NEW! Ground cover in Ellepots

By: Christa Orum-Keller

At Midwest, we are always looking for the next new thing which can be useful to our customers and improve our green industry practices. And we are constantly looking for your feedback from the field - especially when we present something new.

Over the last year, we have been trialing the growing of ground covers in Ellepots. If you're not familiar with Ellepots, they are a biodegradable unit into which we can plant; the Ellepot sits in a plastic tray, but it eliminates the tray insert plastic and you can plant it without having to remove it from the tray insert. It could save time and $$ on ground cover planting projects and it saves the insert layer of plastic.

We've trialed soil mixes, various sizes of Ellepots and different species and now we're ready to share Ellepot ground covers with you!

This is still a trial program, but we have some inventory available currently, both items for sale and also some trial samples. Check with your sales representative for complete information.

First - the Ellepots we've grown in are the 30, 50 and 65 millemeter sizes. The 50 mm is close to Midwest traditional 3" size. Here's a photo of the three sizes side by side:












The plants we have for open sales are:

• Ajuga reptans 'Bronze Beauty' in the 50mm Ellepot
• Hedera h. 'Thorndale' in the 65 mm Ellepot
• Pachysandra t. 'Green Carpet' in the 65 mm Ellepot
• Vinca minor 'Darts Blue' in the 50 mm Ellepot

In addition we have a mixed assortment of various Sedum species in all three sizes in different soils. These are available as trial samples for small or larger jobs. We have 2-300 flats of each size available of mixed Sedum sp. Please check with your sales or customer service representative if you are interested in trying any of the Ellepots ground covers on a purchase or trial basis.

We are interested in your feedback on these topics:

• How do the plants root in if you are planting them in a mass planting in the ground?
• Do the Ellepot ground cover overwinter any differently than usual 3" material?
• If you use the Sedum in a green roof planting, how do they root in, perform and overwinter?
• What size do you prefer? 30, 50 or 65 mm?
• Should we grow more and add them to our regular line? If so, what ground cover should be part of the line?
• Could you see Ellepot ground cover replacing our 3" ground cover line?