easy Ground Cover Plants You Can Grow
Let’s find out about gorgeous, easy ground-cover plants you can grow in your garden. They are great for hard-to-maintain areas, replacing a lawn, or keeping weeds down as a living mulch.
I am a big fan of low-growing, matting plants also known as ground cover plants. They are so wonderful between stepping stones, great as edging a bed, and used in rock gardens.
There a so many to choose from but I will share ones I have actually grown and had success with. All of these make gorgeous ground covers.
Creeping Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) ground cover plant
Yes, this is the short brother of the relaxing, sleep-inducing herb. It is used as a lawn replacement in many areas.
It takes foot traffic once established and with each step you get a sweet apple fragrance that is delightful.
This particular variety is Roman Chamomile and creates a thick mat and flowers later in the Summer.
It is fairly easy to transplant. I just dug up some clumps from a well-established area and poked them in the ground between new stepping stones and pavers I am placing in my Secret Garden.
It grows great in Zones 4-9. It will fill in to create a carpet of green between the concrete pavers and soften the look of the edges.
Lime Thyme (Thymus citriodorus)
The plant along the outside edges that looks a bit ragged is Lime Thyme.
I had just transplanted it from a larger clump. It gets its name from the citrusy scent and not its color.
Unlike Lemon Thyme, Lime Thyme is not really good as a culinary herb as it does not taste as well as it smells.
Lime thyme grows in my garden in both full sun and part shade. Once established it is very drought tolerant.
Lime Thyme starts out very chartreuse in the Spring and settles into a bright green for the rest of the summer.
It gets up to 6 inches tall but I easily trim it with my weed whacker. Lime thyme dies back in winter and can look like it is dead.
Don’t despair, it comes back with a vengeance when warmer weather arrives. You can see the Lime Thyme starting to creep over my boardwalk in the photo below.
Woolly Thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus)
Woolly Thyme is very different from the Lime Thyme.
It has blue-grey leaves that are fuzzy looking. Woolly thyme blooms small lavender flowers intermittently through the summer and in my garden stays a bit shorter than Lime.
Drought tolerant and perennial in Zones 4-8 but I say probably even higher. It likes full sun but can take partial shade.
It creeps along at a sedate pace and is well-mannered in my garden but others have said it can get become a bit of a bully.
I treat it the same as the Lime Thyme in that I just whack it back with my weed whacker when it needs a trim. It takes foot traffic and has a spicy Thyme scent. Woolly thyme can be used as a culinary herb.
The photo above was taken early morning so it is a bit darker but you can see how it creeps over the flagstone here and is quite thick.
I also have Lemon Thyme, Elfin Thyme, Creeping Thyme and Ruby Thyme.
Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata)
Creeping phlox is one of my Spring favorites as it brightens up the garden before much else is blooming. I have both lavender and bright pink.
The lavender blooms first then as it is just starting the fade the bright pink starts blooming in earnest making for a bright show.
It creeps along at a tolerable rate on most soils. Where I have my creeping phlox planted the soil is very rocky and shallow yet it thrives, and it is easy to pull up from where you may not want it.
Creeping phlox gets to 4 to 6 inches tall and will cover banks, hills or flat areas with a carpet of color in Spring.
Once it is done blooming it maintains a lush green appearance. It is hardy in zones 3-9 and comes in an abundance of colors, some is even bi-colored.
Another plus for many of these groundcovers is the deer tend to leave them alone.
plants they avoid in my garden
Deer Resistant Plants
Deer can quickly lay waste to your beautiful garden. See which ones they tend to avoid and why. These are the ones I have experience with!
Blue Star Creeper
I became acquainted with Blue Star Creeper about 30 years ago. I had it growing under my garden bench where it got dappled sun and it filled in so wonderfully.
The pale blue, star-like flowers give it an elegant touch of charm.
Here I have not found it invasive in the least but some in warmer regions may. Mine stays where I want it and doesn’t really travel far.
I have read of others in areas like the Southeast who have found it to be a bit of a bully.
One gardener’s well-mannered plant can be another gardener’s nightmare so be sure to do your research and any local garden center with trained personnel should be able to tell you if something is right for your area and climate or not.
There is a white one of this and I have a new one I am trying as well it is a dwarf. I will let you know how it grows for me.
Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia)
Chartreuse leaves on trailing stems that form a low-growing mat that roots as it spreads. I have read this is very aggressive in areas that get rainy summers like the Pacific Northwest and I have found it to be a bit rampant myself but I can contain it so far.
What is lovely about this is it will do well in sun or shade. It makes a great shady area ground cover as the foliage really lights up darker areas of the garden.
It is wonderful as a spiller in containers as well.
