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How To Properly Utilize Ground Covers In The Landscape+The Best Ground Covers For Your Landscape

How To Properly Utilize Ground Covers In The Landscape

Do you have a tough to handle area of your landscape that you've been wondering what to do with? Ground Covers can likely provide a solution to the challenging areas of your landscape! Ground Covers can be effectively used in a wide range of applications and provide practical and economical options for tackling the most demanding aspects of any landscape. Let's go over some of the most effective ways you can utilize ground covers in the landscape.

1. On Banks And Slopes

Use Ground Covers for an effective way to stabilize and beautify slopes and banks. Ground Covers grow wonderfully compared to other plants on steep slopes and can quickly stabilize an unstable bank and decrease erosion. These creeping and trailing plants create a wonderful visual effect when spilling down hills and over edges.

2. As A Living Mulch

Ground Covers are a much better alternative to wood mulches as they are superior at choking out weeds and are by far more beautiful! Additionaly Ground Covers used as living mulch don't have to be replaced like mulch so are much more sustainable and economical than your standard aggregate mulches. A flowering Ground cover around the base of a specimen tree or shrub create an amazing show in the landscape. Try them to fill those larger spaces in between your Shrubs and taller Perennials!

3. In Rock Gardens And Crevices

Ground Covers are your best choice to use for rock gardens and in crevices such as in between stones on pathways etc. Ground Covers tend to be able to effectively fill these tough to deal with areas with ease with there durable and fast growing nature, many of which are poor soil and Drought tolerant once established. Ground Covers can provide color, fragrance and more in these tough growing conditions where many other plants can not. Turn a dreary rocky area around with some stunning and vigorous Ground Covers.

4. As A Lawn Alternative

Ground Covers like creeping thyme, phlox or scotch moss are a great alternative to grass lawns. These can provide a low maintenance and pollinator friendly alternative to the high maintenance and non beneficial grass lawn your use to. These Ground Covers also improve the quality of nutrient deficient soil adding immense value to the landscape over time.

5. Use Them In Patio Pots

Ground Covers make a wonderful addition to any container recipe. Let the large variety of flower shapes and colors fill the gaps in your decorative pots and spill over the edges for an unforgettable waterfall of lush foliage and colorful blooms!

6. Define A Border

Use Ground Covers to line a walkway or create an informal border or barrier that can separate two areas as you desire. 

The Best Fast Growing Ground Covers For Your Landscape!

In this section we take a look at the best ground covers to beautify and stabilize your challenging garden areas with names, pictures and detailed info for each of them! 

1. Creeping Thyme:

Growing to about two to three inches tall and spreading to more than a foot across, creeping thyme tends to grow in a dense, mat-like form.   

Red creeping Thyme

ℹ Fast spreading creeping thyme (Thymus serphyllum 'Coccineus', aka Thymus praecox is one of the best low-growing drought tolerant groundcovers for sunny & dry spots. Creeping thyme will crowd out unwanted weeds and thrive in poor soil where other groundcovers fail. An ideal lawn substitute for small spaces. A low growing mat reaching only 1" tall. This no-fuss groundcover requires little water and practically no maintenance. Soft green foliage releases a perfume when stroked or walked on that will stir the senses and linger throughout the garden air. Hundreds of pink flowers are also fragrant and bloom in early summer, and the variety 'Coccineus' is known for its specially rich, saturated flower color. Plant around stepping stones, over boulders, in stone paths, or let it spill throughout your perennial border. The only requirement this deer-proof and hardy ground cover has is a sunny spot with good drainage. Thymus 'Coccineus' makes the perfect colorful & fragrant carpet for planting at the base of sedums, roses, ornamental grasses. 

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Elfin Creeping Thyme

Elfin Creeping Thyme

ℹ Spectacular ornamental herb with purple blooms and tiny evergreen leaves. Great groundcover for filling hard to manage areas, between stepping stones and much more as it will tolerate light foot traffic and dry conditions. Works well in mixed beds or in pots when allowed to trail over the edges. Showy flowers and aromatic foliage. 

