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slideshow: 10 great groundcovers to rely upon

by Ken Smith
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geranium macrorrhizumIAM THINKING OF SIMPLIFYING SOME OF MY BIGGEST GARDEN BEDS this year—spots where the shrubs have grown in and are just crying out for a simple groundcover or two at their feet. In a slideshow, then, some of the tried-and-true choices I’ve got plenty of here to choose from come spring (including Geranium macrorrhizum, above). Divide and conquer, right?

Hover your cursor on the right side of the big photo to reveal the navigational arrows (or if you prefer, double-click the big image and the show will display on your darkened screen). When you’re done looking at photos, don’t forget to go read the full profiles of any that interest you, at the links below the photo gallery. Enjoy. And remember: Order multiples!

geranium-macrorrhizum
One of the first plants that I learned to rely on to cover swaths of ground beneath shrubs, unifying the look of things while thwarting weeds and making garden maintenance easier, was the big-root Geranium, Geranium macrorrhizum.
cutbacks2
All I do to G. macrorrhizum is cut it back once a year, just as it goes out of bloom. An ugly moment, but after a few weeks of rebound I get compact, fresh-looking foliage the rest of the year. Performs in shade to half sun here; evergreen (though beaten down here by snow).
epimedium_0
Another sturdy groundcover, and more persistently evergreen here: the barrenworts, or Epimedium. Tiny, orchid-like early flowers appear before a new crop of foliage emerges…
epimedium-late-winter
…and even though last year’s Epimedium foliage may still be intact by then (as this was), I cut it down to the ground before the flower stems start to poke through. Epimediums grow in shade to part shade, and even dry shade — the toughest of conditions.
hellebore-seedling-5
The same treatment — end-of-winter removal of the old (though evergreen) foliage — is applied to my many hybrids of Helleborus orientalis, like this chance bicolored seedling.
hellebores-under-apples
So that I can appreciate the many flowers per clump as they emerge in March here into April…
hellebore-spent-foliage
…I remove last year’s foliage, right to the ground, being careful to try to time my haircut to before the flower buds start pushing.
hellebore-end-of-winter
You can see them starting to show in this old clump in March; the leaves are lying flat on the ground after a snowy winter.
hellebore-clump-cleaned-up
Once the leaves are removed and a few sunny days occur, the buds start to color up and stretch…
more-hellebores
…and then bloom for weeks in early spring. I grow hellebores in the shade of old apples trees and elsewhere in low-light conditions.
hellebores-etc
The hellebores make great companions for early spring ephemerals like trilliums, Hylomecon japonicum (gold flowers) and minor bulbs.
trachystemon
Trachystemon orientalis is not evergreen, but it is tough as can be (maybe to a fault, as it spreads enthusiastically). In early spring delightful blue flowers signal its wakeup, and then…
trachystemon-foliage
…its foliage, which gets very large, begins to push up and expand, covering great masses of shady ground, including in dry conditions. This one would be great along a roadside bed, or under a hedge and so forth. Don’t mix it with more timid things; it will swamp them.
pulmonaria-rubra-cluseuop
I have loved the red lungwort, Pulmonaria rubra, since first sight, despite its plain green leaves (many other Pulmonarias are beloved for their splashed and spotted foliage). But red flowers in late March through April? I’ll take it.
mass-of-pulmonaria-rubra
Pulmonaria rubra forms loose mats in the shade; I cut it back after bloom to renew the planting a bit.
sedums-together
The many species and varieties of low-growing sedums, or stonecrops, make easy, textural groundcover as well, and I often mix them into mosaics of multiple varieties. This is Sedum spurium (right) and finer-textured Sedum kamschaticum.
blue-and-pink-sedum
And look at the colorplays, like that of S. cauticolum ‘Lidakense’ (blue) and the rose-colored blooms of S. spurium ‘Fuldaglut.’ Yum.
blue-sedum
Otherwordly blue Sedum cauticolum ‘Lidakense’ is a favorite.
sedum-angelina-detail
So is golden Sedum Angelina (which can color up to orangey tones in cold or certain light.
sedum-angelina-in-pot
I love ‘Angelina’ as a “groundcover” in my big pots, not just in the real ground.
gold-moneywort-and-cold-foliage-of-crippsii-chamaecyparis
I use almost-too-enthusiastic golden moneywort, Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea,’ at the edges of other groundcover plantings, or peeking out from under trees like this gold Chamaecyparis, to catch the eye.
colorful-ferns
There are many choices of groundcover in the world of ferns — some that are evergreen, or deciduous, ones for shadier and sunnier spots, damp or dry. My two flashy favorites are the autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora, top, and the Japanese painted fern, Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum.’
asarum-europaeum-hosta-june-painted-fern-all-gold-hakonechloa
Low-growing grasses are another possibility, and I am hooked on shade-tolerant Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold,’ the yellow one here with shiny European ginger (a great nearly evergreen groundcover) and painted fern and Hosta ‘June.’
hakonechloa-all-gold-in-fall
The Hakonechloa is good for me from May to December…going through a great fall phase…
hakonechloa-snow
…and even standing up to the first few snows.
rodgersia-podophylla
For a perennial groundcover of a taller stature (2+ feet high), I love the Rodgersias, including R. podophylla.
rodgersia-detail
Rodgersia podophylla is supposed to grow in damp spots, but mine has been thriving for about 20 years (with many divisions taken from it) in a tough dry place. Go figure.
When I first started growing this stunning shade plant, which makes a dramatic 3-foot-tall stand with leaves almost that wide, it was called Rodgersia tabularis. Now it’s Astilboides tabularis.
A detail of the leaf of Astilboides tabularis. Both the Rodgersia and its close cousin Astilboides have Astilbe-like creamy-colored summer flowers.
microbiota-with-buddha
Of course, low-growing conifers are another possibility, and more than the ubiquitous junipers I like Microbiota decussata, on the hillside beyond the statue.
microbiota-by-wall
A detail of its fine-textured foliage…
microbiota-winter-color
…which colors up to bronze in the cold weather. Grow it in part shade.

