Ground cover plants against weeds: which goes where, and how many you need
A ground cover keeps weeds out once it has closed up: until then, usually for two or three summers, it needs mulch and weeding. Under trees and in shade, lesser periwinkle, bigroot geranium, barrenwort and barren strawberry do best; in sunny, dry places stonecrops, thymes and creeping junipers. Most perennial ground covers take 9-18 plants per square metre. The tables work out what a square metre costs at today's shop prices in your country.
Updated: October 25, 2026 · Prices checked: October 27, 2026 · Data and prices from our plant database, worked out for your country. How our data is made
What keeps the weeds away?
Weed seeds germinate in light. A closed ground cover shades the soil, so the seeds do not come up, and those that do weaken under the dense leaves. As long as bare soil shows between the plants, weeds move in there too, so in the first years a ground cover does not save work yet; it does later.
Only a plant that keeps its leaves in winter holds weeds back all year. A deciduous ground cover such as hosta dies back in autumn and comes up late in spring, and until then the weeds get a head start. That is why the tables below list only evergreen and semi-evergreen ground covers up to 60 cm tall.
- Before planting, clear the soil of perennial weeds. Couch grass, field bindweed and creeping thistle regrow from a piece of root and grow on through the ground cover; later the only way to get them out is to lift the ground cover too.
- After planting, spread 5-7 cm of bark mulch between the plants (in sunny, dry spots, among stonecrops and thyme, fine gravel instead). It holds weeds back and keeps the soil moist until the plants close up.
- In the first two or three years, weed once a month and pull weeds while they are small. Once the ground cover has closed, a few times a year is enough.
- Plant in autumn or spring. A perennial planted in autumn roots in before winter and starts sooner in spring; ice plants, which are more tender, and grey-leaved plants are best planted in spring.
Under trees and in shade
Under a tree there is not only shade but drought too: the roots take the water and the canopy catches the rain. The ground cover there has to take both shade and moderate drought. The safest are lesser periwinkle, bigroot geranium (the most drought-tolerant), yellow barrenwort, and barren strawberry. On acid or neutral, humus-rich soil Japanese spurge does well too; on limy soil it turns yellow. Bugle also belongs in shade but wants moist soil: under a dry tree it thins out.
Creeping thyme and stonecrop do not belong under a tree, however good they look in a picture. Both want sun and loose, dry soil; in shade they get leggy, thin out and rot under the fallen leaves.
- Height
- 30–60 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 7 (40 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 63
- Height
- 15–45 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 7 (40 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 71
- Height
- 10–20 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 9 (35 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 82
- Height
- 30–60 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 6 (45 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 84
- Height
- 30–50 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 7 (40 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 110
- Height
- 15–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 9 (35 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 120
- Height
- 15–45 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 210
- Height
- 10–25 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 210
- Height
- 10–23 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Plants per square metre
- 18 (25 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 230
- Height
- 15–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 18 (25 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 240
- Height
- 10–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Plants per square metre
- 18 (25 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 270
- Height
- 30–45 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 280
|
Plant
|
Height
|
Drought tolerance
|
Plants per square metre
|
Price per square metre
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
30–60 cm | Medium |
7
40 cm apart
|
PLN 63 |
|
|
15–45 cm | Medium |
7
40 cm apart
|
PLN 71 |
|
|
10–20 cm | Medium |
9
35 cm apart
|
PLN 82 |
|
|
30–60 cm | High |
6
45 cm apart
|
PLN 84 |
|
Bigroot geranium
Semi-evergreen
|
30–50 cm | High |
7
40 cm apart
|
PLN 110 |
|
Cambridge cranesbill
Semi-evergreen
|
15–30 cm | Medium |
9
35 cm apart
|
PLN 120 |
|
Foamflower
Semi-evergreen
|
15–45 cm | Low |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 210 |
|
|
10–25 cm | Medium |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 210 |
|
Mossy saxifrage
Evergreen
|
10–23 cm | Low |
18
25 cm apart
|
PLN 230 |
|
Japanese spurge
Evergreen
|
15–30 cm | Medium |
18
25 cm apart
|
PLN 240 |
|
|
10–30 cm | Low |
18
25 cm apart
|
PLN 270 |
|
Lilyturf
Semi-evergreen
|
30–45 cm | High |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 280 |
The table shows the 12 ground covers that take full shade with the cheapest square metre, cheapest first. The price per square metre is today's shop price of the usual pot size times the plants per square metre.
