Top 10 plants for groundcover

Groundcover plants are a fantastic choice for low-maintenance gardens. As well as covering bare soil and suppressing weeds, many grow in difficult situations like dry shade, and they often have beautiful flowers or attractive foliage too. We’ve put together a list of our top 10 groundcover plants.

Top 10 plants for ground cover

1. Geranium cantabrigiense cambridge is a vigorous hardy geranium with aromatic foliage and clusters of purple flowers in late spring. It’s tough and reliable, grows well in dry shade.

2. Vinca minor (lesser periwinkle) is also good for dry shade. Less invasive than its cousin Vinca major (greater periwinkle), this evergreen perennial is good for spots where little else will grow, producing purple flowers from mid-spring to autumn. Cut it back in spring to keep it under control.

3. Rosemary 'capri'  a highly aromatic, low spreading, evergreen shrub which will grow to around 15cm high with bright needle like foliage. Small, pale blue flowers are produced in spring and often again in autumn.

4. Oxalis triangularis purpurea is a clump-forming, bulbous perennial between 15-30cm tall when in flower, with clover-like leaves with triangular leaflets, green or dark purple with flushes of pale or darker purple. Slender stems bear umbels of funnel-shaped white or pale pink flower above the foliage in summer

5. Chamomile likes a sunny spot with free-draining soil, and is fully hardy. The name chamomile derives from the Greek for ‘earth apple’, referring to its low-growing habit and apple-like scent. There are several types of chamomile with the characteristic, relaxing fragrance.

6. Cotoneaster 'dammeri' a an evergreen shrub with green foliage which turns a dark red colour in winter and clusters of small white flowers in spring and summer, followed by showy red berries

7. Campanula portenschlagiana is a hardy, vigorous and persistent alpine campanula. Easily grown in rock gardens, on walls, in front of borders or even in containers. It forms a generous, dense mat of small ivy-like leaves which become hidden beneath the mass of small purple bells in summer.

8. Thymus or creeping thyme named as such for it's low, spreading habit.  It’s ideal for hot, sunny sites with well-drained soil, where it forms a mat of aromatic evergreen foliage covered in clusters of tiny pink flowers in spring. 

9. Sedum cauticola (stonecrop) is a low-growing succulent with small, fleshy leaves. it makes excellent ground cover for hot sunny spots with well-drained soil, and bees love the nectar-rich pink flowers that appear in late summer. 

10. Erigeron karvinskianus (Mexican fleabane) is a semi-evergreen perennial that flowers literally for months, producing a plethora of small white daisy-like flowers over mounds of green foliage. It grows well in the sun, and is very low-maintenance – just cut back to new growth in spring.

If your beds have bare patches that need covering, come in and see our wide range of ground cover plants. We’re sure you’ll find what you’re looking for!