I am clearing out some of the wooded space behind my house. What should I plant to keep weeds down?

I am clearing a lot of scrub and small trees from the wooded space behind my house. How do I best keep the weeds, scub from coming back? If I plant grass it will look like a prairie because I don't want to keep it cut like my yard. I don't know if wildflowers grow in the shade. I'd like to avoid the exprense of mulch. Any ideas?

I am clearing out some of the wooded space behind my house. What should I plant to keep weeds down?
If you would like to keep the weeds and any other green from coming back use a total vegetation killer. It comes in several different brands. I believe Lowes has one or you may find a concentrate better at a garden store. It will cover more area. This will kill ANYTHING from reemerging for one year. So you will not be able to plant anything. This may be good though if you dont want the prairie look which will happen if you dont mow it. And, most wildflowers need full sun. If you decide against the vegetation killer you could plant columbines, hostas, foxgloves, ferns, etc. but this could get expensive and you still have to do some mowing. If your on the edge and not sure just spray roundup--but you will have to respray often to keep it down.





If you decide on the total vegetation dont spray directly around the trees or the tree roots--same with roundup.Maybe you could mulch up around the trees and plant a few flowers-even maybe with borders and spray in the area outside the flower beds. This may not help you much if it is heavily wooded but just in case i will leave it here.





Also, ivy is a good ground cover and strangles out weeds. It spreads rapidly in its third year. Doesnt mind shade at all.
Reply:Some people use old carpets to supress the weeds. After a while they take them off. I don't know much about it though, maybe someone will explain you more about the carpet.


But I know where to get old carpet from - if you failed to find it in the scrap yard, you can look for it on www.graiglist.org in USA or, if in UK on www.freecycle.org
Reply:If you have pine trees anywhere nearby get the pine straw and use it instead of mulch. It works the same way.
Reply:Hosta make beautiful shade plants and there is a fabulous variety in size, leaf color and shape.





Mini, small, medium, large, super-sized. Green, blue, gold, white ... fragrant. You could fill the entire area with all the different hosta there are.





Here's a site with some general information:





http://www.gardening-quick-n-easy.com/ho...





And more in-depth info can be found at:


http://www.hostapatch.com/


http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Cur...





*~Enjoy~*
Reply:I know something that will work well for you. Vinca. I have it in my yard and it is a bit too invasive for me, but a wooded area would be great. Vinca is a ground cover that likes shade. It grows around a foot tall and has pretty blue flowers when in bloom. It spreads quickly and can be trouble if it gets in you garden bed, however, it is shallow rooted and comes out easily. Here is an article about Vinca minor. You can find it in almost any garden store. http://hortwww-2.ag.ohio-state.edu/hcs/T...