“Ground Cover ?”
Yakima Area Arboretum, WA
Meandering along in the Yakima Arboretum Japanese garden, I looked down and saw this stringy ground cover. It was full of oranges, purples, greens, yellows, and turquoise colors. I don’t have any idea of what kind of ground cover it is, but I really need to get some for our Heatherwood garden.
“Hillside Ground Covers”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
The above image illustrates what we are trying to do with ground covers throughout our Japanese-influenced garden area. As the garden matures, ground covers will fill in the majority of barked areas. They provide color and texture contrasts complementing the evergreen and deciduous shrubs. They soften the hard rocks as they grow around and over them. They change color from summer to winter providing special color highlights throughout the year. Ground covers are the focus of our 2022 Heatherwood landscaping project.
“Blue Rug Juniper and Woolly Thyme”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Many times I walk through our garden with my camera focusing on a simple objective. Contrasting colors and textures in our winter garden was my photographic theme during this day’s garden stroll. I consider our Heatherwood garden as one big experiment. This little vignette is the result of two seasons growth of a creeping juniper and a soft-textured thyme. It provides a tight contrasting ground cover in our Japanese influenced garden. More thyme has been ordered for this year’s planting project to provide additional interesting ground cover for the garden.
“Ice Plant Sedum”
Heatherwood
To compliment the various winter interest shrubs and perennials, we have added various ground covers. The one with the most brilliant winter impact is the ice plant sedum. From its bright light green summer color, it turns into an intense orange-red color in late fall and winter. With a light dusting of snow it is particularly striking.