profiles of the pictured plants:

more helpful stuff:

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  1. Bill Plummer says:

    Margaret,

    I started some 50 years ago planting Epimediums rubrum on the paths leading into my front woods.
    A number of years later it had spread so much that I used it to line my driveway.
    And the along the path around my garage and as a background above the bank to the back woods.
    I have more lining the path off my patio.
    Visitors ask what is it. I have given away dozens of plants.
    I have two other Epimediums from this early tears and have some half dozen of Probst’s plants.
    I would like to get more, but I have run out of room.

    As for other ground covers, how about our native ginger? I have one huge patch in my back woods.
    I have given away of them to fellow gardeners and to plant sales.

    Reply
    1. margaret says:

      Funny you mention that, Bill, as I am just starting to multiply the native ginger, Asarum canadense, lately here too. It’s very nice, though herbaceous of course. Don’t know why I didn’t start dividing it years ago!

      Reply
  3. MB Whitcomb says:

    Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ can be very invasive…this variety less so than others, but it does revert into a big thug. When I bought this property the stream banks were covered with it, and it has been 10 years of back breaking determined work…only to hold it in check. It pops up everywhere in the lawn, as small pieces root. The previous owner threw her yard waste into some wild areas, and it is pulling down fern beds. On my husband’s mothers property, she had planted it 30 years ago, and it has completely eliminated everything else in large areas. As bad as goutweed IMHO. I have yet to eradicate it from anywhere…once you have it you have added that work to your yearly chores, and also add your dismay as you find it in new places. I am getting older and can’t keep up. Every planting decision should be made with this last idea in mind…garden legacy.

    Reply
  4. MB Whitcomb says:

    Something happened to my longer post. But this plant is very invasive where I live (Nova Scotia). The “aurea” does not spread so fast, but it is more or less a permanent choice…once you have it you will never get rid of it, and every piece you move (mowing or tossing yard waste) will grow a patch. More on our website (earlier posts).

    Reply
    1. MB Whitcomb says:

      This plant…sorry…Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’. The green form is a huge thug as bad as goutweed, would not wish on my worst enemy, and sold in flowerbaskets everywhere. Like creeping charlie.

      Reply
  5. Sallie Rynd says:

    Hi Margaret, here’s a question for you: you mentioned pruning back your geranium Phaum and I was wondering how far down you go? Thanks, Sallie

    Reply
    1. margaret says:

      Good question, Tarun. The garden, started 30-something years ago, is a mix of collector/horticultural beds nearer the house, and looser more natve plantings at the perimeter. (It is 2.3 acres total.) So there is a bluestem meadow and other native groundcover areas that probably equal in size the bed/borders of “garden” plants, many of which when I began gardening here were Asian or European in origin (think hosta, astilbe, pulmonaria, perennial geraniums, many showy ferns etc…). I should do a second slideshow of native choices.

      Reply
  8. Carol says:

    I like native wild ginger as a ground cover for shady spots, too, as mentioned in an earlier comment.
    And while not native, I also really love sweet woodruff, Galium odoratum. I have found that it has no trouble at all growing in full sun, although everything I’ve read suggests at least part, if not full, shade. In addition to shady places around the yard, I also have it in a full-sun-all-day bed that never gets supplemental water and it has thrived for 10 years now. Granted, it spreads much more slowly in sun, but that can be (as Martha says) a Good Thing! And at this time of year, with the tiny white flowers blooming, on a warm sunny day (far too few this May, this year!) the scent wafts into the house through the window under which it grows and makes me smile. And I clip small bouquets of it to dry & place around the house – and especially at my bedside – to enjoy further the lovely scent that develops even more as it dries!

    Reply
  9. Kit Binkley says:

    Thanks so much for the recomendations. I think I have several of these ground covers. One of my favorites are Ajuga with gorgeous 4″ tall deep blue flowers! I’m surprised you didn’t mention that!

    Reply
  10. Carol Kelly says:

    You omitted one of my favorites: sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum), even though it is not a native. If I had my way I would have that instead of lawn – except that, of course, it dies back to nothing all winter so wouldn’t look good then at all! But the rest of the year, from late April on, it’s perfect, with tiny starry flowers early on and the foliage stays 6-8″ at most. Thrives in sun or shade, spreading slowly but inexorably, but is shallow-rooted so may be dealt with if it ventures too far. The fragrance is heavenly, and when picked, increases as the plant wilts. In Germany, it is called Waldmeister, and is the herb that flavors Maiwine. I use it to make a syrup that I mix with gin & tonic on a summer evening!

    Reply

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