Landscape Ground-covers: A New Definition

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CAM00382

front yard garden flowers
front yard garden flowers

What exactly is a landscape ground-cover?  By all that I have ever known in my many years as a landscape designer, it defines any landscape plant that grows under 3' tall. I find that to be a confusing definition, so I am going to discuss a new definition of landscape ground-covers: landscape plants that do truly cover the ground and grow to heights of under 1' tall, more or less.

When I think of ground-cover plants, I think of potential sod substitutes, and I want a plant that will cover the ground!  With that concept in mind, there are only a handful of plants that will truly crawl or creep and eventually fill in the bare spots in your landscape.  They are:

  • Minima Jasmine (also called Dwarf Confederate Jasmine, Asiatic Jasmine):  best in full shade or part shade, variegated varieties also available
  • Ornamental Peanut, also called Perennial Peanut:  full sun only, and not deer resistant
  • Mimosa Plant:  full sun only
  • Blue Pacific Juniper:  full sun, part shade, not a true vine runner like the other 3 above

Naturally, there are other plants that will "pup" or multiply, with mature heights of one foot or less, but they will only fill in a small space and cannot be relied upon to cover large areas.  With that, while they may "qualify" as a  landscape ground-cover, they are unpredictable, at best, in their overall potential performance in the landscape, with regards to cover large areas as a sod substitute.  Beyond that, though, they are fabulous landscape plants for any home:

  • Bulbine
  • Aloe
  • Purple Queen and Wandering Jew (those are two different plants, btw)
  • Dwarf Oyster
  • Mondo and Dwarf Mondo
  • Blue Daze, Heather, Kalanchoe
  • Sedum
  • Fireball Bromeliad
  • Dwarf Mexican Petunia
  • Portulaca-Rose Moss

Ground-covers, clearly, are an awesome addition to any landscape, no matter what height the plants grow to.  However, fabulous landscape designs can only happen when we have a better understanding of what plant should go where, based on it's value to the landscape design.  The more we know, the better our landscapes grow, yes?