I’m working on expanding a flower bed that is currently all mulch between the flowers/plants. If I was to replace most of the mulch with a ground-cover plant, would that impact any other flowers/plants from coming up as they grow?...
We’ve done white clover in our 3 beds, between all the flowers, for the last 2 seasons. We do, still, apply a layer of mulch at first frost but that’s because we’re Zone 4b. I love my clover, I think it fills the empty spaces really well, it’s a nitrogen fixer, so I feel like it’s helping the other flowers, and as long as the other plants are already established, the clover hasn’t snuffed out the “good” plants, just the “weedy” growth. The only 2 things to keep in mind are (1) I found if I plant small/really young plants while the clover is established, the clover will need to be plucked until the new flower has good growth. And (2) the clover itself can get a little wild, but again, we bring it right down and mulch in the winter. Good luck!
It’s a little hard to tell from the picture alone, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt, but it does appear to be etiolated. Direct sun (or what we think of as direct) might not be the issue necessarily. Sometimes consistent, lower levels of light can help maintain lower growth — for example, using a plant lamp for ~12 hours a day, pointed more specifically towards the base. A good rule of thumb is to hold your hand between the light source and the plant and check how “sharp” the shadow is. A sharp shadow means the light is strong, a fuzzy shadow means the light isn’t going to be as impactful. Aside from light, if the lower leaves are turning yellow and also mushy, or yellow and also crunchy, it could be a watering issue. And then there’s always plants who like to decompose their own leaves in an attempt to regain some energy reserves. Maintaining a diluted fertilizer schedule could help. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start! But little adjustments over time is always a step.
I posted a picture of this plant on Reddit a while back proud of how long its vines had gotten. A jackass Redditor commented and said that the plant was light starved (he had more to say, but I’ll leave that out)....
I think it looks lovely. Something I like to do with vining plants is propagate the extra long vines and pot them back into the same pot. It’s a fun way to have more plant babies, more vines, and a fuller looking pot!
Question about ground cover and flowers (Zone 6)
I’m working on expanding a flower bed that is currently all mulch between the flowers/plants. If I was to replace most of the mulch with a ground-cover plant, would that impact any other flowers/plants from coming up as they grow?...
What am I doing wrong with this? (kbin.pieho.me)
It seems to grow fine, then it gets leggy and the bottom leaves fall off. I cut the tops and plant them and then the cycle repeats....
Is my plant OK? (lemmy.world)
I posted a picture of this plant on Reddit a while back proud of how long its vines had gotten. A jackass Redditor commented and said that the plant was light starved (he had more to say, but I’ll leave that out)....