Lamium is an excellent ground cover for shade. Check out these favorite ground covers that will require little effort on your part once you plant them. Lamium is evergreen from Zone 6 south. It also produces lovely purple, white, blue, or pink flowers in the summer. David Beaulieu is a landscaping expert and plant photographer, with 20 years of experience. Place lamium where you won't be smashing it underfoot, though, because its stems are somewhat fragile. Ajuga spreads rapidly in varying conditions, tolerating shade or sun. It's also a beautiful ground cover to consider for moon gardens, but just beware the flowers are less than fragrant. Kathy Huber has worked for the Houston Chronicle since May 1981. Pink or white flowers bloom in spring and summer. They love harsh conditions, including heat, full sun, low water, and even rugged terrain or rocky soil. Its a good idea to add some mulch around the plant to help suppress weeds. Grows in zone 2 to 6 in part shade and part Sun. It takes about 14 days until you see seedlings. The low-lying ground cover is a popular option as a filler for rock gardens or as an accent above retaining walls. A ground hugging creeper with silvered variegated foliage and some really pretty colored flowers Dead Nettles are an ideal choice for gardeners who want a tough plant with a variety of . They have silver foliage and produce showy pink, purple or white flowers in late spring. which is great for using as a ground cover in large fields and gardens. Are rabbits attracted to spotted dead nettle? This native, weed-suppressing ground cover spreads quickly by seed and offshoots to fill challenging spaces under tall trees, along the waters edge, or in that tough strip between the street and sidewalk. It likes full sun, but can tolerate part shade. A tall border, such as a retaining wall or large rocks, will do a good job containing growth without the need to prune. There are more than 40 species of lamium, but the best are those that are flowering perennials like the Pink Chablis. Choose plants that are hardy to USDA zones 2 to 4. Liverleaf's spring floral display makes this small perennial special. Common pests for spotted dead nettles are slugs and snails, which seem to be the main pests for this plant, although aphids can also attach themselves to the stems and leaves. 12 Most Resilient Ground Covers For Your Yard - Bees and Roses Growing only about 3 inches tall, this plant spreads over time, crowding out weeds and thus reducing maintenance further. Five Great Garden Ground Cover Plants - Dengarden Shown: 'Spotted deadnettle' (Lamium maculatum) Tall-Growing It matures to a height of about 3 feet, and it, too, can be used as a taller ground cover. If you do not want to open a nursery, and it is crowding other plants, shear in midsummer to promote more compact growth. Lamium is an excellent ground cover for shade. Ice plant is a perennial succulent ground cover with fleshy leaves and colorful flowers. Lamium needs shade and a fertile, moist but well-draining soil. 36 Lamium ideas | plants, shade plants, shade garden 14. 100 Perennials for a Zone 3 Garden Send me the list! The spotted dead nettle plant is listed as invasive in the Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States and is located mainly in the upper eastern states. Soft, aromatic creeping thyme seems to check off all the boxes for a gardener, plus more. PDF A Comparative Study of Ground Cover Lamium - Chicago Botanic Garden This type of evergreen comes in an array of shapes and sizes. These plants spread out, and you can keep them under control by pruning, too. This fact sheet primarily discusses non-native ground covers and rock garden plants for mountain areas above 7,500 feet as well as highlighting some native plants not covered in fact sheet 7.242, Native Herbaceous Perennials for Colorado Landscapes. Some hybrids offer striking, flat flower clusters that bees and butterflies can use as a landing pad. Note: This plant is considered invasive across much of the northeast, some areas of the northern Midwest, and parts of the Pacific Northwest. Try to plant it in large groupings on a hillside or along the house's foundation to prevent erosion. In addition to white flowers, you can find colors like moonshine yellow, paprika, or vintage violet. Some of these ground covers will grow in sun and others in shade; all will put on growth quickly. Here's how: While they can self-seed themselves, spotted dead nettles do not do well if you try to grow them from seed. This elegant fern looks as dainty as a pearl necklace, but is tough enough to survive winter growing in the Himalayan Mountains, where it is native. Flowering: Yes. Creeping thyme (also known as mother of thyme or wild thyme) is a creeping, woody-stemmed perennial that is a favorite plant to use for a low-maintenance ground cover serving as a filler between garden stepping stones. Finely textured, semi-evergreen, bright green blades form a slowly spreading mass that tops out about six to eight inches tall. Ground cover plants are all-around problem-solvers: They retain moisture, control erosion, and provide.css-1me6ynq{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#125C68;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#125C68;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-1me6ynq:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:#595959;} habitat for