Ajuga Black Scallop

After back filling and lightly compacting the 50/50 mix of existing soil and compost give the Ajuga Black Scallop a good deep watering. This is not to be rushed. Most of the water you put on the plant at first will run away from the plant until the soil is soaked. A general rule of thumb is to count to 5 for every one gallon of pot size. For example a one gallon pot would be watered until you count to 5 a three gallon pot would be 15 and so on. Check the plant daily for the first week or so and then every other day there after. Water using the counting method for the first few weeks. Ajuga Black Scallop can be watered well with a sprinkler when planting as a groundcover as they are shallow rooted. Keep in mind that since they are shallow rooted they will not have access to moisture deep in the soil until established.

Feeding your plants is probably the single most forgotten part of growing healthy long lasting plants. We recommend feeding your Ajuga Black Scallop in the very early spring and again in mid summer after all new growth has hardened off.. Bio-tone starter fertilizer is the best product to use at the time of planting. Our ideal fertilizer schedule for you to use is as follows. Apply an early spring fertilizer with a product such as Espoma Flower-tone at the recommended rate this will give the plant a boost of nitrogen and potash that will be needed for healthy foliage and stem growth. Follow this up with another early summer application of Espoma Flower-Tone, this will again provide the necessary nutrients to promote a flush of beautiful foliage. Espoma products are easy to use, just sprinkle around the base of the plant and water it in. Be careful with products such as miracle-grow as these products can burn newly planted plants when not used at the recommended rates. Slow-release fertilizer can help prevent rapid soft growth that is vulnerable to diseases and insects.

We highly recommend that you mulch your Ajuga Black Scallop with either a ground hardwood mulch or a ground cypress mulch depending on your local availability. Any type of mulch will do but cypress or hardwood mulch will be of a higher quality and provide better nutrition overall as they breakdown. Mulching helps to keep weeds away which will compete with your new investment for water and nutrients. Ajuga Black Scallop roots where the plantlets touch the ground so eventually the need for mulch will be less and less as the plants start to form a mat.

As a groundcover beneath Shade and Flowering Trees: Ajuga competes well with tree and shrub roots where other groundcovers fail. Their ability to thrive in less than ideal conditions makes them ideal for hard to mow banks and slopes as well as a small turf substitute in areas where turf grass does not do well.  

Between Stepping Stones: Black Scallop Ajuga offers a beautiful contrast with lighter color stepping stones and prohibits weeds from growing. The thick leaves can withstand light foot traffic making them ideal for between stones. 

Formal Gardens: This low grower stays tidy all season long and prohibits weed growth. Combines well with boxwoods and other evergreen shrubs..

Use in mixed seasonal containers:  Ajuga is easy to grow  and somewhat drought proof in pots. The dark foliage spills over the sides of the pot. softening the edges of concrete pots. Ajuga also can help with watering of containers as when its allowed to cover the entire surface of the container the sun wont dry the soil out as often thereby reducing the frequency of watering.

Groundcover and Mulch Replacement: Consider using ajuga as a replacement for costly mulch.