Six More Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' Plugs Planted - Backyard - May 2026

Posted by on

Last week, I posted some photos of six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover plugs in the kitchen curved bed in our backyard.  Those were #7-12 of groundcover plugs put in this year with the first six being Ajuga 'Burgundy Glow' on the other side of the yard.  Today, I planted six more Chocolate Chip a little further back and right in front of some of the All Gold grasses.  Below are a few photos showing the process.

In front of these grasses is a little bit more blank space than I'd prefer.  A perfect spot for a low, creeping living mulch.


The pack of plugs is tidy and healthy in their little nursery carrying container:


I've learned over the years that while Ajuga spreads out, it doesn't grow massive.  It is a 'good neighbor'.  That's why I planted the six pretty close together.  


This puts me at 18 groundcover plugs planted for the year.  And, my second 'upgrade' to the Stumpery - with the first one being the addition of three All Golds yesterday.  Both groundcover and stumpery are on my 2026 to-do list.  

That last photo above makes me think I need to go back and get another tray (or two) of these plugs and keep extending the Ajuga to the West along the front of those other All Golds.  

Adding more would increase my total from 18 - which...by the way appears to be 50% total my high-water mark of 36 groundcover plants added in 2023.  
Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Be nice to each other here.

Popular posts from this blog

Pre-Germinating Grass Seed For Overseeding Project - September 2022

Posted by on
Image
The time has come for the backyard Fall lawn project.  What I thought was going to be a total renovation - killing everything and seeding from scratch - has turned into a combination of patch seeding and total overseeding in a couple of ways.  Once I was able to positively identify that I had an infestation of Nimblewill (a warm-season bent grass), I opted for a selective treatment called Tenacity.  After a couple of applications, the spray began to work and has turned the tips of the Nimblewill white as it begins to kill it off .  The killing and eradication of the Nimblewill isn't going to be done in this one season, but rather will be a multi-year program.  But, with the application of Tenacity (while the Nimblewill is/was growing ), I think I've begun to defeat it.  And allow for the application of a new batch of grass seed that will (I hope) take off and begin to grow in the final six or so weeks of the season.   The backyard is a case study...
Read more

New Succulent - Key Lime Pie - March 2021

Posted by on
Image
In our indoor container garden collection, we have a few succulents that we've picked up over the years including the Burro's Tail that I bought home from the office and (just last week) began the process of planting some cuttings.   Upstairs, in the sunniest spot, we also have a container of Firesticks Cactus that I planted in 2018 .  I managed to drag that Firesticks outside last Summer and then back in before Fall and it seems to have thrived the past year or two.  It is pretty big and likely in need of a new container.  But, more on that succulent in a separate post. This is about a new (to us) succulent that I picked up recently at Home Depot.  It was a $3.98 2.5" plastic nursery pot that has these plump, crinkle-ended leaves/lobes.  For now, I decided to just leave the Key Lime Pie succulent in the plastic nursery pot and stuck it inside a larger, terra cotta container that doesn't (currently) have a hole punched out of the bottom, but appears t...
Read more

Frans Fontaine Hornbeam Trees - Fourth Growing Season Summer Update - August 2021

Posted by on
Image
A few days ago, I received a new comment from a reader of my garden diary on this post all the way back in late May 2018 titled: " Frans Fontaine Hornbeam Planted - Hedgerow Spring 2018 ".  That post shows the eight columnar European Hornbeam trees that had been delivered and were being planted in our back and side yard to create (at that time, what I hoped to be) a privacy screen.  The comment - from JennyW - is here below: I've talked this before, but I write this daily online diary because I get joy out of doing it. I don't run advertisements.  I don't run sponsored content.  I also write for a pretty narrow audience - mostly myself.  I also look at the analytics data and know that there are really three audiences - in declining size order:   1.  The largest part of the audience: (mostly) one-time search readers (they search for something, click on the link and end up at my blog).   2.  Second biggest audience:  Referral....
Read more