Why I Oughta...

Just yesterday, I posted details and photos of six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover plugs that I planted along the sidewalk out front and talked about how those got my total up to 30 for the year.  My previous high-planting mark was from that epic Fall planting spring in 2023.  Today, I'm showing photos of six more Ajuga plugs going in - bringing my total this year to 36.  Matching my high. I previously put in six in front of some of the Hakonechloa All Golds in the back. Today, I extended that row with six more.   Here, below is a photo showing the first six and then the empty space in front of the All Golds just beyond: Here, below is another look.  The previously planted six on the left.  The empty space calling out for groundcover to the right: This six pack of healthy plugs from the Good folks at Menards: They went in easy-peasy.  Below are two photos showing the results.  First is a look at the new six followed by a view of all twelve...

Over the past month, I've posted a number of posts about adding groundcover plugs to the garden.  The latest was a post about six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs that I put into the front yard Island Bed at the very edge of the sidewalk.  Those joined three existing ones from 2025.  They weren't the most healthy plugs, but they went in anyway.  That brought my groundcover planting total to 24 total planted for the year.  Today, I added six more Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs to that same Island bed.  Five along the final edge in the front and one 'up the driveway'. This brings the total to thirty groundcover plants added (to date).  #20 on my to-do list is to "Keep Going on Groundcover" .  Thirty in the Spring is a good number.  My previous annual high-planting mark for Groundcover plants was that epic Fall 2023 season when I added 36 .  I'm right there and it is just Spring.   Adding this 'living mulch' down in the Island bed serv...

More groundcover (or living mulch) is something I've been working-on for a couple of growing seasons.  This month, I put in six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs in the [kitchen curved] bed in the backyard and six Ajuga 'Burgundy Glow' in the backyard near the colony of Hellebores on the northside .  This week, I put in six more Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs in the front of the Island Bed in our front yard down along the sidewalk.  This brings my 2026 groundcover planting total to 24. Here, below, is a look at the six new plugs that are to the left of the three existing ones that went in last year in August .   Here are the three existing groudcover plants last Fall .  One of the challenges down by the sidewalk is retaining the mulch, so I'm hoping these plugs will grow-in and provide a 'living mulch' mat that stretches the front of the bed along the sidewalk.  You can see the six new ones in this photo of the red coleus annuals: These weren't the...

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, I posted a photo showing the six new Ajuga 'Burgundy Glow' plugs that I stuck in the front of the border by the little colony of Hellebores in our backyard.  I talked about how I wanted to 'keep going' on groundcover this year mostly with a mix of Ajuga and Carex.  Why?  Because those are the two groundcovers that I've had the most success with over the years.  I also should list sedum because a few of those have worked, too.  #1 on my 2026 to-do list was to 'stop fighting nature' and #15 was focus on repetition vs net-new things and #20 was to 'keep going' on groundcover.  When you combine all three of those things what do you get?  The answer:  more Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip'.   There's plenty of reasons to shop at your local nursery over a big box store parking lot temporary nursery, but the prices on their groundcover plugs is NOT one of them.  Thanks to the folks at the Home Depot, you can buy a tray of six Ajuga plugs...

Amongst the excitement of the temperatures warming up and planting season arriving, I often need to return to my annual 'to-do' list to remind myself of the priorities.  #20 on my list was to 'keep going with groundcover' - something that I've been working on the past few seasons.  Well...groundcover AND conifers.  Because I was lacking BOTH.   My groundcover of choice has been Ajuga.  Mostly of the 'Chocolate Chip' variety.  But, I saw this tray of Burgundy Glow plugs on the bench at Menards and I figured I'd give these another run.  I say 'another run' because I've had Burgundy Glow before, but it didn't make it. I bought it for a Fairy Garden and transplanted it late in the season in the back .  It didn't survive Winter .  I also planted a single plant IB2DWs .  That one, too is gone.   This time, I'm planting six plugs.  And, planting them earlier in the year in hopes they can get established before the heat of Au...

The clumps of spreading (kind-of) groundcover named Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' are at their peak in early May this growing season.  After a period of foliage growth in April (that followed a seemingly mild Winter) on these, they're now in full bloom.  Purple/blue flowers standing tall.  In various pockets of the garden including these three clusters in the 'nook' garden bed along the front edge of that border. You can see them below.  These went in as part of a 'garden edit' in 2024 .   There were more back a few years, but I think that some of them were impacted by Winter 2024/2025.   #20 on my 2026 to-do list this year is to 'keep going with groundcover' .  Moments like this with Ajuga are a good reminder why that's a good idea.  

The groundcover that caused me to 'fall' for groundcover was Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip'.  Over the years, I've planted small plugs in various spots all around our garden.  But, the very first place I planted it is the island bed that lies between our driveway and our front stoop.  I've added additional plugs in that bed in subsequent years including last year when I split a six-pack between this bed and the front (sidewalk) island bed.  Some Winters are tougher than others on this groundcover, but it seems that this year we have some good news:  I'm seeing new, curly growth on the Ajuga in the driveway island bed.  below are a couple of photos showing the current state of this bed: And, the other three (of the six-pack I mentioned above) are planted down along the sidewalk in *that* island bed.  These went in the ground in mid-August and that appears to have done the trick in terms of giving them enough time to establish themselves before dormancy. ...