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Purple Creeping Thyme

Purple Creeping Thyme

ℹ There's a lot to love about this mounding, spreading groundcover. Looks great spilling over container edges. Attractive in rock gardens and it's form is perfect for grouping in a mass planting, it loves to grow around and between pavers, its fine textured foliage fills the air with fragrance, and it erupts into a carpet of deep purple bloom in the late spring. Can handle light foot traffic.  

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White Creeping Thyme

White Creeping Thyme

Absolutely beautiful when combined with any of the other creeping purple or red-flowered forms. Fast spreading creeping thyme is one of the best low-growing drought tolerant groundcovers for sunny & dry spots. Creeping thyme will crowd out unwanted weeds and thrive in poor soil where other groundcovers fail. An ideal lawn substitute for small spaces. This no-fuss groundcover requires little water and practically no maintenance. Soft green foliage releases a perfume when stroked or walked on that will stir the senses and linger throughout the garden air. Hundreds of white flowers are also fragrant and bloom in early summer. Plant around stepping stones, over boulders, in stone paths, or let it spill throughout your perennial border. The only requirement this deer-proof and hardy ground cover has is a sunny spot with good drainage. 

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2. Creeping Phlox:

Creeping phlox spreads rapidly and makes the perfect ground cover. It can be planted to cover banks, fill spaces under tall trees, and looks lovely when it spills and trails over slopes.

Candy Stripe Phlox

Candy stripe creeping phlox

ℹ 'Candy Stripe' Creeping Phlox produces striking multi coloured blooms in hues of pink and white. Each bubblegum pink petal has minty white edges with a candy apple red fleck at the base  lending a unique candyland vibe to the landscape! These enticing blooms sit atop a mass of extremely cold hardy evergreen foliage for multiple weeks in Spring. Drought tolerant and deer resistant, this versatile perennial  groundcover can be used to spill down banks, spread under trees, add a splash of colour to containers and so much more! Let this high performance, low maintenance beauty lend its joyful colour to all of your hard to manage areas. 

Emerald Blue Phlox

Blue Emerald Creeping Phlox

ℹ Low, mounded cushion of dark green, needle-like foliage covered in lavender-light blue blooms in mid-to-late spring. For use in rock garden, edges, containers and massed. Shear right after blooming to maintain size. Great disease resistance. Prefers a sandy soil.

Emerald Pink Phlox

Emerald Pink Creeping Phlox

ℹ Low, mounded cushion of dark green, needle-like foliage covered in beautiful pink blooms in mid-to-late spring. For use in rock garden, edges, containers and massed. Shear right after blooming to maintain size. Great disease resistance. Prefers a sandy soil.

3. Sedum:

Sedums have it all! This perennial plant has succulent foliage and produces clusters of star-shaped flowers that bloom from midsummer to fall. It’s easy to care for and beloved by pollinators, too! 

Dazzleberry Sedum

Dazzleberry Sedum

 ℹ The Dazzleberry sedum is an amazing plant with many appealing attributes. This groundcover sedum forms alluring mounds with remarkable smoky blue-gray foliage. In the late summer, it produces dazzling displays of large 6- to 8-inch raspberry-pink flower clusters that bloom for over seven weeks. This groundcover sedum thrives in sunny locations although locations receiving partial sun are often acceptable, sites with full sun and dry soils will bring out the best foliage coloration. Well suited for use in rock gardens and containers, harvested as cut flowers, or utilized in edge, border and mass plantings. 

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Limezinger Sedum

Limezinger Sedum

ℹ Tight, compact upright mound of bright lime-green foliage with cherry-red edge. Clusters of bright pink  blooms from late summer through fall (earlier than most sedum). Very drought tolerant once established in moist, well-drained soil.  

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Solar Spice® Sedum

Solar Spice® Sedum

ℹ Solar Spice® sedum is a gorgeous mat forming evergreen perennial that adds a rich playful contrast of texture and tones of yellow-orange to your landscape. In early summer yellow flower buds open up to sunny yellow blooms on upright leafy stems. Perfect for rock gardens, groundcover or in a container.

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4. Mat Forming Dianthus:

Mat forming Dianthus is used as a ground cover or on banks. It blooms in summer and fall if the spent flowers are removed. Individual plants will form a mat about a foot in diameter and spread rapidly. 

