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.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Monday - March 09, 2015
From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Deer Resistant, Groundcovers, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Need ground cover plants to grow in the shade a large oak in San Antonio, TX
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
We have a large backyard in San Antonio covered with live oak and red oak. Since grass does not do well in this shade / bright shade area I would like to plant a low growing ground cover and then add Turks cap for interest. If needs to be deer resistant if possible. Can you suggest any low ground covers (under a foot tall)?ANSWER:
Lets start by looking at our Native Plant Database. Click on this link, and scroll down to the Combination Search box. Select Texas under State, herb under Habit, and Perennial under Duration. Check Part shade under Light requirement, Dry under Soil moisture, and 0 - 1 ft under Height. Click on the Submit combination Search button, and you will get a list of 71 plant species that fit these criteria, and are native to Texas. Clicking on the scientific name of each plant will bring up its NPIN page that contains a description of the plant, its characteristics and growth requirements, and in most cases, photos. You can repeat the search, this time selecting grass or grass like under Habit. See what happens if you check Shade under light requirement.
Mr. Smarty Plants has been doing this a while, and he is going to give you links to a couple of previously answered questions:
# 10310
# 9838
These answers have links to other previously answered questions, so in a sense, you have tapped into the accumulated wisdom of Mr. Smarty Plants.
Compare the plants from the links and the Database with this list of Deer Resistant Species .
More Herbs/Forbs Questions
Winter trimming of Greggs mistflower
November 11, 2007 - Do I cut my gregg's mist back to the ground for the winter or just leave it alone?
view the full question and answer
Low maintenance plants for crack in concrete
July 01, 2008 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
I would like to grow some very low maintenance weeds, mosses and flowers out of a crack in a slab of concrete. Can you recommend any species that would do well in this sort...
view the full question and answer
Watering for Scarlett Milkweed in Florida
October 18, 2008 - I have a Scarlett Milkweed and it was doing very well until this last week. It now has yellow leaves that are falling off and no flowers. It says on the tag that the water is low once it is establishe...
view the full question and answer
Plants for a lakeside bank in NC
November 07, 2011 - Our association is looking to plant a huge sloped area that runs down to Lake Wylie. We want to plant something that is good for erosion and that does not grow too tall so that we keep our view of th...
view the full question and answer
Flowers for an August wedding in Driftwood TX
March 25, 2012 - For an August 4th wedding in Driftwood, Texas we want fragrant flowers and wildflowers that we can grow in our garden. We have four raised beds (12 ft. x 6 ft.) in a fenced area in which we've grown ...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |