JC, I recently covered my entire front yard in cedar wood chips fresh from the 60 ft cedar tree that had to be taken down before it fell down onto my house. Never thought to plant semps there as area is large, full exposure to sun, deer wandering up and down the street in late afternoon, watering would take too long, etc. I feel more comfortable in planting into a large container or small bed of an area that has different exposures during the course of the day.
