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I have an area on my property that is starting to show a plant I believe is called "hound's tongue." It is shown in IMG_6320.JPG. I haven't ...
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Plant question #867835
Asked May 10, 2024, 7:16 AM EDT
I have an area on my property that is starting to show a plant I believe is called "hound's tongue." It is shown in IMG_6320.JPG. I haven't planted it, it is just showing up. I don't mind! I kind of like it, and I want to fill in the area with as much non-weed plant life as I can. My question is: is this a harmful plant? Is it good for the animals around the area?
Tacking onto the above question: See IMG_6321.JPG. This is a very hilly area, in a canopy of trees. Right now it's smothered in dead leaves from the fall. I don't like cutting the weeds that emerge in the summer so I'm happy to see hound's tongue starting to show. If it isn't smothered in dead leaves, there are are tons of chickweed spreading. I'm starting to put in some ferns and grasses, but there are plenty of open spaces around them. Instead of ferns and grasses, do you have any other ground cover suggestions? Pachysandra would do the trick, but it is too invasive.
Lastly, see IMG_6322.JPG. UM's advice helped me turn a really weedy, rotten hill into this over the last seven years. Thanks! I hope your answers help as much with the area I'm working on now, just below this nice-looking part of the yard.
Baltimore County Maryland
Expert Response
We're happy to hear you're having success converting areas into new plantings! The pictured volunteer appears to be Wild Comfrey (Andersonglossum virginianum, formerly named Cynoglossum virginianum), so it's a native cousin of Hound's-tongue (a different species of Cynoglossum). This plant is found in multiple Maryland counties in the wild (see linked page).
As for additions to your groundcover planting, assuming it is semi-shaded in the summer, candidates include the native or nearly-native species below (assuming deer are not a big problem...some of them might be browsed otherwise):
Miri
As for additions to your groundcover planting, assuming it is semi-shaded in the summer, candidates include the native or nearly-native species below (assuming deer are not a big problem...some of them might be browsed otherwise):
- Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea)
- Allegheny Spurge (Pachysandra procumbens), which is the native cousin of the oft-planted Japanese Spurge
- Blue Wood Phlox (Phlox divaricata) and Creeping Phlox (Phlox stolonifera)
- Jacob's Ladder (also called Greek Valerian, despite being a local native; Polemonium reptans)
- Pussytoes (Antennaria, several species)
- Leucothoe (Leucothoe axillaris or L. fontanesiana) -- evergreen shrub that grows wider than tall and may sucker a little (grow new stems from the roots)
- Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium, formerly Aster cordifolius) or White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata, formerly Aster divaricatus) -- clumping plants, but can self-seed into larger colonies to cover ground
- Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) -- some have been recently reclassified into several different species, so Tiarella stolonifera is the runner/spreader of the group, whereas others are more clumping; however, plant tags will still likely name all Tiarella cultivars cordifolia for now, so look for one that says it spreads via stolons
- Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
- Eastern / Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) -- not as mainstream, so may be harder to find
Miri
Miri,
Thanks for the information - glad Wild Comfrey is a good plant!
I appreciate the ground cover suggestions. The area is semi-shaded, so that's good - but I live in a deer-infested area. Are there any in the list that are at least somewhat deer-resistant?
-- Jack
Although nothing is guaranteed, many of the suggestions shouldn't appeal to deer, though rabbits are another matter. Phlox, Foamflower, and Wild Ginger can be browsed (by which culprit, it's hard to tell...likely rabbits, though their deer appeal seems to be a gray area). Asters are supposedly not regularly browsed, but there are so many species that we can't be certain, since most deer-resistant lists tend to lump Asters together. We don't have information about Waterleaf since it's rarely grown in gardens (it's common in the wild here, though), likely just because it's not very well-known yet. Plants you already have like ferns and grasses tend to be left alone, and the grassy look-alikes Sedges (Carex) also tend to be bypassed, though we didn't mention sedges since we figured they're too grass-like in appearance and you wanted some non-grass options.
Non-native non-invasive groundcover candidates for semi-shade to shade that deer tend to reliably avoid include Sweetbox (Sarcococca hookeriana humilis) and Barrenwort (Epimedium, several species and hybrids). The former is evergreen and a slowly-creeping, short shrub; the latter is occasionally evergreen and also somewhat slow to creep.
Miri
Non-native non-invasive groundcover candidates for semi-shade to shade that deer tend to reliably avoid include Sweetbox (Sarcococca hookeriana humilis) and Barrenwort (Epimedium, several species and hybrids). The former is evergreen and a slowly-creeping, short shrub; the latter is occasionally evergreen and also somewhat slow to creep.
Miri
Great! Many thanks, Miri.
-- Jack
You're welcome!
