Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac

Gro-Low is the native groundcover for a slope you are tired of mowing. It stays 1 to 2 feet tall and spreads 5 to 6 feet, rooting where the stems touch ground, which knits into a bank holding mat that suppresses weeds without any help. Hardy from Zone 4 through Zone 8 in full sun to part sun, it covers ground quickly once rooted in, usually filling by the third season.

Fall color is the display. The glossy three part leaves turn a mix of orange, scarlet, and purple, and the show runs late, holding after most of the surrounding planting has gone over. Crushed foliage has a clean citrus scent, which is where the name comes from.

Small yellow flowers open before the leaves in early spring and draw native bees when little else is available. Fuzzy red fruit follows on female plants and is taken by songbirds. It is a larval host for the Red-banded Hairstreak.

It handles drought, salt, and poor dry soil about as well as any woody plant sold, which is why it turns up on highway embankments and parking lot islands. Deer leave it alone. Space plants 4 to 5 feet apart for coverage, and site it where spreading is the point rather than a problem, because it will keep going.