Top 10 Groundcovers

Economize every inch of your garden by using groundcovers to fill otherwise empty areas. We've picked out 10 of the best, each with unique features and growing conditions. Whether sun or shade, this list has got you covered.

Photo: Terra Nova Nurseries

Bugleweed

This fast-spreading, evergreen perennial makes an excellent groundcover with its masses of green, bronze, or variegated foliage. Spires of blue flowers appear in late spring to early summer. Bugleweed may invade lawns, making it more suitable for areas surrounded by stones or other barriers.

• Common Names: Bugleweed.
• Botanical Name: Ajuga reptans.
• Hardiness: Zones 3 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer.
• Size: 4 to 8 inches high, 8 inches wide.
• Flowers: Purplish blue.
• Light Needs: Full to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Plant closely so it forms a dense, weed-suppressing mat.
• Prize Picks: Rainbow's multicolored foliage transcends the average dark green with its pink and cream accents.

Photo: RDA GID

Candytuft

Roll out the white carpet for your garden with candytuft. This groundcover forms a dense mat of pale blooms perfect for borders, rock gardens, or containers. Clusters of flowers bloom from spring into summer, leaving its evergreen foliage to maintain interest the rest of the time. Candytuft adores the sun, but go ahead and take some indoors - the cut flowers are beautiful.

• Common Names: Candytuft.
• Botanical Name: Iberis.
• Hardiness: Zones 5 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Spring to summer.
• Size: 6 to 18 inches high, 6 to 24 inches wide.
• Flowers: Mainly white, but occasionally purple, pink, or red.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: Cut back in spring to encourage new growth. Mulch in colder areas to protect foliage.
• Prize Picks: Purity and Snowflake are favorite and reliable white selections. For a mix of colors, try Flash Series (Iberis umbellata).

Photo: Parkseed

Epimedium

Blanket your garden with a subtle splash of color. Epimedium's low-growing habit and delicate flowers work wonders in shady, otherwise-bare areas under trees and shrubs. Its heart-shaped evergreen foliage often carries a pink edge or tint which fades to bronze in fall. Thin stalks of colorful, fairy-like blooms appear in spring.

• Common Names: Epimedium, barrenwort, bishop's hat.
• Botanical Name: Epimedium.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 8.
• Bloom Time: Spring to early summer.
• Size: 5 to 24 inches high, 8 inches to 3 feet wide.
• Flowers: Yellow, beige, white, pink, red, and purple.
• Light Needs: Mostly partial shade, though some cultivars tolerate more sun.
• Growing Advice: Remove dead leaves in late winter or early spring to promote the best growth.
• Prize Picks: Lilafee has both purple leaves and flowers. Rose Queen and White Queen offer a flurry of rosy and white flowers, respectively.

Photo: Parkseed

Lamium

Lamium will definitely add a new wrinkle to shady spots. Where other groundcovers can only offer color, lamium quickly adds a dense growth of corrugated foliage that is often variegated, for extra interest and visibility in shady spots. Use it to fill in bare areas under shrubs or other established perennials with mounds of texture.

• Common Names: Lamium, deadnettle.
• Botanical Name: Lamium.
• Hardiness: Zones 3 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Late spring to summer.
• Size: 2 to 24 inches high, 4 inches to 3 feet wide, though can spread indefinitely for certain cultivars.
• Flowers: White, pink, yellow, or purple.
• Light Needs: Full to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Larger varieties can be invasive, but may work in poor soil. Otherwise, plant in well-drained, shady areas.
• Prize Picks: Beacon Silver is valued for its green-rimmed silver leaves; flowers are pink. Similar White Nancy has white flowers.

Photo: RDA GID

Lily-of-the-valley

This old-fashioned garden belle's diminutive flowers and tender greenery might look delicate...but its appearance is deceiving. Truth is, lily-of-the-valley is tough as nails, able to adapt to conditions that topple even the most robust perennials.

