groundcover

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ground cover

also ground·cov·er (ground′kŭv′ər)

1. Small plants other than saplings, such as mosses, ferns, grasses, and low shrubs, growing on a forest floor.

a. A low-growing dense growth of plants, such as pachysandra or crown vetch, planted for ornamental purposes or to prevent soil erosion in areas where turf is difficult to grow, as in deep shade or on a steep slope.

b. A plant used for such a growth.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun	1.	groundcover - low-growing plants planted in deep shade or on a steep slope where turf is difficult to grow ground cover botany, flora, vegetation - all the plant life in a particular region or period; "Pleistocene vegetation"; "the flora of southern California"; "the botany of China" Hernaria glabra, rupturewort - common prostrate Old World herb often used as a ground cover; formerly reputed to cure ruptures whitlowwort - any of various low-growing tufted plants of the genus Paronychia having tiny greenish flowers and usually whorled leaves; widespread throughout warm regions of both Old and New Worlds; formerly thought to cure whitlows (suppurative infections around a fingernail) pearlweed, pearl-weed, pearlwort - any of various low-growing plants of the genus Sagina having small spherical flowers resembling pearls baby tears, baby's tears, Helxine soleirolia, Soleirolia soleirolii - prostrate or creeping Corsican herb with moss-like small round short-stemmed leaves
	2.	groundcover - small plants other than saplings growing on a forest floor ground cover underbrush, undergrowth, underwood - the brush (small trees and bushes and ferns etc.) growing beneath taller trees in a wood or forest

References in periodicals archive ?

Great as groundcover in semi-shade providing the ground retains moisture.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Euonymous fortunei 'Emerald 'n' Gold' makes a great groundcover but can climb walls too.

Happy ever after; No end of colour for your borders

These hardy perennials are also used as groundcover on banks, between shrubs or under roses.

Best Of The Bunch

Turf grass is the groundcover of choice for many property owners, mainly for its rich, carpet-like appearance.

Let function determine groundcovers

Shrub and groundcover improvements will consist of drift roses, butterfly iris, black-eyed Susan, evergreen giant liriope and other attractive plant material.

Preliminary phasing plan

It's a matforming groundcover that sneers at dry soil and should only reach two to four inches tall.

Your Gardening; EXPERT ADVICE

Because of these native soil characteristics, a common technical recommendation is to maintain the soil of the orange orchards using protection by groundcover vegetation, which can minimize soil erosion and enhance soil fertility (FIDALSKl et al., 2007; AULER et al., 2008).

Soil carbon and nitrogen mineralization under different tillage systems and permanent groundcover cultivation between orange trees/Mineralizacao do carbono e nitrogenio sob diferentes preparos de solo e coberturas permanentes intercalares em pomar de laranjeira

Also, the underside of the groundcover is another condensing surface, for soil moisture.

Confusion on diffusion

Together, these 'natives' make excellent groundcover but are nevertheless 'weeds,' in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The water's edge; HOME TRUTHS

Using perennial groundcover roots and shoots as alternative sources of organic material is another potential way to add enough carbon to the soil to offset the carbon lost when stover is removed.

In the midwestern United States: growing biofuel crops sustainably

The weekly column, which runs free in 85 newspapers in America, focuses on trees, shrubs and groundcover that even green-thumb-challenged readers can handle.

'Plant Man' Column Celebrates Seventh Anniversary

These include Miniatures, Polyanthas, and the Mediland landscape, Flower Carpet and Groundcover roses.