Safe Ground cover

[Tortoise Rescue Brenda]

Hey friends,
The Tortoise Table does not allow a search this specific. I’m hoping you can help. Can you tell me tortoise safe ground cover, especially full sun plants.
Thank you.
Brenda

 

[Blackdog1714]

Pothos, spider plants are both quick growing and spreading. Just keep them in a pot or hang them up so they don’t get ate straight away.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Hey friends,
The Tortoise Table does not allow a search this specific. I’m hoping you can help. Can you tell me tortoise safe ground cover, especially full sun plants.
Thank you.
Brenda

Since you are in Texas, I presume ground cover for an outside enclosure, right? And plants to just add, or plants that are really sown as cover crops?

 

[Tortoise Rescue Brenda]

Pothos, spider plants are both quick growing and spreading. Just keep them in a pot or hang them up so they don’t get ate straight away.

Great. Thank you. I just got a bunch of small spider plants. I will plant a few in the ground and a few in pots to hang over as they grow.

 

[Tortoise Rescue Brenda]

Since you are in Texas, I presume ground cover for an outside enclosure, right? And plants to just add, or plants that are really sown as cover crops?

Hello, Yep, you know it. Looking for what can work in this hot sun. I am looking for some ground cover for my new box turtle enclosure that gets mostly afternoon (hot sun). Luckily the hot sun is partly shaded by a large tree and the walls of the enclosure. I know I can do grass but I wanted to add more plants.

 

[Blackdog1714]

Good catch Mario I wasn’t thinking outdoor and Texas! In a smaller enclosure they should do fine. This is my momma spider plant and all the plants in my enclosures come from her. On her right side is a new small pothos.

 

[Relic]

I have used Monkey grass as a ground cover for 30-40 years - both with box turtles and tortoises (Yellowfoots & Redfoots) - and it has worked very well. It's cheap (often free from people thinning out their crop), spreads with underground runners, tolerates shade as well as full sun, not too thirsty for water, provides shade for smaller species (no adult sulcata). And despite having flowers and berries, I have seen no indication (nor have I ever experienced any) of toxicity to turts/torts. In fact, I have never seen any box turtles or tortoises show any interest in eating the plant or berries. Maybe some species of tortoise I've not kept would be interested in the flowers/berries, but box turtles ignore them. It is perhaps the best "plant it and forget it" greenery I've ever used. Tougher than my wife's rib-eye...

https://www.hunker.com/13405552/are-monkey-grass-seeds-poisonous

 

[Yvonne G]

Ice plant is edible. I like to plant squash and melon. It travels along the ground and the leaves are edible. Bermuda grass grows anywhere (and is hard to get rid of) and is edible, but, of course, all species of tortoise don't eat grass. Violas and pansies are edible. Sedum, nasturtium, Alpine strawberries, to name just a few.

 

[Lyn W]

If you use any shop bought plants be sure to wash roots and repot and replant in fertiliser and pesticide free soil and allow time for the chemicals already used on them to grow out. My spider plants don't like sun so may not survive your heat, but I would think that any tort safe plants in the Tortoise Table would be OK as food or in enclosure. I have a hebe bush and some mini bamboo in my outside enclosure but of course what suits our climate may not suit yours.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Take a look at this web site. It provides a wide range of seeds, from meadows, grass, annuals & perennials.

They have a few on-going discounts too.

Wildflower Seeds, Flower Bulbs, Perennials

American Meadows has been supplying gardeners with the best wildflower seeds, perennials, bulbs and how-to information since 1981. 100% Guaranteed.

www.americanmeadows.com

Take a look at this blend of southwest grasses too - https://www.americanmeadows.com/grass-and-groundcover-seeds/midwest-native-grass-seed-mix

 

[Heckhaven]

Pothos, spider plants are both quick growing and spreading. Just keep them in a pot or hang them up so they don’t get ate straight away.

Do the Tort's eat the Spider Plants and Monkey Grass?

 

[Blackdog1714]

Torts essentially test taste everything new!

 

[Heckhaven]

Tasting and Eating are two different things.
Depending on where you read about both types of plants - Monkey Grass and Spider Plants - some articles say either, or both, can be toxic to "Animals", others say they are not.

 

[Canadian Mojo]

Clover is another option that is available as bulk seed which makes it inexpensive compared to a lot of other choices.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Big, bushy Elephant grass, Spider plants and Lyriopi are what I use.
Warning: Once it is established, you may never see your tortoises again.