Easy-to-grow, low maintenance ground cover plants cover a garden with carpets of color that enhance the other plants growing over and around them.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Item # 33450 		Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Hardy Plumbago

each $5.49
3 to 6 plants $5.29
7 or more $4.99
Veronica liwanensis
Item # 97340 		Veronica liwanensis
Turkish Speedwell

each $5.49
3 to 6 plants $5.29
7 or more plants $4.99
Cerastium tomentosum
Item # 32570 		Cerastium tomentosum
Snow-in-Summer

each $5.49
3 to 6 plants $5.29
7 or more $4.99
Delosperma cooperi
Item # 39725 		Delosperma cooperi
Hardy Purple Ice Plant

each $5.49
3 to 6 plants $5.29
7 or more $4.99
Teucrium aroanium
Item # 94620 		Teucrium aroanium
Gray Creeping Germander

each $5.99
3 to 6 plants $5.79
7 or more $5.59
Aegopodium podagraria ‘Variegatum’
Item # 10910 		Aegopodium podagraria ‘Variegatum’
Variegated Bishop’s Weed

each $5.49
3 to 6 plants $5.29
7 or more $4.99

20% Off! $4.39
Vinca major 'Variegata'
Item # 98255 		Vinca major 'Variegata'
Variegated Big Leaf Periwinkle

each $5.49
3 to 6 plants $5.29
7 or more $4.99
Tanacetum densum x ssp.amani
Item # 93725 		Tanacetum densum ssp. amani
Partridge Feather

each $5.49
3 to 6 plants $5.29
7 or more $4.99
Symphytum grandiflora 'Hidcote Blue'
Item # 93050 		Symphytum grandiflora 'Hidcote Blue'
Blue Flowered Ornamental Comfrey

each $7.99
3 to 6 $7.79
7 or more $7.59
  • Topics: Groundcovers, Plant Selection
  • Keywords: Groundcovers, berm, low plants, low maintenance, cascading plants, flowerbed, Garden Design, flowers, gardens
  • Date: December 2008

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Just as a beautiful rug can bring a drab room to life, groundcovers can work similar magic in the garden. These easy-to-grow, low maintenance plants can really wake up a garden by providing carpets of color that cover the bare soil and enhance the other plants growing over and around them. Groundcovers are effective when planted to soften hardscape features like low walls, brick or stone walkways and patio areas. Most are tolerant of light foot traffic and can be used to plant between the bricks and stones.

Other more vigorous species can be placed to cascade over walls and rock berms. Groundcovers also have a functional role in the garden when used as living mulch. They smother weeds, shade the ground from the drying sun and help hard rains soak more completely into the soil. And just as importantly, groundcovers provide a unifying element in the garden. They provide continuity between separated areas of the garden and unify groups of taller plants within a flowerbed to create a more cohesive design.

Attributes to consider when choosing a groundcover include the plant’s height in flower, its flowering season, sun or shade preference, soil preference, foliage texture and color, type of foliage (deciduous or evergreen), growth rate, and how it spreads (from rooting stems or re-seeding). By deciding what is needed in a given area of a garden you can find a groundcover that will fill the spot and provide a “platform” that visually supports other taller plants.

For example, if you have a dry sunny sloped area that needs coverage and erosion control, select a heat tolerant, strong growing groundcover that roots well as it spreads. Delosperma cooperi would match this need nicely. To create additional interest plant the taller perennials in amongst the Purple Iceplants. This allows you to combine plants with complementary flower colors and similar growing requirements to fill two height levels of the same area.

For aggresive growers that cover a lot of ground in sunny areas I use Saponaria ocymoides, Cerastium tomentosum, and Tanacetum densum v. amanum. Combine vigorous taller growing plants such as Achillea ‘Moonshine’ with the Soapwort, Penstemon strictus with the Snow-in-Summer and Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ with the Partridge Feather to create long blooming, low care combinations.

For dry, part-to-full shade situations under established trees and shrubs Aegopodium podagraria ‘Variagatum’, Vinca major and “Vinca major “Variegata , Lamium maculatum ‘White Nancy’ and Lysimachia punctatas and Symphytum grandiflora ‘Hidcote Blue’ grow and prosper where other less vigorous plants would fail.

Although less speedy in their growth rate Ceratostigma plumbaginoides and Teucrium chamaedrys are well adapted to both sun and shade conditions and will be very permanent, long lived additions to any garden. I use both of these species to fill in under newly planted shrubs and flowering trees. Both Hardy Plumbago and Creeping Germander adapt easily to the increasing amounts of shade created as the woody plants grow and fill out.

Excellent small growing species with evergreen foliage for sun include Veronica liwanensis, Veronica oltensis, Globularia cordifolia (Leather Leaf Powder Puff)”:http://www.highcountrygardens.com/54605.html, Thymus necceffii and Antenaria sp. “McClintock” (Dwarf Pussytoes). All of these plants are well suited for use in small beds or raised planters under other less vigorous but taller growers or between paving bricks or flagstone where they will fill in the cracks with attractive flowers and foliage.

From the above examples it becomes clear that groundcovers lend themselves to use throughout the garden, providing a balance to the taller plants they grow around. With such a wide variety of groundcover species and cultivars to choose from there are no excuses for bare ground in the garden. So remember to cover it up with groundcovers!