Plant Image Data Base
Liriope spicata
Creeping Lilyturf
- Form
- perennial herbaceous evergreen groundcover
- maturing at 1' tall, and slowly but progressively
spreading at its perimeter via underground
rhizomes
- arching mat growth habit, forming a very dense
turf-like groundcover
- slow growth rate
- Culture
- partial sun to full shade
- performs best in moist, fertile soils in partial
shade, but will tolerate very dry, poor, and thin
soils in sunny or shady sites
- mow the old foliage to the ground in late Winter
or very early Spring to allow vigorous new growth
to emerge unimpeded from the crowns
- Lily Family, with virtually no disease or pest
problems
- Foliage
- linear dark evergreen "blades" of
foliage
- leaves are 0.25" wide and 1-1.5' long, but
due to their arching habit are about 1' high in
Summer, and become increasingly prostrate with
repeated snow loads during Winter
- foliage resembles very vigorous turf grass, hence
the common name
- Flowers
- white, violet, or lavendar inflorescences, on
10" stalks during July and August, sparsely
borne and often unnoticed within the attractive
dark-green foliage
- Function
- dense evergreen groundcover for either shady
sites or erosion control sites, usually found as
either a solid mass planting or as an edger
- special usages for Creeping Lilyturf include
around mature trees (with surface roots and thin
soil near the trunk), in a backyard woodland (as
an evergreen edger to define a walking path,
including Winter under conditions of light
snowfall), and in a small neglected foundation
area (where it will choke out weeds and tolerate
dry soil)
- Assets
- fine-textured evergreen foliage that resembles
turf grass
- fallen leaves can be easily raked free from its
linear foliage in Autumn, unlike most
groundcovers where leaf litter becomes entangled
- readily transitions from partial sun to full
shade within the same planted area, with little
change in color, vigor, density, height, and
overall appearance
- tolerant of dry soils, thin soils, and compacted
clay soils
- good for erosion control on embankments, although
establishment is initially slow
- Purpose
- Creeping Lilyturf is an evergreen groundcover
that is ideal for shady sites and resembles turf grass.
- Summary
- Liriope spicata is a perennial mat-forming
groundcover that is best used in shady areas,
erosion-prone sites, or areas with thin soils,
that has sparse inflorescences in mid-Summer
nestled within the evergreen, turf-like foliage.
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