There are many varieties of ground cover so that the right plant can be chosen for every location. Because whether fast-growing, flowering or evergreen, your own desire is decisive in the choice. A combination of different ground covers is also possible if they have the same site compatibility. In this way, larger areas can also be planted in a varied way. The following list should give a brief overview of the different types and their suitability.
ground cover
Shady locations
Ground covers are often planted under trees or shrubs. Because often not much grows here and the bare soil is not very attractive. But these plants must also like it in the shade. It is also nice when the plants are not only evergreen but also develop decorative flowers in summer. These robust and evergreen ground covers are particularly suitable for shady locations.
- Blue periwinkle
- Ivy Hibernica
- Elf flower Frohnleiten
- gold nettle
- Caucasus forget-me-nots
- crawling bugle
- Almond Spurge
- Whitsun Violet
- Carpet Spiers
- Vinca evergreen
- Dwarf goat's beard
gold nettle
Blue periwinkle
This ground cover has the special feature that it is suitable for both shady and sunny locations. It is very easy to care for and grows to about six inches in height. Small, blue single flowers are formed from May to September. The blue periwinkle is particularly well suited for grave plantings.
Caucasus forget-me-nots
The plant is very hardy and well suited for shady locations. It reaches a height of up to forty centimeters and forms small blue umbels of flowers in April and May. But the large, silvery leaves are already very decorative, even in winter.
Small periwinkle
Whitsun Violet
This ground cover is particularly suitable for smaller, shady areas. The undemanding perennial forms small, white or violet, very decorative flowers in spring between May and June.
Carpet Spiers
The decorative carpet spike produces many purple flowers in summer. The perennial likes it in the shade and is therefore particularly suitable for underplanting. Here it unfolds into a carpet up to twenty centimeters high.
crawling bugle
Dwarf goat's beard
In contrast to the other goat's beard species, the dwarf goat's beard is only about twenty-five centimeters high, likes it shady and is therefore well suited for underplanting trees or shrubs. Between June and July white elegant flower spikes are formed, the leaves turn orange in autumn.
Sunny locations
Ground cover is also often required in sunny locations, for example if a sunny garden bed in the front yard is only to be planted flat. For this, plants are needed that can withstand the blazing sun, including midday sun, without damage. These include the ground-covering plants listed below.
- Leadwort blue
- Blue carpet juniper
- Garden bugle Atropurpurea
- Chalice Alyssum
- slip sheets
- seacress
- Medlar Radicans
- white upholstery plox
Chalice Alyssum
The Chalice Alyssum grows between eight and twenty-five centimeters high and prefers to grow on stone. It is therefore particularly suitable for front gardens as a bed border along the path and in a rock garden. The flowers, which grow on a racemose inflorescence, appear from April to September.
Steppe Spurge
seacress
The beach cress or beach silver herb grows between ten and forty centimeters. In summer it is adorned with a raceme-like inflorescence with pink, purple or white flowers. The seacress is often used in the local latitudes, especially for a rock garden or to surround a bed. The plant is hardy and evergreen.
Medlar Radicans
As the name suggests, this ground-covering plant forms a decorative carpet. The red berries and white flowers appear somewhat obscured under its evergreen leaves. It can grow up to six inches tall, but grows very quickly in width.
White cushion phlox
The white upholstery plox has no great demands on the floor or care. It can therefore also be used well in a rock garden and between a wall. The plant grows between three and six inches tall and forms a flat, dense carpet. The white flowers appear between April and June.
cushion phlox
Partly shaded locations
Partial shade is also common in a garden. These are areas that receive several hours of sun a day, but where there is also several hours of shade. This is usually the case in western or eastern locations. But also in front of a wall, a hedge or under a very tall tree through which the sun occasionally falls down to the ground. There are also different types of plants that do well in these semi-shady locations.
- Andean cushion
- Elf flower Niveum
- Lady's Mantle Thriller
- Evergreen Alba
- Cranesbill Rozanne
Andean cushion
The Andes cushion offers a good cushion with a height of only five centimetres. The plant comes from South America and here from the Andes and is therefore also hardy. Yellow, small flowers form in early summer. The leaves are evergreen and have a rosette-like habit. The Andean cushion is also well suited for a rock garden due to its origin.
Lady's Mantle Thriller
The lady's mantle is very popular in front garden beds, mainly because of the dense foliage and yellow flowers. The plant is in full bloom from June. The ground cover is above all easy to care for and robust and therefore requires little work. Since it prefers moisture, streams or a pond are also the ideal location for the plant, which can grow up to forty centimeters high.
elf flower
Evergreen Alba
There are many varieties of the evergreen Alba, a very undemanding and versatile genus. The growth height here is fifteen centimeters. In summer between May and September, decorative flowers are formed in different colors depending on the variety. The dense carpet plant can therefore also be easily varied between the varieties in a bed.
grave planting
The cemetery and thus also the grave of a loved one are often in semi-shade to shade. But evergreen ground covers are also often used for graves, as these are usually very easy to care for and the grave always looks well-kept when planted flat, even if it is not visited every day. The following plants are therefore particularly suitable for partially shaded locations.
