Planting Groundcovers: Get A Carpet Of Color In Your Landscape With Low-Growing Plants
by David Salman
Planting groundcovers is a great way to save water and mow less. Groundcovers are some of our most versatile garden plants and are loosely defined as growing wider than tall and flowering at a height of 12 inches or less.
Groundcovers can be used as:
- Lawn replacements
- Carpeting companion plants to plant under and around taller growing perennials, annuals and flowering bulbs
- Soil binders to hold and protect the soil from erosion (especially on slopes)
- A living mulch to shade the ground, conserve water and crowd out weeds
- Fillers between cracks of stepping stones and garden pavers like brick, slate and flagstone to beautify these hardscapes with flowers and foliage
- A stabilizing element for rock retaining walls with their deep growing roots
Groundcover Characteristics
These plants are a diverse group and can be used in a wide variety of garden environments. They can be:
- Evergreen or herbaceous (those that lose their leaves and stems in winter)
- Vining or clumping (spreading slowly out from a central crown)
- Aggressive or slow growing
- Suitable for sunny or shady parts of the landscape.
When making a decision about the right groundcover for your landscape, review the characteristics and uses listed above. This will help you make the right choice.
Planting Groundcovers: How Many Plants Do I Need?
When planting larger areas with groundcovers, it's important to figure out how many plants are needed to cover the area.
- First, determine the square footage of the area to be planted. Irregular areas with curved edges can be a bit of challenge to calculate. But if you can break down the area to be measured into small squares or rectangles, you can get a good approximation of how much square footage you have.
- Second, look at the mature size of the groundcover you want to plant. If the plant is 4 inches tall by 15-18 inches wide, plan on planting the individual plants 15 inches apart so that the plants will knit themselves together into a solid carpet of stems and foliage.
- Third, look at your budget and how quickly you want the groundcover plants need to cover their new planting area. The faster the desired coverage, the closer you'll want to space them and the more plants you'll need to buy. If a groundcover matures to a width of 15" it's OK to plant it on 12-inch centers. It will fill in faster and the stems can overlap themselves without harming the plants.
Pterocephalus depressus (Creeping Pincushion Flower)
Plant Calculator: How many plants do you need?
Look at the chart below to give you an idea of how many groundcover plants are needed when spaced at various distances.
Spacing between plants | Sq. ft. per plant | Number of plants for 100 sq. ft. of planting area |
---|---|---|
6" x 6"/td>0.25 sq. ft.400 | ||
9" x 9" | 0.56 sq. ft. | 179 |
12" x 12" | 1 sq. ft. | 100 |
15" x 15" | 1.56 sq. ft. | 64 |
18" x 18" | 2.25 sq. ft. | 44 |
24" x 24" | 4 sq. ft. | 24 |
To figure out how many plants will be needed for an area bigger or smaller than a 100 ft.² area, simply take the square footage of the area to be planted and divide by the square foot per plant.
For example: 150 sq. ft of bed area to be planted at a spacing of 15" x 15". Divide 150 by 1.56 sq. ft. per plant to find out you'll need 96 plants.
Groundcovers
Our SunSparkler® Sedum Collection is a trio of dramatic, high-impact Sedums that will pick up any garden setting with easy-care fun. A rich color palette includes grey-green foliage...
Learn MoreSunSparkler® Sedum Collection SunSparkler® Sedum Collection$29.97 Sale $28.47Sale Price I Save 5%Per Collection of 3Our SunSparkler® Sedum Collection is a trio of dramatic, high-impact Sedums that will pick up any garden setting with easy-care fun. A rich color palette includes grey-green foliage with burgundy flowers, bi-color lime green foliage, and blazing ruby-red petals edged in bright pink. A favorite of birds and pollinators, Sedum will naturalize to create drought-tolerant mats of colorful foliage and flowers. Collection of 3 plants.Learn MoreFast-growing, and colorful, 'Angelina' Creeping Sedum (Sedum rupestre) adds a dazzling highlight with colors from chartreuse to golden yellow. Easy to grow, it will spread quickly as...
