Ground cover suggestions - full/partial shade, very wet, ideally grow from seed ASAP (zone 7)

Hi,

I've been overhauling a long-neglected bed that had a ton of vinca minor running wild in it. I put 8 blueberry shrubs in back in March, they are doing well. It's also got some azaleas, rhododendrons, and peonies from previous owner.

It is on a steep slope that had run off issues - the vinca was helping with erosion. I put in a few swales on the slope and have replaced the vinca with a lot of various ferns from around the property (we are on a forested wetland so ferns are available in abundance).

The erosion is pretty well under control now, but there's still a lot of bare earth. So I'm trying to come up with a seed mix for ground cover. There are a lot of wild strawberries in the area, so I'm going to throw in a bunch more of that knowing that it does well. I was also thinking sorrel and maybe a type of sage, but they both like full sun and not sure how well they'd do there. There's one small patch of full sun but most of it is dappled sunlight or less. I'd like to be able to grow from seed asap so I could throw some things down now.

I'm in zone 7, in northern Virginia. Any suggestions of what I should include with the strawberry?

Thanks in advance!

Umm..Pink Purslane (M. sibirica)?

Mints come to mind, and the wilder, the better.

Currants like shade, and I think some spinach varieties do as well, and companion plant well with strawberries, mints, and currants, and the blueberry bushes.

-CK

Thanks for pointing me in the right directions!

So now I'm thinking:

- strawberry (fragaria virginica)
- spring beauty purslane (claytonia virginica)
- patridge pea (chamaecrista fasciculata) - for n-fixing
- slender mountain mint (pycnanthemum tenuifolium)

Going to sleep on it and put the order in on those seeds soon.

Lentils might combine well with the Partridge Pea if you throw them on the bare spots early enough next spring.

r ranson wrote:

Basically, they go in just before, or around the same time as peas.