What do you do to counteract the invasive spreader? You spread faster. You look prettier. You smell better. You charm pollinators. You clash, and you win. The garden is yours! Who are you? A native groundcover team, swat-ting space invaders while looking awesome.
Ground-Covers Can Be Gorgeous and Without the Invasion!
Ever found yourself battling a groundcover that won’t quit? You know the opponent, Vinca, English ivy, or Japanese pachysandra? The truth is, while they might offer quick coverage, they’re pretty notorious for aggressive garden takeovers. Besides, they offer little in return.
The secret to lush, low-maintenance coverage you crave without the ecological damage lies in native groundcovers. They provide the same aesthetic appeal, often with added resilience and beauty, while actively supporting pollinators, wildlife, and the very soil beneath your feet.
It’s time to choose plants that play nice and win.
Before planting anything for quick coverage, take a moment to review our list of plants you’ll wish you never planted, you might save yourself a lot of trouble later.
11 Native Ground-Covers That Look Great and Play Nice
Play by a few simple rules, and let these handsome little troopers win the groundcover game for you.
1. Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
Seeking a groundcover deer tend to ignore? Wild Ginger is a true woodland gem for full to part shade. It forms a dense carpet of charming heart-shaped leaves, growing just 4-6 inches tall, ideal beneath trees. Hidden below unique jug-shaped maroon flowers await tiny, low-crawling pollinators like gnats and ants; a fascinating secret of nature’s teamwork.
2. Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
Standing 6-12″ tall in part to full shade, this lovely local unfurls delicate spires of frothy white or pale pink blooms in spring. You’ll simply foam over its beauty! Attractive, maple-like foliage spreads gently by runners, offering vital early nectar for native bees emerging from winter dormancy.
3. Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
Talk about purr-fect groundcover! Growing 2-6″ tall in full sun to part shade, this native forms soft, silvery mats. It’s a champion for dry slopes or rock gardens, with fuzzy, cat-paw-like flowers that are toe-tally irresistible. Plus, it’s a crucial host plant for American Lady butterflies.
4. Golden Groundsel (Packera aurea)
Add some golden glow to your shadier garden nooks! Reaching 6-12″ in shade to part sun, Golden Groundsel erupts with bright, yellow, daisy-like blooms each spring. Glossy and heart-shaped basal leaves remain semi-evergreen, offering continuous cheerful interest throughout much of the year.
5. Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata)
Meet Wild Sweet William, the (unofficial) host of spring’s first garden party! Come early, as this 8-12″ tall darling unfurls a stunning carpet of fragrant blue or lavender blooms in part sun to full shade. Oh, and expect the first of many phlox of pollinators (butterflies and long-tongued bees) eager to clean out the buffet.
6. Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)
Green and Gold is a true green gold of your partly to fully shaded garden. A slow, gentle spreader with cheerful yellow flowers is growing just 3-6 inches tall. However, it stoically handles light foot traffic and thus earns the ultimate green light for versatility.
7. Creeping Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans)
Witness how miniature ladders can gracefully ascend your garden floor. Expect it to climb to new heights in textured elegance of violet-blue flower clusters. It will grow 6-12 inches tall in part shade and bless you with delicate, soft, ferny creeping mats, quite uncreepily.
If you’re looking for even more beautiful early bloomers, take a look at our article on spring-blooming native plants.
8. Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
Ever seen a garden puff out soft, ethereal smoke without a fire in sight? With soft, finely cut foliage and wispy, pinkish-purple seed heads following nodding flowers, it’s perfect for dry borders or sunny meadows. Prairie Smoke will rise about 6-12 inches in full sun and activate only beauty detectors.
9. Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
Do bears grow berries? Do these berries resemble bears? Neither. But they are tough, evergreen groundcovers! Thriving 6-12 inches tall in full sun and sandy, poor soils, Bearberry offers glossy dark green leaves that blush red in winter. Subtle pinkish-white urn-shaped blooms precede bright red berries, a favorite persistent snack for both bears and birds.
10. Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
Growing 4-8 inches tall in full sun to part shade, it’s a berry good choice of groundcover that’s both beautiful and brings snacks. Wild Strawberry uses soft runners to carpet borders or slopes with charming white flowers and small, edible, tasty, red berries.
11. Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
Getting the most out of part to full shade is tricky, BUT Pennsylvania Sedge thrives in areas where turf often struggles. A gentle spreader, it excels beneath trees, grows about 6-12 inches, and forms delicate, flowing mounds of soft, grass-like foliage. It also provides a polished but effortles sedge to your landscape.
Tips for Establishing Native Ground-Covers Successfully!
Even the most independent native groundcovers appreciate a little hand-holding at first. (They’re not soil-mates right out of the box, after all!)
Don’t you, too, think this groundbreaking strategy will make all the other gardens feel green with envy?
If you’re serious about avoiding long-term garden problems, don’t miss our list of perennials you need to stop planting (they’re ruining your garden). It’s a must-read before your next planting session.
Putting Down Roots for Good
Now that you’ve got the dirt on how native plants plot their way to success, you can cover a lot of ground toward an eco-friendly garden. Go ahead, put these insights to work and cultivate a landscape that will grow on everyone!
