tom et al., u have a valid argument especially on the invasive characters of groundcovers in general. but so do others. and as jason pointed out there are those that can be used unrestrained. and personally im sure that groundcovers have their own merits when we take a closer look. to me, some groundcovers are actually good when it comes to retaining slopes and for the purpose changing the microclimate of a given place sans the mowing of turf as in alternative approach.
at the same time however i prefer ‘naked’ ground with just turf or bushes and trees. i embrace this concept for more than 10 yeras already. the advantage of this is reduction in maintenance cost and resources such as water. many developments in water challenged countries nowadays promote water saving as in the UAE thru their ‘estidama’ approach and even newer developments in tropical thailand and malaysia. when planning for saving water for the soft landscape design, groundcovers are the first to go. last, i believe we should start looking differently at how to use groundcovers to the best advantage given the locale that we have.
