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Is there a problem area in your garden? Are there spaces that look vacant? While grass is a great option to problem-solve empty spaces, why not try some low-growing ground cover plants? These retain moisture, control soil erosion, and add an aesthetic touch to your garden.
Let’s look at the 17 best types of ground cover you could use to problem-solve your trouble areas.
Thyme
Do you want to enjoy the fresh aroma of thyme in your yard? Apart from the fresh smell, this plant also offers fragrant foliage and white or pink flowers that bloom in summer or spring. It makes a great ground cover that has many uses.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: full sun
- Size: 10 inches tall
Brass Buttons
This evergreen plant grows best in warmer areas and has yellowish flowers, shaped like buttons and fine-textured foliage like a fern. This plant needs a steady supply of moisture and can grow between steppingstones due to being somewhat tolerant to foot traffic.
- Soil: well-drained, moist
- Sunlight exposure: full sun
- Size: 6 inches high
Sweet Woodruff
This perennial is easy to grow and adds a light fragrance to your garden. The plant bears small white flowers during spring and the leaves smell like mown or crushed fresh hay. If it gets its optimal conditions with lots of moisture, then the plant can become quite invasive.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: part sun or full shade
- Size: 12 inches high
Epimedium
This beautiful ground cover grows well in places with a low shade and that is sunny for the most part of the day.
- Soil: well-drained soil
- Sunlight exposure: full sun
- Size: 8 inches high
Lamium
Lamium is an easy-care and reliable ground cover that blooms white, pink, or purple flowers all through the summer. It beautifies a struggling lawn with silver-marked green leaves growing silently in the shade.
- soil: moist, well-drained
- sunlight exposure: full shade
- Size: 8 inches high
Golden Moneywort
Creepy Jenny is another name for this fast-growing ground cover plant. It grows in the form of thin sprawling stems and tiny chartreuse leaves arising from the stems. This plant can become invasive if not grown in a place where it can be controlled. It is best to let this plant grow in a space bordered by concrete or other borders to limit it to where you want it to grow.
- Soil: Moist soil
- Sunlight exposure: no shade, or part shade
- Size: 3 inches high
Crested Iris
This plant, originating from eastern North America grows in various forms and cheery patterns of blue and white. Shady woodland gardens best cater to this plant as it grows freely in such places.
- Soil: well-drained, moist
- Sunlight exposure: part shade or full shade
- Size: 9 inches high
Lily-of-the-Valley
This ground cover needs minimal care and grows well in shady spots and dry places. It can spread out quite vigorously and it produces fragrant spring blooms.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: shady place
- Size: 8 inches high
Bunchberry
The beautiful tiny white flowers of bunchberry are what it’s adored for. These flowers develop eye-catching shades of bronzy purple during the autumn season and turn into bright red fruits.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: full shade
- Size: 6 inches high
Wild Ginger
The glossy, heart-shaped leaves of wild ginger and its vigorous growth make this a great ground cover plant. It cannot be called invasive, but it fills the landscape quite fast.
- Soil: well-drained soil
- Sunlight exposure: part to full shade
- Size: 4 inches high
Sedum
This extremely low-maintenance plant grows well in sunny spots, even in times of drought.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: full sun
- Size: 3 inches high
Lady’s Mantle
During the spring and early summer months, Lady’s mantle produces bunches of small chartreuse blossoms. A prominent feature of this plant is the water droplets that sparkle in the early morning sunshine as they remain on fine hairs that are featured by the scalloped leaves. This low-maintenance plant can spread a lot by dropping its seeds, so to contain this plant, it is better to deadhead the blooms.
- Soil: well-drained, moist
- Sunlight exposure: part to full shade
- Size: 18 inches high
Mondo Grass
More related to lilies, mondo grass is a hardy ground cover that can bear foot traffic, as well as heat and humidity. Growing in the form of strappy, green foliage, resembling grass, this plant contrasts well with plants having paler foliage.
- Soil: well-drained, moist
- Sunlight exposure: shady places
- Size: depending on the type, can grow as high as 24 inches
Snow-in-Summer
Snow in summer derives its name from the crystalline white flowers that bloom in spring on the silvery evergreen foliage. Being able to grow in many soil types, this hardy ground cover is the best cover for a patio, rock garden, or stone wall.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: full sun
- Size: 3-7 inches high
Hens-and-Chicks
Just plant and enjoy the low-maintenance plant in a rock garden, sidewalk crevice, or a stone wall.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: full sun
- Size: 4 inches high
Soapwort
In summer, the green foliage of soapwort becomes covered in starry pink flowers which continue to bloom till autumn. This low-maintenance ground cover forms a pretty and perfect mat in the gardens.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: partly sunny to fully sunny
- Size: 1 foot high
Showy Evening Primrose
This hardy ground cover is prized for its cuplike flowers in the midsummer, which open in the evening or in low light conditions.
- Soil: well-drained
- Sunlight exposure: full sun
- Size: 2 feet high
How to Choose Ground Cover Plants
Ground cover plants can be small shrubs, perennials, and annuals. They add greenery throughout the yard, and areas around the trees, and accent the transitional places in the pathways and foundations of any home. It is best to plant your ground covers during the months of spring or early summer. This way, they have ample time to stabilize their roots and leaves before winter arrives.
It is important to find the ground cover plant that suits your garden. You must assess the conditions of your area before you decide on the ground cover plant.
You must evaluate the area and the soil, and know the texture of the soil, whether it is dry, or sandy, wet, soggy, or a lovely loam.
Consider the pH and acidity level of your soil, and you can increase or decrease the pH to adjust the soil. Also, check the sun and shade patterns of the area. Find out whether the place will protect your cover plants from harsh winter elements and the hot summer sun. You can modify the soil texture by adding organic matter or gravel to make it balanced.
When you know about the texture, pH, sun, degree of shade, exposure, and drainage of the soil, you can select the most suitable ground cover plant.
Wrapping Up
The list of 17 best ground covers we have listed here is just some of the most popular varieties available. Remember to consider the growing conditions of the problem areas in your garden so that you can find a suitable ground cover for you.
The ground covers not just add green foliage to vacant spaces, they retain moisture, and control soil erosion and most of the varieties reward you with flowers during their blooming season. Now that you have read through some of the best ground cover options, it’s time to problem-solve and get your garden looking lush.