• Common Names: Lily-of-the-valley.
• Botanical Name: Convallaria majalis.
• Hardiness: Zones 2 to 7.
• Bloom Time: Spring to early summer.
• Size: 8 to 10 inches high, indefinitely wide (can be invasive if not contained).
• Flowers: Clusters of small, white or pink bell-shaped blooms on narrow, arching flower stalks.
• Light Needs: Partial to full shade, but will tolerate full sun in cooler climates.
• Growing Advice: If the weather is overly dry, mulch your lilies-of-the-valley and water periodically. For plants under trees and shrubs, a yearly does of fertilizer in spring will give them a nice boost.
• Prize Picks: Pretty Rosea is the only variety with pink flowers.

Photo: Parkseed

Sweet woodruff

Despite its delicate appearance, this plant is tough and well suited to wooded areas. Its white spring blooms last for several weeks, and even its apple-green leaves have a pleasant scent.

• Common Names: Sweet woodruff.
• Botanical Name: Galium odoratum.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 8.
• Bloom Time: Late spring to midsummer.
• Size: Up to 18 inches high, indefinitely wide.
• Flowers: Tiny white, star-shaped.
• Light Needs: Shade.
• Growing Advice: Mulch around plant in spring to keep cool.

Photo: Parkseed

Pachysandra

Regarded as the most dependable and resilient of groundcovers, pachysandra offers glossy whorls of evergreen foliage with white flowers in spring. Don't fret if growth isn't profuse as expected in the first year. When it comes to pachysandra, good things come to those who wait a couple years.

• Common Names: Pachysandra.
• Botanical Name: Pachysandra terminalis.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Spring.
• Size: 6 to 10 inches high, 10 to 18 inches wide.
• Foliage: Dark green, glossy.
• Light Needs: Full to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Thin growth occasionally to stave off disease.
• Prize Picks: Variegata (Silver Edge) is a slow-growing variety with creamy white along the leaf margins.

Photo: RDA GID

Periwinkle

If you experience lots of heat in summer, Madagascar periwinkle, also known as annual vinca, is the perfect plant. It flourishes in full sun and doesn't need excessive watering or deadheading.

An upright plant that spreads with age, it's durable in the garden or as a container planting. Its heat tolerance and appearance make annual vinca a perfect substitute for impatiens in hot, dry locations.

The glossy green foliage makes a nice backdrop for the solid or bicolor flowers.

• Common Names: Periwinkle, annual vinca.
• Botanical Name: Catharanthus roseus.
• Hardiness: Annual.
• Bloom Time: Early summer.
• Size: 6 to 24 inches tall and wide.
• Flowers: White, pink, rose-pink, red, lilac, some with contrasting eyes.
• Light Needs: Full sun to part shade.
• Growing Advice: Well-drained soil is a must.
• Prize Picks: Pacifica Punch produces large red, white or rose-colored blooms in spring. For color that lasts until first frost, trust varieties of the Pretty Series, like Pretty in Rose.

Photo: Parkseed

Creeping phlox

Creeping phlox is a smaller, low-growing, hearty relative of the familiar fragrant perennial. When it blooms in spring, it forms a cascading carpet of pretty little blossoms.

• Common Names: Creeping phlox.
• Botanical Name: Phlox stolonifera, Phlox subulata.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 8.
• Bloom Time: Spring.
• Size: 2 to 6 inches high, 12 to 20 or more inches wide.
• Flowers: Pale to deep purple.
• Light Needs: Full sun to partial shade, depending on variety.
• Growing Advice: Water plants regularly, enough to keep the roots moist but not wet. Once they're established, water less frequently and add mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.
• Prize Picks: Bruce's White has pure white flowers. Good lavender-flowered choices are Blue Ridge and Sherwood Purple.

Photo: www.intrinsicperennialgardens.com

Creeping thyme

The best gardens save a front row seat for creeping thyme. Its low-growing and low-maintenance habit make it the perfect complement to any border, edging, or even walkway. Creeping thyme spreads a dense cover of tiny, colorful blooms so easy-going you can walk all over them.

• Common Names: Creeping thyme.
• Botanical Name: Thymus praecox ssp. arcticus.
• Hardiness: Zones 5 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Summer.
• Size: Up to 2 inches high and 24 inches wide.
• Flowers: White.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: Go ahead and plant in cracks and crevices of walkways - creeping thyme releases its fragrance when stepped on.