Do not pile thick soil under a tree, as its roots suffocate beneath it: spread no more than 5 cm of compost on the surface, and keep clear of the trunk. Do not dig everything over; plant small potted plants between the roots with a trowel. Water regularly for the first two summers, even in shade, until the ground cover has rooted.
Common ivy is also a good ground cover in the deepest shade, but it climbs the tree too: keep it away from the trunk or cut it back every year.
For sunny, dry places
Slopes, gravel areas and the strip along a path or wall need a ground cover that survives full sun and summer drought without watering. Good ones are Kamchatka and Caucasian stonecrop, lemon thyme, wild thyme and snow-in-summer. They like loose, free-draining soil: on heavy clay that stays wet in winter they rot.
Per square metre the cheapest are creeping juniper, Japanese garden juniper and carpet cotoneaster, as a single plant covers half a square metre to a whole one. They close more slowly and need mulch between them for three or four years, but they also hold the soil of a slope.
- Height
- 15–45 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 1 (100 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 30
- Height
- 20–45 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 2 (80 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 45
- Height
- 10–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 7 (40 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 63
- Height
- 10–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 3 (60 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 64
- Height
- 10–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 7 (40 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 85
- Height
- 15–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 100
- Height
- 15–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 140
- Height
- 15–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 150
- Height
- 5–15 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 160
- Height
- 15–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 160
- Height
- 8–25 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 18 (25 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 160
- Height
- 20–50 cm
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Plants per square metre
- 9 (35 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 160
|
Plant
|
Height
|
Drought tolerance
|
Plants per square metre
|
Price per square metre
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Creeping juniper
Evergreen
|
15–45 cm | High |
1
100 cm apart
|
PLN 30 |
|
Japanese garden juniper
Evergreen
|
20–45 cm | High |
2
80 cm apart
|
PLN 45 |
|
Rock rose
Evergreen
|
10–30 cm | High |
7
40 cm apart
|
PLN 63 |
|
Carpet cotoneaster
Evergreen
|
10–30 cm | High |
3
60 cm apart
|
PLN 64 |
|
|
10–30 cm | High |
7
40 cm apart
|
PLN 85 |
|
Mountain rock cress
Evergreen
|
15–30 cm | High |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 100 |
|
Cheddar pink
Evergreen
|
15–30 cm | High |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 140 |
|
Common thyme
Evergreen
|
15–30 cm | High |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 150 |
|
|
5–15 cm | High |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 160 |
|
Lemon thyme
Evergreen
|
15–30 cm | High |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 160 |
|
Mountain everlasting
Evergreen
|
8–25 cm | High |
18
25 cm apart
|
PLN 160 |
|
Lamb's ear
Semi-evergreen
|
20–50 cm | High |
9
35 cm apart
|
PLN 160 |
For part shade and moist soil
Where the spot is sunny or in part shade but the soil does not dry out (a watered garden, the edge of a bed, the east side of the house), the choice is widest. For a spring carpet of flowers moss phlox is good, for summer flowers Serbian bellflower, under shrubs bearberry cotoneaster. Winter heath flowers in winter; heather needs acid soil.
