SELECTION OF GROUNDCOVERS FOR LOW-INPUT LANDSCAPES IN TEMPERATE MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATES

Temperate Mediterranean climates occur at the northern and southern limit of this climate type.
These regions feature cooler summers but colder winter tempera-tures than areas more traditionally considered Mediterranean.
Plants selected for landscape use in these regions must possess sufficient cold hardiness to survive winter conditions.
Development of lower-input landscapes in these regions will involve elimination of irrigation in order to reduce water use and expense as well as reducing weed problems.
Use of appropriate groundcovers is an important component of these landscapes, and so for temperate Mediterranean climates, suitable groundcovers will be capable of growing satisfactorily with no summer irrigation and hardy enough to tolerate winter conditions.
Western Oregon has a humid Mediterranean climate and several evaluations of Mediterranean genera have been undertaken to select ground-covers suited to local conditions.
The evaluations have identified a number of hardy groundcovers suitable for landscape use, including Ceanothus thyrsiflorus var. griseus ‘Kurt Zadnik’, C. cuneatus var. rigidus ‘Snowball’, Cistus ×gardianus, C. ×obtusifolius and Halimium lasianthum ‘Sandling’. An evaluation of Arctostaphylos was planted in 2009 and cold hardiness results are described.
A new evaluation of Grevillea will be planted in 2011.

XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on Advances in Ornamentals, Landscape and Urban Horticulture

N.C. Bell, J. Owen, J. Altland

weed control, cold hardiness, Cistus, Ceanothus, Halimium, Arctostaphylos

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.937.128