One of the current-season 'gardening wins' that I'm going to take are the three Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs that I planted in mid-August down at the corner of the driveway and sidewalk .  These are in the 'island bed' and right against those hard surfaces. I watered them *a little bit*, but they mostly seemed to handle themselves.  I planted them mid-Summer, so I'm hoping they'll overwinter better than others have in the past - when I planted Ajuga as part of a "fall planting" cycle.   See below for the three little plugs and how much they've grown in 2.5 months: 

About a month ago, I posted some details of the Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' that was rebounding in our front beds - in the little island bed in between our driveway and front steps and on the other side of the stairs and along the property line.  I've been trying to utilize more and more groundcover over the past few years - after neglecting it for the first five.  On a recent trip to the Home Depot, I found this six pack of Ajuga plugs in the nursery and brought them home.  It was in flower, so in the first photo below, you can see the pack of plugs and (at the bottom of the photo) the flower stems that I snip'd-off: I put three of the six in the little island bed between the driveway and front steps.  This bed already has some Chocolate Chip, so I was sort-of filling in some of the gaps.  Below are three photos:  first one shows all three new plugs mixed with the existing.  Second one shows two of them (left and right) and the third photo shows the one f...

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos showing the front porch Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover and talked about how they all had some Winter die-back/decline despite a somewhat mild Winter.  Most of the colonies are back this year up front, but reduced in size. Today, I'm showing part of the front-of-the-border band of Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' that runs in the "Kitchen Curved" bed.  This is the oldest bed and the first one that has fully filled-out with Oakleaf Hydrangeas, Amsonia, various Astilbes, some Japanese Anemone, a Fernleaf Spirea (Matcha Ball) and dotted with a tiny Emperor 1 Japanese Maple tree.   The Ajuga here was first planted in Spring of 2023 .  Here's what they looked like 90 days later - after the heat of August .  They were putting on size with some larger than a grapefruit.   By last Spring, I wrote this 'hits/misses' post showing how some of the Ajuga was working , while other colonies didn't.   Last Fall, as the l...

Starting in the Fall of 2022, I have added one type of groundcover every year - Ajuga 'chocolate chip'.  I think it was Plantsman Roy Diblik who first turned me on to the plant (in one of his videos) and I stuck a few plugs into the island bed in between our front stoop and the driveway .  A year later, I was calling these a success as they had grown and filled out some of the space .   By last July, the groundcover was peeking out over the driveway and filling in space all around the Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses in the bed.   But, over this past Winter, we had a setback.  There was some serious die-back on the entire bed.  Everything shrunk down and some of the plants didn't seem to come back.  I also lost ALL six of the Island Bed plugs that I planted last year, too .  This wasn't my first Winter of decline for some of the Ajuga.  I've posted this 'Ajuga Hits and Misses' post in Spring of 2024 that talked/showed some of th...

One of the thing that's been on my mind over the past few months is the concept of 'legibility' in the garden.  I wrote up a post about it - when I first came across the concept.  I also included it in my 2025 to-do list .  Part of legibility are 'entrances'.  Entrances to garden spaces.   One of the primary entrances to our garden is along the side of house via the boardwalk.  In my 2025 to-do list, I mentioned 'planting up the boardwalk' as something I wanted to get done.   Over the past few years, I've planted a few things there - but nothing has worked.  Ferns.  Hostas.  I think it is too dry and too dark.   But, I'm trying again.  This time...with an Ajuga.  Bronze Beauty Ajuga.  Here's the six-pack of groundcover that I bought: Along the screened porch, there's a long, thin bed.  Below is the before/after of planting these six plugs: I watered them in and they looked flat that first day....

I've long proclaimed myself to be a foliage gardener.  That's partially because I'm a shade gardener and partially because flowering plants have always been a little bit outside of my comfort zone.  But, I'm starting to think that I'm also *another* kind of gardener:  a Fall Gardener.  Or at least a late Summer + Fall Gardener.   The September and October Dahlia blooms this year have taught me to love that part of the growing season.  And now....as things are going dormant in our yard and garden, I'm struck by some things that are happening in Fall.   What are those things?  Here's one - below.  The EYE-SEARING gold that is coming from our Butterscotch Amsonias in our backyard that are contrasted by the dark green foliage of some Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  This color is borderline shocking.  It is a little hard to see, but if you look closely, there are a couple of other things worth noting in this photo.  First....th...

Fall Planting 2024 keeps rolling right along with the planting of a six-pack of groundcover plugs.  These are something I've used WIDELY in my garden: Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip'.  #3 on my 2024 to-do list was to keep going on groundcover (or...as I want to call it "living mulch"), so these six help that cause .  I've had some 'hits and misses' with Ajuga , but have learned a little bit about it over the years.   I opted to put all six in the newly 'extended' Island bed in the front yard.  I decided to plant the Skylands Spruce tree in the back of that bed, so I had to add a good amount of mulch to extend it back.  I figured that was a good spot to put down some groundcover.   Below you can see four of the Ajuga Chocolate Chip planted on the northside of the bed - but right at the feet of the new Skylands Spruce.   I put the other two in a little bit more of a 'protected' area - under the canopy of the Northern Glow Korean Maple.  I...