Ground Cover Plants for Hard to Grow Areas

Ground Cover Plants for Hard to Grow Areas
By Cheryl D. Jones

Soil covering plants are highly desirable in the landscape. They can make a plain area into a blooming mat of beauty. They can fill in cracks between stepping-stones, spill over landscape stone, or even replace a high-maintenance lawn. Ground covers for hard to grow areas offer water-saving living mulch and will cut down the amount of weeds that you have to pull, making your gardening job a lot easier.

There are plenty of types of plants that make great covering for the soil, but several are staples that fill needs that are common, and are well-behaved enough to live happily in a well-tended garden.

Here, we'll discuss some of our favorite ground cover plants, ready to enhance your landscape with living green mulch and beautiful low-growing blooms.

Tough ground covers can beautify those areas that seem almost impossible to grow in. One such common area occurs under trees where shade is prevalent, and where the tree saps the surface soil of nutrients and moisture. In shady, dry spots like these, drought tolerant perennials such as vinca vine periwinkle and English ivy are shade loving plants and thrive even in dry areas. These ground hugging plants grow fast, so they work well when you need to cover a lot of space in a shorter amount of time. English ivy will climb up buildings, so some care has to be taken as to where it's planted. Vinca flower in beautiful violet-purple and sometimes white, brightening up dark areas.

In shady spots where you don't need a highly aggressive ground cover, but want coverage that's still hardy and healthy and looks nice, try pachysandra. An evergreen perennial and slow spreading, this long-lived low growing plant is at home in the shade among hostas, ferns, and other shade loving perennials. It won't bully them either, as it's well behaved. Ajuga also known as bugleweed is another well-behaved and hardy perennial plant for shade that blooms beautifully. There are lots of leaf colors of ajuga, making it a varied and interesting ground cover.

In partly shaded areas that receive some sun, coverage choices become wider. Liriope, or "monkey grass", is a very popular. It's related to grape hyacinth, the spring bulb that many enjoy. It blooms in the spring similarly to grape hyacinth, but after that it sports strappy and attractive clumps of foliage that stay neat and tidy. Liriope can withstand partial shade, but appreciates some sun, especially in the morning. Combine with highly variegated hosta plants, and you have a great start to a wonderful partially shaded woodland garden!

In full sun, there are lots of interesting plant choices. Sedum are succulent plants that come in many shapes and sizes; some of the best sedum make great rock garden spreaders, or spilling choices in the front of borders into pathways. Lamb's ear is a beautiful spreading perennial for sunny spots, with its silvery hairy soft leaves. Interplant lamb's ear in the front of the border with brightly colored ice plant for a splash of color that plays well together.

Ground cover plants are necessary and beautiful garden elements that complete landscapes and gardens as well as solve common problems.

Cheryl D. Jones, shares gardening tips and landscape ideas through her blog, newsletters and her nursery's website. Visit http://www.GreenwoodNursery.com/ for a full line of plants including trees, flowering shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses and ground cover plants.

Join the Greenwood Gardeners Club free to receive Greenwood Nursery's weekly newsletter, seasonal promotions and 10% off your first order.

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