Dichondra Silver Falls
Dichondra argentea
Silver trails that run far wider than they stand — the edge of a container is its natural place.
- Type
- Flower · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Foliage color
- Silver and gray
- Sunlight
- Full sun brings out the best silver color.
- Watering
- Drought-tolerant; let it dry out between waterings.
- Feeding
- A light feed every two weeks.
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- June
- Apr–Jun Bud Break
- Jun–Oct Flowering
- Oct–Dec Growing
- Jan–Apr Growing
- Plant spacing
- 15.7 in
- In-row spacing
- 15.7 in
- Between rows
- 19.7 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
- Root system
- Shallow roots, spreading on surface runners
- Working depth
- 6–12 in
- Can reach
- 18 in down where the soil allows
- Spread
- 16–24 in across, about 1–1.5× the width of the plant
- Shallowest pot
- 8 in of soil
The roots themselves stay shallow and near the crown; the spreading is done above ground by runners that root wherever they touch. The colony walks outwards while the parent plants age out, so keep the young rooted runners and replace the old ones every few years.
The habit is Dichondra Silver Falls’s own; the figures are what that habit usually comes to at this size, not a measurement of this species. Roots follow the soil either way: a compacted pan, a high water table or heavy clay stops them well short of any of it, and deep open ground lets them go further.
- Generally trouble-free No notable pest or disease problems when grown in the right conditions — one of the easy ones.
Calibrachoa, Petunias, Verbena
Silver and gray-leaved flowers, like this one.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com