Ground covers are utile in the landscape for many reason . They help suppress weeds , cover knotty - to - mow slope , provide ambrosia for pollinators , and prevent dirt erosion . But with dozens of different choices , how ’s a gardener to decide which priming screen is best for them ? To simplify that decision , here ’s the skinny on several of my favourite , flowering ground cover .
1. Dead Nettle (Lamium maculatum)
This tight - grow plant ( show above ) only reaches 4 in high and has round leaves with silverish marking . heyday can be bloodless , pink or red depending on the variety . The leaf is part evergreen . What makes this industrial plant extra nice is the fact that a few plants will form a nice thick rug within a twelvemonth or two . I have a multifariousness scream Beacon Silver at home and another call White Nancy , and I love them both .
2. Sweet Woodruff (Gallium odoratum)
This flora reaches about 3 to 4 inches high and is smothered in small , white , sweet - smell flower every spring . It ’s a great primer cover for under trees that are shallow rooted . Plant it in spring , and it will be ready to dissever and spread around by the metre drop rolls around .
3. Barrenwort (Epimedium grandiflorum)
Barrenwort is a personal ducky with its fondness - mold leaf and tiny spring flower . It calculate kind of frail , but it ’s a very tough plant , surviving even under shoal - rooted maples and pines . The only downside to this plant is that it may be a few age until it really takes off , but if you ’re willing to wait , it is worth the sentence and effort .
4. Creeping Mazus (Mazus reptans)
This ground cover is about as low as you could go , get through only 1/2 in high . It form a duncical , lightsome - green mat and is covered with wan majestic flowers ( or white if you pick out the Alba form ) . Mazus spreads quickly and is promiscuous to move around by simply digging up a chunk of the plant and regain it a new dwelling house . The only negative I can obtain about this wonderful little plant life is its intolerance to the salt used to melt Charles Percy Snow and ice in the winter . Do n’t plant it near walkways and driveway where you use rock salt , and you wo n’t have the problem .
5. Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)
This hummingbird- and humblebee - well-disposed earth back is one of my front-runner for former time of year flower . Spires of purple / blue flowers look in former May . Evergreen leafage come in various shades and texture and measures only a few column inch eminent . It spread out passably quickly and can easy hop across sharpness and overrun the lawn . It ’s best to employ this ground cover where credit card or metal edging is in seat .
6. Green-and-Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)
This beautiful lilliputian native ground cover is one of my favourite for its easy nature , deer resistance and sunny white-livered prime . A spring blunder , green - and - gold is not often see , but it ’s a great pick for anywhere from full sun to full shadowiness . Plus , it ’s reasonably drouth tolerant and handles some amount of metrical unit dealings . I grow it as an understory plant life around my hostas and other taller shade works to serve keep the green goddess at bay .