- Height
- 15–40 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 35
- Height
- 20–45 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 3 (60 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 53
- Height
- 10–60 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Plants per square metre
- 9 (35 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 93
- Height
- 10–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 110
- Height
- 10–15 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 9 (35 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 140
- Height
- 5–10 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 160
- Height
- 5–15 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 160
- Height
- 8–20 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 190
- Height
- 5–10 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 18 (25 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 230
- Height
- 5–20 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 18 (25 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 250
- Height
- 15–30 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 13 (30 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 310
- Height
- 8–20 cm
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Plants per square metre
- 18 (25 cm apart)
- Price per square metre
- PLN 330
|
Plant
|
Height
|
Drought tolerance
|
Plants per square metre
|
Price per square metre
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Maiden pink
Evergreen
|
15–40 cm | Medium |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 35 |
|
|
20–45 cm | Medium |
3
60 cm apart
|
PLN 53 |
|
Heather
Evergreen
|
10–60 cm | Low |
9
35 cm apart
|
PLN 93 |
|
|
10–30 cm | Medium |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 110 |
|
Moss phlox
Evergreen
|
10–15 cm | Medium |
9
35 cm apart
|
PLN 140 |
|
|
5–10 cm | Medium |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 160 |
|
Aubrieta
Evergreen
|
5–15 cm | Medium |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 160 |
|
Dalmatian bellflower
Semi-evergreen
|
8–20 cm | Medium |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 190 |
|
Mountain sandwort
Evergreen
|
5–10 cm | Medium |
18
25 cm apart
|
PLN 230 |
|
Alpine gypsophila
Semi-evergreen
|
5–20 cm | Medium |
18
25 cm apart
|
PLN 250 |
|
Evergreen candytuft
Evergreen
|
15–30 cm | Medium |
13
30 cm apart
|
PLN 310 |
|
Adriatic bellflower
Semi-evergreen
|
8–20 cm | Medium |
18
25 cm apart
|
PLN 330 |
Can a ground cover replace the lawn?
Where you do not walk, yes. A ground cover needs no mowing and grows where a lawn will not: under trees, in a shady corner, on a steep slope. A ground cover planted in place of lawn needs as many plants as anywhere else, and the same weeding in the first two years.
No ground cover takes treading the way grass does. Wild thyme and Irish moss put up with the odd step, but where you walk every day you need stepping stones. Where children play or the dog runs, keep the grass.
You find all ground covers in the ground cover plants list, and those for shade in ground cover plants for shade, with filters.
How many plants, and how to save?
The number comes from the planting distance. Set the plants in a triangular pattern, in staggered rows: at 25 cm apart you need about 18 plants per square metre, at 30 cm about 13, at 35 cm about 9, at 40 cm about 7. At this density a ground cover closes in two or three summers.
- Plant further apart and wait a year or two longer. At one and a half times the distance you need fewer than half the plants, but you mulch and weed for longer. This works well with fast spreaders (periwinkle, dead-nettle, bugle) and hardly with slow ones (barrenwort, Japanese spurge).
- Buy smaller pots. A perennial ground cover from a small 9 cm pot catches up with a larger one within a year, and it is easier to plant between roots.
- Divide what you have. Clumps of bigroot geranium, periwinkle and barrenwort can be split in spring or autumn: one strong plant makes three or four.
Our garden planner also counts ground cover from each plant's planting distance, among the other plants, with quantities and prices for your country.
The ones that spread too well
The fastest ground covers do not stop at the edge of their spot. Greater periwinkle, yellow archangel, Aaron's beard, creeping Jenny and bugle spread by runners or suckers into the lawn and the next bed. They and the other strong spreaders, such as lesser periwinkle, are marked in the tables: next to a lawn, plant them only behind an edging sunk 15-20 cm deep, and do not dump their clippings at a woodland edge or a stream bank, where they take root and crowd out wild plants.
Some ground covers are poisonous, and these are marked too where our sources agree. The milky sap of spurges irritates the skin, so wear gloves when planting and thinning. Our sources do not agree on how poisonous periwinkle is: where small children or a dog use the garden, pick another.
Sources
The advice rests on these expert pages and laws, adapted to Central European winters and soils. The tables come from our own plant database.
- Bayerische Gartenakademie: Bodendecker – pflegeleichtes Grün im Garten
- Bayerische Gartenakademie: Eine Neuanpflanzung von Gehölzen braucht beste Startbedingungen
- RHS: Ground cover plants
- RHS: Plants for under trees
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