Bright Light Dianthus

Vivid™ Bright Light Dianthus

ℹ Expect masses of vivid pink, intensely fragrant, 1" single flowers on strong stems from late spring, reblooming to fall on this eye catching alpine hybrid. Low mounding, blue-green foliage is completely blanketed in blooms and when mass planted gives a stunning pink carpet effect. Shearing back after flowering keeps plants tidy and promotes consistent rebloom. Plant Dianthus and pollinators will come! Dianthus are among the best for providing color in late spring and early summer. Evergreen blue-green foliage. 

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Spotty Dianthus

Spotty Dianthus

ℹ The beautiful Spotty Dianthus is sweetly-fragrant and cold hardy! Boasting deep cherry-red blooms, with contrasting white spots gracing each petal really make this dianthus stand out. These colorful, fragrant blooms are produced atop a lush grassy clump of grey-green foliage. Blooming from early Summer to early Fall these highly desirable blooms attract butterflies and other pollinators.  

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5. Mountain Cornflower:

Mountain Cornflower is a attractive plant native to the mountain meadows and woodlands of continental Europe. Deeply dissected flowers bloom in early summer. 

Black Sprite Cornflower

Black Sprite Cornflower

ℹ Black Sprite is an amazing new colour selection of Perennial Cornflower! In early summer, exotic-looking flowers with silky, spider like purple-black, starburst petals put on an epic show of dark elegance when blooms cover the entire plant for 3-4 weeks long! A true standout in any landscape, great for containers, tucked in the front of garden borders or mass plantings for a stunning effect! All of this on a backdrop of compact, fresh looking, disease resistant, blue/green foliage. Add a unique element to your gardens and plant Centaurea Montana "Black Sprite" this season! 

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Amethyst in Snow Cornflower

Amethyst In Snow Cornflower

 ℹ In early Summer, unique and stunning spider like blooms with a rich magenta base and contrasting white, trumpet shaped petals are sure to turn heads in your garden! This Drought tolerant once established plant will provide low maintenance beauty in a wide range of soil conditions. These highly charactered blooms are accompanied by a back drop of lush grey-green lanceolate shaped foliage which makes them pop in the landscape.

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6. Bellflower:

Bellflowers will spread over the seasons and these lower growing varieties make excellent ground cover. Most bellflowers begin blooming in July and keep on flowering until frost.

Dickson's Gold Bellflower

Dickson

ℹ Dickson's Gold Adriatic Bellflower is a stunning, low growing clump forming perennial. In late spring through early summer vivid lilac-blue, star shaped flowers pop against the eye-catching golden yellow heart shaped leaves with a serrated edges. The perfect plant for edging, groundcover, rock gardens, banks or slopes or container growing. 

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White Clips Bellflower

White Clips Bellflower

  ℹ Compact plant with upward-facing, pure white, bell-shaped blooms and oval to heart-shaped green foliage from summer to fall. Deadhead to encourage rebloom. Disease and pest free. Use for borders, containers and rock gardens. Prefers a moist, well-drained soil.

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7. Pasque Flower:

The pasque flower is a low-growing, herbaceous perennial that stands about 8 to 12 inches tall and forms a clump that spreads over time. Its blooms precede most of its foliage in spring.

Pasque Flower

Pasque Flower

ℹ Pulsatilla Vulgaris (Pasque Flower) is a stunning clump-forming native perennial boasting large star shaped pastel purple flowers on short stems in early Spring! The attractive blossoms contrast nicely with the glowing eye of golden yellow stamens! The charming blooms are followed by equally ornamental, plume-like seedheads in fluffy round clusters. Ferny foliage stays fresh throughout the growing season. Pasque Flowers will seed themselves all over, then go summer dormant. Enjoying a long season of interest, these low growing plants are great for all gardens! 

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Red Pasque Flower

Red Pasque Flower

ℹ Pulsatilla rubra (Red Pasque Flower) is a stunning clump-forming native perennial boasting large star shaped pastel red flowers on short stems in early Spring! The attractive blossoms contrast nicely with the glowing eye of golden yellow stamens! The charming blooms are followed by equally ornamental, plume-like seedheads in fluffy round clusters. Ferny foliage stays fresh throughout the growing season. Pasque Flowers will seed themselves all over, then go summer dormant. Enjoying a long season of interest, these low growing plants are great for all gardens! 

