Ground Covers

For a Printable version of the handout, click here.

 

Why Groundcovers?

At Natureworks, we are embracing a new movement in landscape design:

MORE PLANTS LESS MULCH

 

This movement is inspired by the following books :

Planting in a Post Wild World by Claudia West and Thomas Rainer

The Know Maintenance Garden by Roy Diblik

Garden Revolution by Larry Weaner and Tom Christopher

Planting: A New Perspective by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury

 

This design style is based on the concept of DESIGNED PLANT COMMUNITIES. These are some of the concepts that define this style:

·         Cover the ground densely with layers of plants. Bare ground invites weeds

·         Layer plants side by side and up and down (short plants below taller plants)

·         Learn the ways that plants spread to understand how to use them in a designed plant community.

·         Upright plants leave space below for weeds. Plant ground covering perennials at their base instead of mulching.

·         Try not to disturb the ground by tilling, turning it over, hoeing. Disturbance awakens the seed bank in the soil and you will get lots of weeds.

·         Large masses of organic mulch between plants breaks down and creates a fertile seed bed.

·         Allow plants to intermingle. The goal is a dense cover of plants that are compatible together.

 

The benefits:

1.      Maintenance is reduced as the ground cover layer fills in.

2.      You save money and time on spreading mulch and then having to weed year after year.

3.      Your landscape is much more diverse, with additional color and texture.

4.      You provide a much richer habitat for native pollinators, beneficial insects, and all of the other creatures that inhabit your yard.

 

Not all ground covers are low growing. If a perennial covers the ground and prevents weeds from encroaching, you should consider trying it. If you use these taller plants to cover the ground, place them beneath upright

plants that are clump forming (such as Baptisias) or below shrubs and taller ornamental grasses.

 

GROUND COVERS LIST

 

PERENNIALS

 

Ajuga  

Alchemilla mollis  

Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, ‘Georgia Pancake’,                         ‘Short Stack’

Anemone canadensis- for deep shade,    problematic spots, very fast spreading

Anemone japonica

Asarum canadense and europeum

Aster divaricatus, A. cordifolius- native woodland asters

Aster ericoides ‘Snow Flurry’

Astilbe chinensis ‘Pumila’

Bergenia- slow growing, evergreen foliage

Brunnera macrophylla- clumping but self seeds

Callihroe involucrata

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

Chrysogonum

Coreopsis verticillata ‘Golden Showers’, ‘Zagreb’

Dendranthemum weyrichii ‘White Bomb’

Epimedium

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae

Eupatorium coelestinum – perennial ageratum

Fragaria ‘Tristan’

Gaultheria procumbens- wintergreen

Geranium- spreading, not clumping types

Macrorrhizum ‘Rozanne’

Sanguineum x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’

Geum fragarioides- Barren strawberry

Gypsophila cerastioides

Helleborus

 - clump forming, excellent evergreen foliage                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Heuchera- especially vigorous H. villosa types

            Heuchera villosa var. macrorrhiza                          ‘Autumn Bride’

Heucherella

Hosta- clump forming

Hypericum calycinum- creeping St. Johnswort

Iberis

Iris cristata

Lamium maculatum

Laurentia

Mazus reptans

Mitchella repens

Nepeta- shorter forms

Oenothera fruticosa

Pachysandra procumbens - Alleghany spurge
                        - deciduous, native

Packeria aurea (Senecio aureus) - Golden groundsel

Phlox divaricata

Phlox stolonifera

Podophyllum peltatum- mayapple

(summer dormant, ferns will co-mingle)

Polemonium reptans - Jacob’s ladder
            - native, ground cover  

Polygonatum

Potentilla neumaniana

Potentilla tridentata

Prunella vulgaris- Heal all

Sarcoccoca

Smilacina racemosa

Stachys ‘Helene Von Stein’

- big ears lambs ears; S. ‘Silver Carpet’

Symphytum grandiflorum- dwarf comfrey

Tiarella- especially stoloniferous forms such as              ‘Running Tapestry’

Tradescantia (especially ‘Sweet Kate’)

Trifolium 4 Luck series

Waldsteinia (syn. Geum fragarioides)

Veronica ‘Georgia Blue’, ‘Waterperry                               Blue’, ‘Whitewater’; V. prostrata

Zizia aptera, Z. aurea

 

 

EXAMPLES OF TALLER GROUND COVERS

Polygonatum biflorum (commutatum)

Pycnanthemum muticum

Theylepteris noveborincensis (New York fern)

 

FERNS (all are shade tolerant)

Athyrium x ‘Branford Rambler’

Athyrium nipponicum ‘Pictum’- Japanese painted fern

Onoclea sensibilis- sensitive fern

Thelyepteris noveboracensis- New York fern

 

 

 

 

 

GRASSES (all are shade tolerant)

Acorus gramineus

Carex- so many Carex make excellent ground covers. Some are clumping, some are spreading.

     Carex pennsylvanica is a classic ground cover used in this method.

morrowii ‘Ice Dance’

siderosticha ‘Variegata’

Hakonechloe

Liriope

Ophiopogon- slow growing

 

HERBS

Calamintha

Galium odoratum- sweet woodruff

Meehania cordata

Mellisa-lemon balm  Very fast spreading, great for pollinators

Mentha pulegium-pennyroyal

Origanum ‘Herrenhausen’, ‘Hopley’s’, and golden form O. onites ‘Aureum’

Pycnanthemum muticum- mountain mint

Teucrium- creeping germander

 

HOT SUN ONLY- SEDUM AND SUCCULENT GROUND COVERS

Anacyclus depressus

Arctostophyllos uva-ursi -Bearberry

Aurinia saxatalis- Basket of Gold

Campanula poscharskyana

Cerastium tomentosum

Euphorbia myrsinites- Donkeytail spurge

Phlox subulata- May pinks, creeping phlox

Thymus- especially ‘Spicy Orange’

Sedums- there are so many wonderful ground cover sedums to explore, this is a sampling

acre- very spreading

rupestre ‘Angelina’

reflexum ‘Blue Spruce’

kamschaticum

spurium

Sunsparkler series (such as Lime Zinger, Firecracker)

ternatum ‘Larinum Park’- native, tolerates shade

 

 

WOODY GROUND COVERS

Comptomia peregrina- sweet fern 3-4’ tall, ideal for lean, sunny sites

Deutzia gracilis ‘Nikko’

Leucothoe ‘Compacta’

 

Rhus aromatica ‘Gro Low’- creeping sumac, very vigorous

Rubus calycinoides- creeping raspberry

Sarcococca