
Once established these Stepable plants take sun to part shade
and require two feedings with a liquid fertilizer, once in
the spring and once in the fall. There is a plant for most
soil situations, drought tolerant to moist soils and sand
to clay. Here is a list of Stepable lawn substitutes that
we keep in stock most of the season. So STOP mowing and visit
us to help you select the perfect lawn alternative.
- Azorella
- great, tough, low growing artificial turf-like look. Good
for a small area of lawn.
- Herniaria
- very low, tough, green to red foliage color in winter;
also great for a smaller area of lawn.
- Leptinella
squalida - gorgeous creeping fern-like foliage,
soft on the feet. Moderately fast spreader-use in larger
area.
- Potentilla
neumanniana ‘Nana’ - evergreen
runners choke out most weeds - use to cover slopes. Drought
tolerant once established. Yellow flowers cover entire plant
in spring.
- Sedum
lydium - brilliant green, fleshy succulent
leaves turn completely red in winter. White blossoms in
summer.
Others
include: Pratia,
Thymus coccineus,
Roman Chamomile,
Lotus plenus,
Mazus reptans, Lobelia
chinensis and Viola
hederacea.
By Sarah Garrison
Skylights Spring/Summer 2005, Vol 19, No. 2
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