pollinators like bees and butterflies. If you prefer a small hosta, opt for 'Blue Mouse Ears' that grows 6 to 12 inches high with round, heart-shaped blue-green leaves. How to Plant Lamium | Home Guides | SF Gate Depending on the variety, you can expect this ground cover to behave as a creeper, or a low-mounded perennial, with small flowers that resemble snapdragons blooming in summer. How to Grow and Care for Lamium - World of Flowering Plants #9. In fact, this short, squat plant is often seen dotting hillsides or banks. When selecting a ground cover for shady areas, make sure to choose shade-tolerant plants that naturally thrive with minimal sunlight. The dainty lavender flowers and vining evergreen leaves make this purple ground cover incredibly popular as a low maintenance ground cover for shade. In the South or West, the ground cover may lose its leaves or die back in the cold months. Our native white wood aster (Aster divaricatus), which grows in USDA Zones 3 through 8, spreads underground and by seed to form dense colonies even in dry shade conditions. The erect flower clusters are long-blooming. This lesser-known perennial has attractive little mounds of grassy foliage, and teeny ball-shaped blooms that pop up in late spring to early summer. Snip some for cooking, or keep it trimmed back to manage its height. In shade, its OK if the soil dries out now and then. Are ticket costs pricing Houston Astros fans out of Opening Day? Low-growing varieties of sedum make easy-to-care-for ground covers, especially since its fleshy leaves retain enough water to survive dry spells. RELATED: 10 Grass-Free Alternatives to a Traditional Lawn. The petite white star-shaped flowers provide a nice contrast to the deciduous green foliage. The opposite leaves are silvery green with large silver blotches on the upper surface, lightening up a dark shady area. Lamium groundcovers are the right choice for High Mountain, shady gardens. It detests hot, humid weather, but thrives where temperatures drop at night. In zones 6 through 8, it remains evergreen most of the year. Spotted deadnettle ground cover is an easy-to-grow plant with a wide range of soil and condition tolerance.. The horizontally-spreading branches of creeping junipers make a dense mat that weeds cant penetrate. The plant dies back to the ground in the winter and comes out in the spring, but giving it a good shearing before winter will help keep the plants healthy. Few ground covers ever look as beautiful as creeping phlox in spring, when it produces an explosion of fragrant, star-shaped, pastel-colored flowers. I simply pick the seedlings if they pop up where I don't want them. Oak sedge prefers partial shade to full shade in USDA Zones 3 through 8. But in regions where spotted dead nettle is not invasive, it acts as an effective ground cover for deeply shaded areas. Infinitely touchable, the velvety, fuzzy foliage of this plant is aptly named (c'mon, just look at it). Plant bugleweed in the late spring or early summer and it will quickly spread runners (stolons) that can form a dense mat to fill large and shady areas, especially where you need erosion control. Lamium - FineGardening For a sun-loving, pollinator-friendly herb, creeping thyme ( Thymus praecox) will fill your lawn with a fine-leaved mat of dainty pink, white, or purple flowers. Although rich, moist, acidic soils are ideal, this plant will also grow in alkaline, sandy and clay soils. This easy-care ground cover provides colors of purple, white pink and shades of light red. They can spread across bare ground, suppressing weeds and dust, preventing erosion, decreasing water evaporation, and adding color. Lamium is rarely troubled by disease and is generally pest-free. In the south, however, they may develop problems with leaf-spotting due to the high humidity. Ice Plant Ground Cover [Grow & Care Guide] - Plants Craze Groundcovers | Bluestone Perennials The large, veined, heart-shaped leaves have a spread of 18 to 24 inches, and most varieties bloom in late spring with small pink flowers. There are almost endless varieties of hostas that will fit your needs, many with variegated leaves and spikey short-lived and unremarkable flowers. Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in moist, well-drained soil It grows best where it has plenty of space to spread out. This easy-care mat-forming ground cover provides pops of purple blooms from mid-spring to early summer. Just like other plants with the word "creeping" in the name, liriope can be considered aggressive and invasive in parts of the United States, from Virginia through to Mississippi. So long as the site affords full sun and good drainage, creeping phlox requires next to nothing in the way of care. This selection forms a spreading patch of small silver leaves with a stunning blue-green edge. These deer-resistant plants are not bothered by rabbits either. Charismatic Planet 2022. Also known as periwinkle and creeping myrtle, vinca minor will spread wherever its planted and will even scale trellises or fences if trained. It is a mat-forming perennial ground cover that typically grows 5-8" tall but spreads indefinitely over time by sprawling stems which root in the ground as they go. (Lamium maculatum) . Creeping Phlox. In summer months, little spikes of blue, purple, pink or white flowers will appear. Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, 25 Plants That Survive With or Without You, 14 of the Best Plants for Your Drought-Tolerant Garden, 10 Grass-Free Alternatives to a Traditional Lawn, Bad Neighbors: 11 Plant Pairs Never to Grow Side by Side. Lamium is a fast-growing perennial ground cover that deer and rabbits avoid. Within two to three years of planting, it forms a lush carpet of velvety, green, heart-shaped leaves that hug the ground. I've never tried that one. Propagate by division in autumn or early spring After flowering, plants can be cut back to encourage fresh foliage cover. Liverleaf (Anemone americana, formerly classified as Hepatica americana) is a perennial wildflower native to North America. 26 Best Companion Plants for Hosta For 2023 - Shiny Plant This is a highly invasive plant but it's also popular for growing on huge swaths of areas that need ground cover and won't encroach on another's property. Creeping Charlie - Use and Control of the Shade Loving Groundcover You may not have thought of using an onion as a ground cover, but doing so has some important advantages. Care requirements for creeping phlox are few. It grows best in morning sun and afternoon shade. Not picky, spotted Dead Nettles do just fine in average, well-drained soil. There are also several cultivars (all cold-hardy to at least zone 4, most 3 to 12 inches tall, and all wanting the sun/soil conditions of the species plant) of L.maculatum, including: While dead nettle plants areflowering perennials,stinging nettles, by contrast,arenoxious weeds(but edible when properly prepared). Miniature hostas will grow less than 9 inches tall, small hostas grow to a foot or more, and giant hostas can grow over 30 inches tall. Each plant takes on a green fountain-like appearance: Long, lush shoots of chartreuse foliage sprout up from the soil, then softly twist and tangle for full coverage wherever planted. If those conditions describe your landscape, then you may want to check out this wonderful little relative of the dogwood trees. In spring, tiny white flowers add to its ethereal beauty. Once dense, it can be quite attractive, but you will need to corral it or you'll have a sea of ruellia. Don't site near small plants which may be overtaken. New delosperma varieties boast yellow, orange, apricot, and bicolor flowers. USDA Growing Zones: 3 to 7 There may be restrictions on planting it in these areas. Instead, it keeps its leathery dark green leaves in nearly the same condition year round. Straight from your grandma's garden, Dianthus is an old-fashioned perennial with a vanilla-like scent. The foliage is evergreen and the 3-inch-high plant trails or spreads, favoring gravel and other sunny, dry conditions in zones 5 through 9. Yellow archangel ( lamium galeobdolon) This clumping perennial is less than a foot tall, with slender, long, arching leaves. Mow it down once in late winter and watch the fresh green growth fill right back in. Although it is most attractive, I have found it less vigorous in our garden, but perhaps you will have better luck. But beware: This hardy opportunist, if left unchecked, can become unsightly and sometimes invasive. Native to Europe and western Asia, Lamium is frequently found naturalized along woodland trails and paths and colonized along the banks of streams. 18 Ground Cover Plants for Shade (With Pictures) - Identification Physalis. These creeping ground cover plants will reward you with easy care and bright colors. Thanks to its bold blue hue and its ability to attract butterflies, Grace Ward lithodora will add bursts of color to your landscape from spring through the end of summer. I still like the stuff It is really a pretty ground cover. 15 Best Ground Cover Plants For Shade | Hausette Manure tea is a good substitute when it is too difficult to work more compost into the soil. Lamium (Dead Nettle) is a trailing, groundcover perennial. Perfect for plantings under perennials or shrubs and as a groundcover or edging plant. A member of the mint family, Lamium spreads quickly, is self-seeding, and will rapidly create a ground cover wherever it is planted. Gardening 101: Dead Nettles - Gardenista Apr 11, 2019 - Explore Karen Hine's board "Lamium", followed by 1,409 people on Pinterest. This item: Perennial Farm Marketplace Lamium m. 'Beacon Silver' (Dead Nettle) Groundcover, Size-#1 Container, Metallic Leaves and Pink Flowers $1495 Mixed Heart-Shaped Hosta Bare Roots - Rich Green Foliage, Low Maintenance, Heart Shaped Leaves - 6 Roots $1699 ($2.83/Count) Total price: $31.94 Add both to Cart In warm regions and/or insheltered areas of your yard, they may be evergreen. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. 1 most stressful city for U.S. workers, Texas tornados destroy homes, leave 300,000 without power, Willie Nelson's new album is a lovely tribute to a fellow country legend, Turner: TEA is giving Houston ISD two optionsclose school or be taken over, Two ocelots were photographed crossing a road in rare South Texas sighting. Creeping thyme. It's deer-resistant and can tolerate drought, heat, and cold. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer), Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Aronia is a pretty low-growing native shrub that has tiny white flowers amid glossy green foliage. . Interrupted fern, like bunchberry and liverleaf, is a North American native that can serve as a low-maintenance ground cover for shade. Though Chinese lantern is also considered invasive, it is a novel and colorful perennial ground cover with autumn interest because of its bright orange-red shaped seed pods that turn into papery husks. Whatever you decide to mix it with, remember to select plants that need partial to full shade. See more ideas about plants, shade plants, shade garden. This is not the form of thyme used in cooking, but its fragrance will attract bees and other pollinators. Keep in mind that smaller containers will require watering more often. This ground cover requires very little care at allif planted in full shade. `Katie' produces petunialike, purple blooms for months. Spread: Slow to medium growth rate; spreads via stolons to a height of 10 inches. In either case, cut back shabby foliage after the first frost to make way for new growth in the spring. Lamb's ear creates a soft and silvery dense ground covering mat in a sunny area of your property. Because the leaves are scented when crushed, deer and rabbits may take one bite and then move on to something more palatable. Native to Africa, purple ice plant (Delosperma cooperi) became popular as a cold-hardy ground cover in the United States in the 1990s. book to class, Report: Houston ranked No. Look for varieties like Ghost that are heavily silvered and really brighten up lightly to densely shaded spaces. I think I'll try some . Please keep reading to learn about this plant with a cautionary tale. It matures to a maximum height of only 6 inches, so many gardeners choose to plant creeping phlox on a slope or along the top of a retaining wall to appreciate its beauty from several angles. 25 Low-Maintenance Ground Cover Plants for Sun and Shade, 10 Best Plants for Erosion Control in Your Yard, How to Grow and Care for Canadian Hemlock Trees, How to Grow and Care for Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper, 35 Common Weeds in Lawns and Gardens: Identification & Control, How to Grow and Care for Dusty Miller (Silver Dust), Forget-Me-Not: Plant Care, Growing Tips, and Symbolism, 30 Best Plants With Purple Flowers to Grow Outdoors, Purple Dragon: Purplish flowers and silver foliage, White Nancy: White flowers, silvery leaves, Beedham's White: White flowers, leaves chartreuse and white, Cannon's Gold: Pink flowers, chartreuse foliage, Orchid Frost: Pink-purple flowers; leaves silver in the center andgreen at the edge; known for its disease-resistance, Anne Greenway: Mauve flowers; green,chartreuse, and silver leaves, Aureum: Pink flowers; leaves golden on the edge, white in the center, Ghost: Light-purple flowers; leaves almost wholly silver; taller (up to 14 inches) than the typical. Creeping phlox is a short plant often seen covering the side of a hill or retaining wall with colorful spring flowers. The small leaves are speckled with spots, which earns the plant its name. Blooms are cream colored. It has a stripe down the middle that can be white, yellow, red, or silver. Lamium maculatum: Also called spotted deadnettle, forms a dense mat over. 4. Although not a U.S. native and with the potential to choke out nearby wildflowers, lithodora is not listed as an invasive concern. The low-maintenance plant thrives year-round, rewarding you with delicate blooms in spring and summer. Spotted deadnettle ground cover grows about 6 to 12 inches (15-31 cm.) Album has white flowers and white marked leaves. Pruning it back can help keep rambunctious runners under control or set your mower to high and shear it back after it flowers in the summer. Lamium is undemanding and easy to grow in partial to fully shaded locations. In ideal sunny conditions, Amethyst in Snow will spread quite quickly, but you can control it easily by pulling out stray shoots. The soft moss-like foliage of this plant forms a dense mat underfoot. Ajuga or Bugleweed is a low-maintenance option that is also . Its aromatic grayish-green foliage spreads easily, and lavender-blue flowers rise on stalks from spring through fall. Plant in full shade or partial shade. In fact it thrives on summer drought in dry shade. It spreads by seed, but not aggressively, making its way around the garden in light shade to full shade conditions in USDA Zones 3 through 8. RELATED: Bad Neighbors: 11 Plant Pairs Never to Grow Side by Side. Willie Nelson pays lovely tribute to another country legend, Mayor: HISD has two optionsclose school or be taken over, Rare photos show 2 ocelots crossing South Texas road. This easy-care, mat-forming ground cover provides pops of purple blooms from mid-spring to early summer. Bunchberry is a shade-loving deciduous shrub native to northern portions of North America. All rights reserved. Use it to highlight other plants with darker foliage, such as boxwoods and conifers. The only maintenance you'll need to do is remove tattered leaves damaged from a bad winter. It needs full sun to bloom best. 5. Best Ground Covers as Grass Alternatives - Lawn Care Blog Lamium plants are a perfect deer resistant groundcover to brighten a partly sunny to semi-shady spot. It can climb walls and grow across landscapes as unstoppable ground cover. 10 Best Ground Cover Plants | The Family Handyman They have silver foliage and produce showy pink, purple or white flowers in late spring. Leadwort begins blooming in late summer with beautiful, electric-blue flowers and continues until the first frost. 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