Baby Tears ((Soleirolia soleirolii)
I love this for shady areas, I have it on the North side of my studio under my bench.
I just replanted this year so it has not filled in yet but I will share a photo later on in the season to show you how pretty it looks all filled in.
Corsican Mint (Mentha requienii)
One of my favorites for walking on as it has such a fabulous minty scent, it is the lowest growing and it is so delicately lovely. It looks a lot like Baby Tears but this one likes the sun.
You need to keep it well watered to get it to spread thickly. It goes dormant in winter and you think it has disappeared but when warm weather returns it makes itself seen. Zones 6-9
Scotch Moss
Scotch Moss is a workhorse of a ground cover. It grows in bright golden tufts and carpets in an area so well it can be used as a lawn substitute.
It has lovely little white flowers in Spring. It does better in part shade than in full sun. It scorches in full sun in the heat of summer.
I created a heart shape in the garden with this lovely plant, it makes me smile each time I see it!
Creeping Speedwell -Veronica Replens
I have this one also in a chartreuse color and it is very slow growing, it is called Sunshine. I have read that this darker green one can be invasive for some, just a fair warning.
It is similar to the Blue Star Creeper in looks. Veronica Replens will work in shade, part shade or sun. Kind of an all-purpose groundcover. Zones 6-9.
Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum)
I have several different cultivars but they all make for a great ground cover in different areas.
If you haven’t thought of these succulents as an easy ground cover you are missing out.
They take tough conditions, spread out to about 2 feet, and are easily divided to provide more.
The leaves vary in color depending on which cultivar you have but all make for a lovely, easy ground cover. Meet their conditions and Hens & Chicks will reward you with an abundance of rosette-shaped clusters.
That are just some of the ground covers I grow. I also have an entire collection of low-growing or creeping Sedums that I will take an entire post themselves.
One of my favorites is Lemon Coral Sedum. It brings a pop of chartreuse color to the garden with outstanding texture!
If you grow any of these ground covers above, please chime in and let us know how they work in your area.
Are they invasive and bullies or do they grow in a more mannerly and contained fashion?
Happy Gardening!
My creeping jenny has gotten a bit out of hand this year, I need to get tough with it and beat it back. But I love that it is tough and will put up with lots of abuse. I like using it in pots too, the color really is a good contrast for many other plants.
Great article on lovely ground covers. They are great choices for so many places. At our old house I had quite a collection of thyme and mosses. I still have some and that pretty bright creeping jenny which I sometimes dig up and use in pots.
Honestly, I don’t. I just pull them as best I can.
I share your love of Blue Star Creeper, but how do you keep the weeds out of it?
Very informative. Thanks!
Sounds like a wonderful day. I got to pot up a few things today but not near enough time outside. But tomorrow is another day. 🙂 Looks like we can expect rain on Friday here.
I used to grow that one when I lived in the valley. I had forgotten all about it. I loved that one, it won’t overwinter here where I am at now but maybe I can get it to keep in the greenhouse.
I grow as a groundcover Austalian violets. They do so well here in my yard and can be sun or shade. I saw them growing on a garden tour a few years ago. They are my new go to for fairy gardens . Give them a try ! There are 2 varieties that I have seen and I like the larger leaf one best.
Nice hearing from you Pamela. Sitting here with dirt under my fingernails. Just working on the deck, transferring some seedlings to larger pots when a “had to respond to” phone call beckoned me back in the house….. Looks like another beautiful day and maybe rain here in Shingletown come Thursday….. Yes, come to think of it, I don’t recall finding such great pics (as yours) of some of these smaller foliage. It is such a relief to see things clearly, so we can move on…….back to the deck 🙂
I like seeing things close up too so I can identify them at the garden center when I see something I want to try.
You are welcome. I am so glad I could help. 🙂
Creeping phlox only blooms in Spring then it is just a green groundcover for the rest of the Summer. I am not sure if you are saying you bought it this Spring or last. They do well in partial sun so that should not be the problem. Sorry I can’t be more help.
Thank you for this informative and helpful posting. Great pictures! I can actually tell what I’m looking at and recognize some I already have here at my newly purchased home.
Donna, I bought creeping phlox for the first time this great. The bright pink one. It was blooming like crazy when I planted it in my large hors trough planter. It has not bloomed again after I planted it. It gets morning sun only and is watered deeply every other day. Does it need to come out of the planter where it is about six inches from the top where it will get a little bit more direct sun?
THANKS for “ten gorgeous ground covers you can grow”!! I am in Zone 9, and have an area that grows weeds beautifully. I wanted to try a ground cover, but didn’t know where to start. Now I do, thanks to you. Thanks again.