Groundcovers
By: Beulah A. Courter, Master Gardener

I’ve noticed my garden (I maybe should just call it my backyard, not my garden) is long on wonderful plants and a bit short on design. My plantings are mostly in clumps, and the clumps are spaced, according to the need for shade or sun, around a marvelous red oak that graces our yard. In between the clumps, which I prefer to call collections, are areas of poorly grown grass that should be replaced.

There are numerous easily grown ground cover plants for this part shade/part sun situation. My first choice would be liriope, commonly called lilyturf. This evergreen, grass-like plant contrasts beautifully with hosta, and it is quite drought resistant once it is established. Its bluish-purple-to-white flower spikes are produced in early autumn. Care could not be easier, as few insects or diseases bother liriope. Cut off or mow down the winter-weary leaves in early spring, and that’s about it.

Another excellent choice, this one needing more sun and a less fertile soil, is the hardy geranium. The geranium’s mounding growth habit and small lobed leaves contrast nicely with many plants, including the previously mentioned liriope. Geraniums bloom in shades of pink to purple, and occasionally magenta. The bloom season can last from spring through summer, depending on the species. Geraniums spread rather slowly, and pests and diseases rarely bother them.

For a slightly shadier situation, try the little low growing, mat forming, potentilla verna, with its bright yellow spring flowers and fresh green leaves. This variety spreads fairly rapidly and may need a bit of water during dry spells.

The common blue-flowered speedwell (Veronica officinalus) is another mat forming ground covering plant. It is a bit more vigorous than the potentilla, tolerating either sun or shade.

There are several species and numerous hybrids of epimedieums that would thrive in a partially shaded, moist, humus situation. Their rather leathery, usually heart-shaped leaves, renew themselves just as the unique little flowers that give the plant its common name, Bishop’s Hat, are developing.

If you like to mix bulbs with perennials, overplant the bulbs with gallium (Sweet Woodruff). This is another dainty little mat-forming plant, and it is very easy to grow.

If ground covers are to unify a planting, choose just one or two and repeat them as needed to fill gaps in your existing plantings. Add some rocks and some gravel paths (gravel is the ultimate, easy-care ground cover), and that back yard starts to look like a garden!