Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Saturday - July 27, 2013
From: Seattle, WA
Region: Northwest
Topic: Groundcovers, Shade Tolerant
Title: Growing non-vascular moss as a lawn from Seattle WA
Answered by:
QUESTION:
I have lots of moss in my back yard. How can I encourage it to grow over the whole yard?ANSWER:
The thing is, Mr. Smarty Plants limits himself to answering questions on vascular plants native to North America. We have so many questions on native vascular plants, we would never even come close to keeping up if we also answered questions on non-vascular plants like mosses or non-native plants such as Banksia grossa (native to Australia).
From wacona.com, this article Plant Groups explains the differences between vascular plants (our specialty) and non-vascular plants (mosses, algae). From Moss Acres, here is information on Growing Moss. From what we can see, to grow moss as a lawn, you need damp conditions and a whole lot of shade.
More Groundcovers Questions
Planting creeping phlox for a groundcover
June 13, 2014 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
I live in Southwestern PA (zip code 15065). I have a small slope on my property that is hard for me to mow. I would like to cover it with creeping phlox, which I saw on t...
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Low Groundcovers for Pennsylvania
September 18, 2015 - Hi Mr Smarty Plants, I'm looking for a low growing grass or ground cover for an area that is between my neighbors horse fence and mine it is about 2 feet wide 30 ft long. It is impossible to mow and ...
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Evergreen groundcovers for NE NC
April 20, 2015 - Can you please provide a list of evergreen native groundcovers for Northeastern NC?
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Ground cover for shallow soil in hillside north of San Antonio
March 27, 2010 - I live in the Hill Country north of San Antonio. The yard around the house has very shallow soil and is sloped. Bermuda has a hard time maintaining. Are there any other low growing ground covers that ...
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Finding a source of Straggler daisy
October 14, 2015 - I've decided on Straggler daisy but am having trouble finding it. It would be perfect for me. Do I have to wait until next Spring for it to show up? Can it be ordered through a nursery or a landscape...
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