I've lived in shady, deciduous woods for over 40 years. The backyard has usually been a combination of grass, crabgrass, and moss, and I mowed it occasionally to neaten it up. It was fine for my purposes. Over the years it was reseeded 3 times, but eventually the grass fails in the shadiest areas. Massive rains a few years ago totally destroyed all growth and none has returned. I'd like to plant a ground cover of some kind that I can walk on so I don't need to slog through the mud. I'm fine with a natural, woodsy look that fits the setting. Thank you for any suggestions.

Periwinkle is perfect for that purpose. Grows quickly, low to the ground, can be walked on. Has a dark green shiny leaf is 'evergreen' and I use it for this purpose. Transplant is easy, pull up a root with some leaves attached and dig a small hole to transplant.

I can't provide a link but Google the name.

From Wikipedia:

Some lawns are replaced with low ground covers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_cover), such as creeping thyme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyme), camomile (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camomile), Lippia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lippia_graveolens), purple flowering Mazus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazus_reptans), grey Dymondia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymondia), creeping sedums (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedum), and creeping jenny (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_jenny).Other alternatives to lawns include meadows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meadows), drought tolerant xeriscape (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeriscape) gardens, natural landscapes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_landscaping), native plant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_plant) habitat gardens, paved Spanish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_garden) courtyard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtyard) and patio gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patio_garden), butterfly gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_garden), rain gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_gardens), and kitchen gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_garden).

Just some alternative ideas...;)

Mark

Thank you for the suggestions. I did think of a few of them, but walking on them concerned me. I also have clay soil to contend with, as well as a lot of leaves in the fall that need to be raked to avoid smothering the growth and this might tear up the plants. Any thoughts on something really low to the ground like moss of some sort?

Perwinkle actually needs some roughing up, in fact I go over it with the lawn mower and it thrives. It is low to the ground and of course, from a gardener's standpoint, it can be walked on without damage.

Google your specifics, and you will get answers that way. Just a suggestion, if you really don't want suggestions from gardeners.