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Ground covers are low-growing plants that are excellent for filling in bare spots or greening up an area where only rocks will grow. More and more people are trying to go more 'green' are replacing grass lawns with ground covers as it requires no mowing or chemicals to keep it green and healthy. Some varieties, such as sedum, are even being used on roofs to help absorb rain runoff and filter the air.

Ground cover is very easy to grow if you give it a good start. Till up the soil and remove any grass, weeds, rocks or debris. Sprinkle the soil with about a cup of bone meal in a six-by-six foot area and rake it in. Next place your groundcover plants about eight to ten inches apart. Many nurseries or even places like Wal-Mart or Home Depot are selling little six-packs of sedums, thyme or creeping Jenny to give you a quicker start. After you've planted your ground cover, tamp it down by gently stepping on the little clumps to press the roots into the soil, but don't crush the plants. Next, water well, or better yet, plant before an anticipated rainfall. Most any variety of ground cover will take it from there. A light sprinkling of dried, composted manure in early spring and late summer will help feed it. Or you can make manure tea by soaking a pound of manure in a five-gallon bucket of water and using this tea to water the plants.

Ground covers for Full Sun:

Hot, dry, sunny areas are often a problem when it comes to perennials or annuals, but there are a number of ground covers that thrive in these areas. Sedum is one perennial that will live a long and happy life in hot sun. Blue Spruce, Dragon's Blood and Daphne Sedum, quickly fill in any dry sunny area even with poor soil. You will have an easier time starting these in loose soil sandy soil or sandy loam. If you have heavy clay soil, building a raised bed of five or six inches will help get them started. Sedum comes in yellow, red, and bluish/green foliage give you a nice selection of colors to mix or match with existing plants. They grow to a maximum of six tp eightinches tall and do a great job of crowding out weeds. Sedums are often used for 'green roofs' where plants replace shingles. They have a very shallow root system, so require limited amounts of soil. They drink deeply during rains and help hold the soil in place during heavy downpours. For this reason they also work well on slopes. Sedum is hardy in zones 3 - 9. Once sedum is established you'll have more trouble keeping reining it in that

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