The traditional lawn has received a lot of heat over the last few years with many recommending alternatives such as micro-clovers and specialized lawn blends. In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing are joined by Kathy Jentz, author of Groundcover Revolution, to discuss the groundcover plants you can use to create a beautiful lawn alternative of your own.

About Kathy Jentz Kathy Jentz is the editor and publisher of the award-winning Washington Gardener magazine, based in Washington, DC. She hosts the popular GardenDC Podcast and is co-author of The Urban Garden and author of Groundcover Revolution.

Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:

• What inspired you to write about groundcovers and lawn alternatives?
• Can you define the term groundcover?
• Do you consider step-ability?
• What zones do you cover?
• What benefits do groundcovers provide to our gardens?
• What is green mulch?
• How do we transition from groundcover to green mulch?
• Do you have favourite groundcovers?
• Do you need to prune or cut back any during the year?
• To quote your book “so many plants, so few pages.”
  • How do we start narrowing down our choices when selecting the right groundcovers?

Stepping Stones

Listener questions:

• Is groundcover expensive?
• Does the groundcover get very big? What is the average height?
• Does planting groundcover help with erosion? If so, what is the best to plant for this issue?
• Doesn't groundcover attract rodents in your yard? It leaves a nice place to nest and hide.
• I hear the term "carpet forming" regarding groundcover. What does this mean exactly?

Tips to take the next step in your gardening journey:

• The best selection of fruit trees and shrubs is at your local independent garden centres right now.  
• Trees and shrubs can be planted now, but softer herbaceous material is still too tender and should be brought in at night.
• Sod is available and ready for planting. Be sure not to let it dry out as it will take a few weeks to fully root and access the water in the ground below.

Find Kathy Jentz online:

Washington Gardener Twitter Feed:  @WDCGardener 

Washington Gardener Instagram Account: @wdcgardener

Washington Gardener Pinterest Account: @wdcgardener

Washington Gardener Facebook Page: @WashingtonGardenerMagazine

Washington Gardener Youtube: @washingtongardenermagazine

Washington Gardener Amazon Store: www.amazon.com/shop/wdcgardener/  

Washington Gardener Bookshop Store: https://bookshop.org/shop/WDCgardener 

Washington Gardener Podcast: GardenDC

Washington Gardener TikTok: @wdcgardener 

Resources mentioned during the show

Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden

Groundcover Revolution

GardenDC Podcast: Groundcovers vs. Ground Covers

Down the Garden Path Podcast

Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes.

As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.

In their new book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. It's now available on Amazon.

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