A collection of spreading groundcovers that can be planted over your entire lot, or planted and maintained as distinct paisley patches.
The Paisley Patch is a flexible and spreading plant design that creates an inexpensive, diverse and aromatic groundcover. This is not your typical lawn! The lot design is a collection of clustered groundcovers that can be planted over your entire lot, in the manner of a traditional lawn, or planted as paisley patches. Over time and through your maintenance choices, these paisley patches can grow together into an alternative lawn, or, if you select to mow around the planting areas, they can remain as distinct paisley planting beds. Along with color and texture, the plants in this lot design have been selected for their ability to spread along the ground. This lot design provides guiding principles, but it’s up to you to be creative in arranging your paisley planting beds!
Ideal Location: Residential lot in sun or shade.
The Paisely Patch is a lower cost lot design. The price depends on number of planting clusters you would like to add in the first planting season. It is completely possible to install the lot design through the use of volunteer labor. The cost estimate assumes volunteer labor by folks who are new to creating landscapes. Super Saver Tip: Consider planting your paisleys over time. This will reduce your upfront costs and allow you to improvise and incorporate what you learn as you progress.
The Paisley Patch is a high visibility lot design, with low growing groundcovers that will not reach above six inches in upright height. This lot design keeps a clear view from the street to the alley.
Everyone tackles projects at different speeds—however; this is one of the Field Guide’s lowest effort lot designs. You can install the Paisley Patch with the help of friends, family or neighbors. The Field Guide recommends six to eight sets of hands for an easy time outdoors. With the help of others, this project could be completed in one weekend and does not require any special, mechanized equipment. Depending on the state of your lot, digging up any existing plants could be the most physically straining parts of building this lot design. The flexibility of this design lot is also that you could install one Paisley Patch per day through the spring or fall planting season. Due to the reasonable size of this lot design, it is great to install with children, too!
Six hands or less! With the help of your friends, family or neighbors, this project can be completed in a weekend. The biggest variable is that you can choose the number and size of Paisley Patches. Tiny hands are an added bonus to the patch-planting process!
The Paisley Patch requires minimal maintenance. It can be mowed into a maintained lawn, left to spread across your lot or controlled in a planting bed.
Water and weed around plants as they become established. Once grown, watering plants will only be required during exceptionally dry periods.
Mow lawn at a high setting (six inch height) to allow groundcover to continue to grow, providing interest and color to your lot.
