Newsletter Articles
Silver Carpet
By Richard Flowers, ACCNP-Green Thumb Nursery-Ventura
It’s the perfect ground cover for placing in between stepping stones. With its tight, very flat, and mat forming growth, Silver Carpet only reaches a few inches tall. Occupying 1-2 inch long narrow leaves that are gray-green on top with white tomentose (white hairs) beneath that kind of gives the plant a variegated silvery appearance, hence its common name – Silver Carpet.
When using in the garden, Silver Carpet is a good choice for placing in a rock garden with succulents or on a rock wall creeping over the stones and spilling over the side making a tapestry of tight foliage. It is also effective when used in a low and shallow container filling up the entire surface with a solid and dense growth. For added interest, include a bonsai that has character growing in the center of the pot. Try using this amazing plant as a lawn substitute. Because of its denseness, over time it is known to actually almost suppress weeds. To accomplish this, you should plant them like you do sod, with individual plants touching one another so that they completely cover the given area.
Botanically called Dymondia margaretae and is related to such plants as the Chrysanthemum, Sunflower, and Gazania. This plant was named for noted South African horticulturalist Margaret Elizabeth Dryden-Dymond. Silver Carpet is endemic to the Western Cape of South Africa.
With regular irrigation, Silver Carpet grows fast but it has deep succulent roots and can be very drought tolerant, though notably during dry times it spreads by offshoots slower. For best performance it requires full sunshine to light shade and a well draining soil. In hot inland locales it would benefit with some shade. Being winter hardy to about 25-30 degrees F, the only things it does not tolerate well is a heavy or otherwise non-draining soil and gophers, on the other hand, deer tend to avoid this selection. It thrives along the coast, however growth slows to a crawl with summer inland heat but springs back to life when cooler days of fall arrive. Other noteworthy hallmarks of this plant is that it is adaptable to salt spray, poor soils, able to be grown in small spaces, and can tolerate light foot traffic. For best results, it is wise to plant this stepable ground cover in a dry and rocky soil. I recommend during the first few years, water this species weekly, allowing the soil to dry out in between waterings to encourage strong and full growth. Once established, Silver Carpet only needs water every two weeks depending on conditions. Overall it is a neat and tidy ground cover that does not take a lot of care and it will even surprise you with some yellow daisy-like flowers during the summer tucked between the foliage.
Try your hand with this popular ground cover and much more at your favorite Green Thumb Nursery.
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