The single best native lawn alternative for dry shade — and one of those rare plants that thrives precisely where everything else gives up. Fine-textured, fountaining bright green foliage spreads slowly but steadily by rhizome to form a lush, weed-suppressing carpet under trees. Mow once a year in early spring for a tidy appearance, or not at all for a soft, naturalistic look. Tolerates Black Walnut, drought, deer and deep shade. Happiest growing beneath oaks