15.Sweet Woodruff Sweet woodruff is the perfect ground cover for adding fragrance to your backyard. When the leaves are crushed they smell like freshly mown hay. This is one plant that isn't prone to invasiveness and tends to form well-mannered clumps. Name: Galium odoratum Growing Conditions: Part to full shade and well-drained soil Size: To 12 inches tall Zones: 4-8 16.Japanese Forestgrass Ornamental grasses are a beautiful way to add texture to the landscape. Low-growing forms are great ground covers -- and Japanese forestgrass is one of the best. It comes in glowing shades of gold and chartreuse, and forms flowing mounds that hug the ground. Name: Hakonechloa macra Growing Conditions: Full to part sun, moist, well-drained soil Size: To 2 feet tall Zones: 5-9 17.Hens-and-Chicks A perfect companion for sedums, hens-and-chicks is an excellent succulent for the rock garden, stone wall, or crevice in the sidewalk. Hens-and-chicks is among the lowest-maintenance of ground covers. Just plant and enjoy. Name: Sempervivum varieties Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: 4 inches tall Zones: 3-9 18.Soapwort Soapworts are underappreciated plants. Many of them make fine ground covers. 'Max Frei' is a low-growing, mat-forming cultivar that is highlighted with starry pink flowers in spring. It's an excellent choice for gardens because it tolerates summer's heat and humidity. Name: Saponaria x lempergii 'Max Frei' Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: To 1 foot tall Zones: 3-7 19.Showy Evening Primrose This heat-, drought-, and humidity-tolerant plant rewards you in midsummer with showy pink flowers. While it's easy growing, it does require some patience: It's one of the last ground covers to emerge from the ground in early spring. Name: Oenothera speciosa Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: 2 feet tall Zones: 5-9 20.Thyme Enjoy the fresh smell of thyme underfoot in your garden. This easy-to-grow ground cover offers fragrant foliage and pink or white flowers in spring or summer. Name: Thymus serpyllum Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: To 10 inches tall Zones: 4-9 21.Armeria A charming plant not seen enough in gardens, armeria offers low, grassy foliage and clusters of bright pink or white flowers in late spring and early summer. For extra interest, look for 'Rubrifolia', which offers burgundy-tinged foliage. Name: Armeria maritima Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: To 8 inches tall Zones: 3-9 22.Creeping Phlox Pink, white, purple, red, and bicolors with darker-colored eyes abound in spring on this perennial ground cover. Perfect for edging sidewalks and walkways, this slow-growing perennial likes full sun and well-drained soil. Creeping phlox won't become a rowdy neighbor to the tulips, daffodils, and other spring bulbs that look charming planted with it. Name: Phlox subulata Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil Size: To 8 inches tall Zones: 3-9 23.Barren Strawberry Barren strawberries are native to eastern North America and are appreciated as garden plants for forming dense clumps with strawberry-like foliage and yellow flowers. Name: Waldsteinia fragarioides Growing Conditions: Part to full sun and moist, well-drained soil Size: 1 foot tall Zones: 4-8 24.Prostrate Veronica This is the ground cover version of the taller, well-known veronica. Its blue flowers are a dazzling contrast to the golden foliage of cultivars such as 'Trehane' and 'Goldwell'. Name: Veronica prostrata Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: To 1 foot tall Zones: 4-8 25.Cotula Here's a great plant you probably haven't heard of. Cotula offers tiny, fine-textured foliage that's tinged black. Plus, it tolerates some degree of traffic, so you can walk on it. Name: Leptinella squalida 'Platt's Black' Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: 6 inches tall Zones: 4-7 26.Sedum Low-growing sedums may not produce the big bang of color like their taller cousins, but it's hard to go wrong with these ultra-low-maintenance ground covers for sunny spots. This one provides golden blooms in summer. Name: Sedum acre Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: 3 inches tall Zones: 4-9 27.Snow-in-Summer Billowing mounds of crystalline white flowers float over snow-in-summer's silvery foliage. It makes a delightful accent to a stone wall, patio, or garden border. Snow-in-summer is able to handle a range of soil types as well. Name: Cerastium tomentosum Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: 3 inches tall Zones: 3-7 28.Lamb's Ears Kids love the fuzzy leaves of this old-fashioned, classic perennial. Soft and silvery, lamb's ear forms comfortable, low-growing mounds. Equally fuzzy spikes of purple to pink flowers add interest in summer. Good cultivars to watch for include 'Cotton Ball', 'Big Ears', and 'Primrose Heron'. Name: Stachys byzantina Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil Size: To 18 inches tall Zones: 4-7 |