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8. Cinquefoil:

Cinquefoil is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial with dark green strawberry-style leaves and trailing stems that tumble over walls, down steps or the edge of containers. Cinquefoil or otherwise known as Perennial Potentilla is a cousin to the more familiar shrubby Potentilla. 

Arc En Ciel Cinquefoil

Arc en ceil cinquefoil

ℹ Arc-en-Ciel means rainbow in french and refers to the multitude of colors that will display themselves at once on this rare and interesting specimen. Long Blooming season with a perennial growth habit makes this Potentilla much more desirable than others! Arc-en-Ciel Cinquefoil AKA Perennial Potentilla is a cousin to the more familiar shrubby Potentilla. Cinquefoil is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial with dark green strawberry-style leaves and trailing stems that tumble over walls, down steps or the edge of containers. Blooming from June through August stunning double layers of ruffled deep red petals showcase irregular yellow-splashed margins that become more yellow with age. Cut down in spring and watch Arc-en-Ciel regrow beautifully each season after season. 

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Mont d'Or Cinquefoil

Mont d

ℹ Sunny bright yellow semi-double flowers bloom all summer long! Mont d'Or Cinquefoil AKA Perennial Potentilla is a cousin to the more familiar shrubby Potentilla. Cinquefoil is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial with dark green strawberry-style leaves and trailing stems that tumble over walls, down steps or the edge of containers. Cut down in spring and watch as it regrows beautifully each season after season. 

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9: Creeping Juniper:

Creeping juniper is a low-growing, evergreen shrub that is native to North America. It is poor soil tolerant, deer resistant, drought resistant, and is perfect as a ground cover or great for stabilizing slopes.

Hughes Juniper

Hughes Creeping Juniper

ℹ Low growing, spreading juniper with silver-blue finely textured foliage throughout summer, turning purple in cold weather. Excellent groundcover for large areas and erosion control. Tolerates drought, humidity and wind. 

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Bar Harbor Juniper

Bar Harbor Creeping Juniper

ℹ Excellent groundcover with trailing green-blue foliage taking on a purple hue in winter. Crawls or hangs over rocks and walls. Prefers a moist, well-drained sandy/gravelly soil. Drought tolerant once established - intolerant of wet sites. Low maintenance. 

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10. Ice Plant:

The Ice Plant (Delosperma) is a succulent, perennial ground cover with daisy-like flowers. The ice plant is not called an ice plant because it is cold hardy, but rather because the flowers and leaves seem to shimmer as though covered in frost or ice crystals.


Red Mountain® Flame ice Plant

Red Mountain® Flame Ice Plant

 ℹ  Standout large 2", bright orange-red flowers with a narrow pink halo at the white centers! Red Mountain® Flame Ice Plant is a vigorous spreading perennial creating a stunning carpet of attractive succulent foliage, covered in late spring to early summer with a profusion of brightly coloured flowers which keep reappearing all summer until fall. Evergreen in warmer winter areas the striking foliage of fleshy medium green leaves, delicately covered with transparent flakes resembling small pieces of ice, hence the common name 'ice plant'. This Plant Select® award winner is an excellent groundcover or for rock gardens and it's drought and deer-browse tolerant!  

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Fire Spinner® Ice Plant

Fire Spinner® Ice Plant

ℹ Fire Spinner Ice Plant-An indispensable element of water wise landscapes, delosperma 'Fire Spinner' Ice Plant is a vigorous spreading perennial creating a stunning carpet of attractive succulent foliage, covered in late spring to early summer with a profusion of brightly coloured flowers 1.5 in across which keep reappearing all summer until fall. Evergreen in warmer winter areas the striking foliage of fleshy medium green leaves, delicately covered with transparent flakes resembling small pieces of ice, hence the common name 'fire spinner ice plant'. The intensity of the flower colour, an incredible mix of brilliant orange and magenta petals with a central white eye, combined with the long blooming season and evergreen foliage solidify the ornamental interest of this perennial plant. 

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