Planting Liriope and Mondo

Planting Liriope muscari, Liriope spicata, any of the varieties of those two, or any varieties of Ophiopogon japonicus is the same process. You might ask, OK, but what are these?

The most common form of Liriope muscari is 'Big Blue' Liriope - scientific name Liriope muscari 'Big Blue'. Some people call this "monkey grass". Liriope spicata is similar to muscari until you look close. Spicata has a narrow leaf usually about 1/4 inch wide as opposed to muscari which has a wider leaf that can be 1/2 inch wide. Muscari has purple blooms on a stalk and black seed pods on a stalk. Spicata has white blooms on a stalk and blue seed pods on a stalk.

Ophiopogon japonicus and all the varieties of it are "mondo". Of the simple mondos there is mondo, dwarf mondo, and super dwarf mondo. Then there are the variegated forms which include: 'Silver Dragon' which you might think of as variegated mondo and 'Silver Mist' which is smaller and is probably just variegated dwarf mondo.

There is considerable confusion about these plants. While I was a undergraduate student in Landscape Architecture at UGA, two graduate students were trying to figure out if a planting in the Founders Garden was spicata or some other grass. They talked to a number of people, who I realize now, should have known the answer, but they did not. I certainly did not know. When I go to the Founders Garden now, the same planting is still there 45 years later and it is obvious to me now that it is just mondo grass.


The Plants You Will Receive

Your plants are live, growing organisms. As such, they do not all look the same. Some will be older plants with larger corms. Others are young and just getting started. This picture shows a Liriope muscari 'Big Blue' that has been prepared for shipping. The top has been cut to reduce water loss. When you receive the plants, the roots will have dried somewhat from the form you see here. That is normal and does not hurt the plant. The life of the plant is in the bulbous rhizome from which the roots are growing. Some of the rhizomes will be larger than others. This is common with live plants. They are like us in that regard, but if planted correctly and immediately upon receipt, the plants will flourish. Please notice the portion of the plant that has been cut. That is the top! Please put it in the ground with that portion of the plant pointed up toward the sky. I know, I know--but remember I was in the landscape contracting business for seven years. "GREEN SIDE UP!" sounds stupid when laying sod, but I have actually had day laborers lay the darn stuff upside down. Most sods and even liriope and mondo will recover, but it takes a little longer. Upside down sod is hard to explain to a property owner.

Plant Protection
As soon as your plants arrive, you should open the box, spread the plants in a shady area, and water lightly. If you are not ready to plant at the time the plants arrive, I suggest that you cover the plants with a light layer of mulch and water the mulch and plants. This will provide the needed protection until you are ready to plant. If you cannot plant for a couple of days, moisten the mulch each day to protect the plants.

Bed Preparation
As with any plants, a properly prepared planting location is of great importance. It is not a complicated process, but it is an important process. During my years of landscape design and landscape contracting, I always considered the shape of the bed to be of great importance. This goes back to my LA training. If you design a shape that looks good on paper, it will usually look good on the ground. If the shape of the bed looks good on the ground, the overall beauty of the planting will be enhanced. We will talk more about design at a later time. For now we will assume that your bed is well designed and laid out.

The ground needs to be tilled to a depth of 2 to 4 inches. The closer you can get to 4 inches, the easier the planting will be. As you near the completion of the tilling, add a complete fertilizer to the bed. The exact fertilizer analysis and the proper amount can only be determined with a soil test. Often people at the farm supply warehouse in your area will be familiar with the needs of most soils in the area. They will know this by having provided fertilizer and lime to people who have come in having already had a soil analysis done. This is not the safest way, but it will work. When you have spread the fertilizer and any needed lime on your bed, run the tiller over the bed one more time to mix the fertilizer into the soil. You are now ready to apply mulch.

I recommend applying mulch at this point so you can get an even coat over the entire bed. The best mulch to use at planting time is ground pine bark. Apply about 2 inches of mulch. If your plants have arrived, you are ready to plant.

Spacing
I get a lot of questions about spacing of ground cover plants. The spacing you choose will depend on the rate of closure you want. If you want closure in the first season, put the plants 4 inches apart. Keep in mind that the plants will get overcrowded much more quickly and will need to be divided sooner. If you are patient, you can space the plants 12 to 18 inches apart. Keep in mind the mature size of the plants you are planting. If you are planting Liriope muscari, a good spacing that will usually provide full coverage during the second growing season would be 8 to 12 inches. On the other hand, if you are planting dwarf mondo, and you want coverage during the second season you will need to change that to 6 to 8 inches. You get the idea.

Planting
The bed is tilled, fertilizer has been added, and you have applied mulch to the bed. Now let's plant. Your bed will look much better while growing to full coverage if you set the plants in a regular pattern. You can use triangle spacing or square spacing. Square spacing is a little easier to keep up with than triangular spacing, though triangular spacing is visually more forgiving after the planting has been completed. Personally, I have used 1/2 inch rebar, a 2x4 board, and string to get the layout setup. The string is the least reliable because it gets pushed into a arch very easily. If you must use a string, mark each plant location along the string with a depression in the mulch and soil. Do not try to plant along the string. The plants will push the string as you plant causing you to create a curved line.

As you set the plants down through the mulch you applied, you will mix some of the mulch with the soil. That is great. You are enriching the soil and increasing the water holding capacity of the soil as you plant. Continue this process until all the plants are in the ground.

Watering
Some of you know that I recommend watering in shrubs and trees with a hose with no attachments on the end. That will not work with small ground cover. You will need to use a sprinkler attachment on the end of a hose, or if yours is a large bed, you may want to use an automatic sprinkler. The water needs to be applied slowly to prevent eroding the soil away from the roots of the plants. Be certain that you water long enough to wet the soil to the full depth that you tilled. Also, check your local watering restrictions. Do not start planting on a day that you cannot water.

Over-mulch
If you are planting your ground cover in the northern states, I would recommend that you apply another loose mulch over the plants before hard winter freezes begin. You can completely cover the bed. Pine straw would be a good material for this purpose. This will provide insulation for your plants. I will admit that I have never planted in a northern climate. Check with local experts to learn the best method for accomplishing this. When new growth begins to put on in the spring, you might want to remove the over-mulch if it has not settled down sufficiently. There again, check with local experts.

Enjoy your plants
You are now ready to watch your plants develop into a lush ground cover that you can enjoy for years. There are a few things that you will need to do on a regular basis to care for your plants, but for the most part, your plants will be carefree.

Now that you have the ground cover planted, you are ready to begin thinking about the next project you are going to tackle. It's time to go to Hoskins Garden Shop to start planning and getting ready to launch that new project. Remember, we are always ready to help with planning, design, planting, and care of your planting projects. Just email Randall for help.

Thanks for stopping by.