British Columbia: What to Plant in Mossy Area?

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by coast, Apr 9, 2012.

  1. coast

    coast Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Nanaimo, BC
    I have a part of my lawn where the moss has taken over and rather than fight it I've been wondering whether there are some other plants that might grow well here. What should I plant? Thanks!
     
  2. mort

    mort Active Member

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    Location:
    Victoria BC Canada
    In the mossy areas in our yard, the early bulbs and wild flowers do well, especially if one does not need to mow the stray grass for a while. Depending on the height of the plants, you might consider low lying ground covers like creeping flox, violets or sedum. Slightly higher ones could be sweet woodruff,carpet bellflower campanula or perrenial candytuft. I have epimedium in an area of dry shade that has nice year round interest.
     
  3. coast

    coast Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks! I'll give those a try.
     
  4. Barbara Lloyd

    Barbara Lloyd Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    Anacortes, Washington, USA
    Spring:
    The tiny grape hyacinth (Muscari)
    Blue bell - wood hyacinth
    Hyacinth - lilliaceae
    Dwarf daffodills

    summer:
    Violas - may colors in small sizes
    Agree w/ Mort on the rest.
     
  5. coast

    coast Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks Barbara, I really appreciate those suggestions.
     
  6. Tree Nut

    Tree Nut Active Member

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    Location:
    PNW
    Plant blueberry plants. They love the acidic soil, have flowers in the spring, delicious berries in the summer, and fairly reliable fall colour.
     
  7. coast

    coast Active Member 10 Years

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    Nanaimo, BC
    Sounds like a great idea. I love blueberries and if they like acidic soil, I'm all for it. Thanks!
     
  8. Anna Kadlec

    Anna Kadlec Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    South Surrey, Canada
    I think all the suggestions are good ones, but based on personal experience, I recommend that you stick with the slightly taller plants / groundcovers. I have a rock garden that borders a very mossy lawn and I grow the typical rockery plants there. However, some of my low growers (like creeping phlox) get overrun by moss year after year. The moss smothers them quickly.
     
  9. coast

    coast Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks for that reminder - I was thinking of groundcover but I definitely don't want the moss to cover it!
     

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