Learn MoreAngelina Sedum Angelina Stonecrop Sedum rupestre AngelinaAs low as $7.99 Sale $7.59Per Plant - 2.5" PotFast-growing, and colorful, 'Angelina' Creeping Sedum (Sedum rupestre) adds a dazzling highlight with colors from chartreuse to golden yellow. Easy to grow, it will spread quickly as a drought-tolerant groundcover. Bright yellow star-like flowers bloom in summer and foliage turns golden-orange in autumn. A great pick for rock gardens, dry borders, and large expanses of ground that need planting.Learn MoreA soft orange-flowered selection of pineleaf beardtongue, SteppeSuns® Sunset Glow Penstemon (Penstemon pinifolius) is a native cultivar that starts flowering in late spring and attr...
Learn MoreSteppeSuns® Sunset Glow Penstemon SteppeSuns® Sunset Glow Beardtongue Penstemon pinifolius 'P019S'$8.99 Sale $8.54Sale Price I Save 5%Per Plant - 2.5" PotA soft orange-flowered selection of pineleaf beardtongue, SteppeSuns® Sunset Glow Penstemon (Penstemon pinifolius) is a native cultivar that starts flowering in late spring and attracts numerous pollinators and hummingbirds. Reminiscent of Colorado summer sunsets, its long-lasting blooms add a warm glow to dry area gardens. Finely textured evergreen foliage forms a compact mound for year-round interest.Learn MoreAn easy-to-grow groundcover, 'Purple Beauty' Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata) carpets the mid-to-late spring garden with starry lavender-purple flowers. Whether you are looking for a ...
Learn MorePurple Beauty Creeping Phlox Purple Beauty Creeping Phlox Phlox subulata Purple Beauty$10.49 Sale $9.97Sale Price I Save 5%Per Plant - 5" Deep PotAn easy-to-grow groundcover, 'Purple Beauty' Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata) carpets the mid-to-late spring garden with starry lavender-purple flowers. Whether you are looking for a water-thrifty addition to flow through a rock garden, or a beautiful way to highlight a spring-blooming bulb collection, 'Purple Beauty' will add pollinator-friendly, drought-tolerant spring beauty to your garden.Learn More
Helpful Hint: Out in the garden, I cut a stick to the length the groundcovers are to be planted apart and use it to measure the distance between plants. Discard after use.
Planting Groundcovers: David's Top Ten Herbaceous Groundcover Picks
- Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam'(Seafoam Sage)
- Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Hardy Plumbago)
- Cotula sp. 'Tiffendell Gold' (Creeping Golden Buttons)
- Delosperma cooperi (Purple Cold Hardy Iceplant)
- Galium odoratum (Sweet Woodruff)
- Lamium maculatum 'White Nancy' (White Nancy Deadnettle)
- Saponaria lempergii 'Max Frei' (Giant Flowered Soapwort)
- Stachys byzantina "Helen von Stein' (Large Leaved Lamb's Ear)
- Zauschneria garrettii Orange Carpet® (Orange Carpet Hummingbird Trumpet)
- Zinnia grandiflora 'Gold on Blue' (Prairie Zinnia)
Planting Groundcovers: David's Top Ten Evergreen Groundcover Picks
- Achillea ageratifolia (Greek Yarrow)
- Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' (Mossy Sandwort)
- Delosperma dyeri Red Mountain® Flame (Flame Cold Hardy Iceplant)
- Heterotheca jonesii (Creeping Goldenaster)
- Pterocephalus depressus (Creeping Pincushion Flower)
- Ruschia pulvinaris (Creeping Shrubby Iceplant)
- Tanacetum densum v. amani (Partridge Feather)
- Teucrium aroanum (Gray Creeping Germander)
- Thymus 'Reiter' (Reiter Creeping Thyme)
- Veronica liwanensis (Turkish Speedwell)
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