Gardening Bytes

Archive for the ‘Full Sun Ground Cover Plants’ Category

Ground covers for shade are sometimes harder to come by, shade can be a difficult place for some plants to survive. Shade can be dry, such as under trees, or a damper environment, such as under large ferns. Keep your perennials planted in shade watered or you may notice a decrease in blooming. Provide extra water for plants near and under trees since trees use up great quantities of water. If plants are long and leggy they may have difficulty thriving in a tree’s shade. Check with your local nursery to see if the perennial shade plants you are interested in are hardy in your region.

This plant list is for shade and partial shade plants.

Ajuga
Alchemilla
Anemone
Astilbe
Brunnera
Convallaria
Cornus
Dicentra
Digitalis
Epimedium
Euonymus
Euphorbia
Ferns
Galium
Gaultheria
Geranium
Hedera
Hellebore
Heuchera
Hosta
Hypericum
Lamium
Lathyrus
Leptinella
Linnaea
Liriope
Meehania
Omphalodes
Oxalis
Phlox
Pulmonaria
Saxifraga
Symphytum
Vinca
Viola
Sedum

Ground covers for your garden are an important part of your garden structure. Ground covers work well between plants and underneath plants to help keep weeds down and become a natural mulch around other plants. You want ground cover not invasive plants that will cover up your other plants so ask for advice at your local nursery and choose wisely. Lithodora is a steady grower with evergreen leaves covered in bright blue tubular flowers. I’ve found using low growing heathers a great ground cover, for example Kramer’s Rote has small evergreen leaves with brilliant pink and cream blooms that smother the plant in fall and winter months.

Achillea
Alyssum
Anemone
Artemisia
Aster
Aubrieta
Bergenia
Calamintha
Campanula
Cerastium
Ceratostigma
Chrysanthemum
Clematis
Coreopsis
Delosperma
Dianthus
Dryas
Erigeron
Euonymus
Euphorbia
Fragaria
Geranium
Geum
Gypsophila
Hedera
Helianthemum
Hemerocallis
Heuchera
Hypericum
Iberis
Lathyrus
Leptinella
Liriope
Lithodora
Lonicera
Nepeta
Oenothera
Origanum
Oxalis
Phlox
Potentilla
Pulmonaria
Ranunculus
Rubus
Sagina
Saponaria
Sedum
Sempervivum
Stachys
Teucrium
Thymus
Trifolium
Verbena
Veronica
Viola