- fat man
- elf flower
- cat paw
- foam flower
- Carpet Goldberry
- carpet chamomile
- hardy feather pad
fat man
The plant likes it best in the shade under trees and shrubs. It reaches a height of twenty centimeters and forms a closed, beautiful carpet of plants. However, it requires some care, as the fat man must be cut back.
cat paw
The plants display small pink flowers in summer and have decorative silvery leaves all year round. They are about ten centimeters high and are very easy to care for, as they also get along well on dry soil. Only withered flowers and leaves have to be removed. Half shade to full sun is preferred.
foam flower
carpet chamomile
The flowers, which shine in white and yellow, also give off a sweet smell. Plants grow up to eight inches tall and may need pruning in spring. The carpet chamomile prefers a semi-shady to sunny location.
Hardy feather pad
As the name suggests, this evergreen groundcover is hardy but also hardy. In midsummer, the plant is covered with small yellow flowers. It prefers a sunny to semi-shady location and is very easy to care for. Their height varies between five and ten centimeters.
Ground cover for the slope
Embankments and slopes are often planted. But not every plant is suitable for planting on a slope. Of course, plants that cover the ground and don't grow that high are also well suited here. A mix of different carpet-forming plants flowering at different times is always a good choice for a slope. Here is a small list of various ground-covering plants that are suitable for slopes.
- Ajuga reptans
- heather
- Trefoil Golden Strawberry
- ivy
- Fan cotoneaster
- Small Bloodbarberry
- creeping juniper
- Spindle bush
Syrian juniper
heather
The slope on which the common heather is cultivated should be sunny. There are different types of broom heather, all of which form flowers in a wide variety of colors and can therefore also find a place mixed on a slope. The plants grow between ten and forty-five centimeters in height and can spread up to almost a meter.
Trefoil Golden Strawberry
The three-leaf golden strawberry, also known under the name Waldstenie, grows, as the second name suggests, only in a shady location. But here the evergreen plant unfolds its bright yellow flowers between April and May.
ivy
Ivy should only be cultivated on shady slopes, because the leaves of the plant do not tolerate the sun at all, they can burn with just a few rays of sunshine. The special feature of this plant, however, is that it also grows between stones and can therefore also be planted in a gabion slope. Ivy has the special feature that it not only grows up walls independently, but also spreads flat over the ground.
ivy
Fan cotoneaster
The ground cover is known to grow horizontally with outspread branches, thus forming very dense mats if not pruned back. The location should be sunny so that the plant can develop its full splendor and cover the ground tightly.
cotoneaster
creeping juniper
The plant likes a sunny to semi-shady location and is particularly well suited for greening very steep slopes. However, stepping on the surface is not tolerated by the plant, so the slope should only be there as a decoration.
Walkable ground cover
Ground covers are becoming more and more important in the garden these days. And so there are also varieties that are hard-wearing and therefore walkable and can be planted as a lawn substitute. Of course, not all plants tolerate being walked on frequently. But a small list shows that there are definitely hardy ground covers that are also evergreen.
- feather pads
- Horned wood sorrel
- Evergreen hazel root
- Pennywort
- Purple Deadnettle
- Roman chamomile
- star moss
- Carpet Verbena Summer Pearls
- thyme
- cotoneaster
thyme
Yellow Wood Sorrel
Even if the sorrel is one of the weeds, it is very suitable as a walkable groundcover and therefore as a lawn substitute, especially on acidic soil, as the name suggests. Due to the rapid spread, also in many joints, this weed should only be cultivated in your own garden with great care. But on an area where nothing else would grow, the sorrel is well laid out.
Evergreen feather pad
A ground cover that is only conditionally step-resistant and yet suitable as a lawn substitute for areas that are not walked on that often. The hardy varieties have green leaves in summer that turn copper-red in winter and are therefore very decorative.
Evergreen hazel root
This ground cover is particularly suitable as a lawn substitute in the shade. The rich, dark green leaves provide a similar look to a meadow, but have the advantage that they do not have to be mowed. The perennial grows between five and ten centimeters tall and produces rust-brown flowers that are hardly recognizable as they are hidden under the leaves. Unfortunately, this ground cover is one of the poisonous plants and should therefore not be walked on barefoot.
lemon verbena
Roman chamomile
Roman chamomile is a good example of a groundcover lawn substitute. Shakespeare already said about the plant: "The more it is trampled on, the faster it grows". White flowers appear from June to September. However, the plant, which grows about fifteen centimeters high, has to be cut regularly.
Carpet Verbena Summer Pearls
Carpet verbena is originally from Japan. These groundcovers are wonderful as a lawn replacement, forming a green carpet that can be walked on but does not need to be mowed. The flowers unfold between May and October in white-pink. The plant is only about five centimeters high but grows very quickly in width.