Plants that cover the soil in place of a lawn or under shrubs, so there is less weeding and the ground dries out more slowly. Some suit sun and some suit shade: the cards show the light each one needs.
164 plants from our verified database, by name. A plant is only listed when the data this list relies on is not in doubt. How our data is made
Hypericum calycinum 60 cm × 1.2 m after 10 years
A knee-high, semi-evergreen dwarf shrub that forms a dense, weed-suppressing stand with its underground runners and carries large golden-yellow…
Campanula garganica 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming bellflower that almost disappears under starry blue flowers in early summer. It is made for walls, crevices, troughs, rock…
Stachys monieri 55 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A long-lived perennial that makes a dense cushion of glossy, dark green, scalloped leaves, above which tight rosy-purple flower spikes stand for weeks…
Gypsophila cerastioides 10 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A tiny Himalayan gypsophila that makes a ground-hugging mat of rounded, fresh green leaves, topped from late spring to midsummer by white flowers…
Mentha suaveolens 60 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A mint with soft, woolly, rounded leaves whose mild, fruity, apple-like scent is good in teas, lemonade, salads and on desserts. The cultivar…
Astilbe × arendsii 90 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A splash of colour for shady, damp corners: feathery plumes in white, pink, red or purple rise above ferny foliage in early summer. Plant it only…
Festuca mairei 80 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A giant among fescues: its narrow grey-green leaves form an arching, fountain-like tussock 60 to 80 cm high that stays green in winter, with slender…
Aubrieta × cultorum 15 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A low, evergreen, grey-green cushion plant for rock gardens that flowers so heavily in spring that the leaves almost disappear: good on top of…
Sesleria autumnalis 45 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
Autumn moor grass is a low ornamental grass that forms dense, arching tussocks of lime-green foliage which largely persists through winter, with…
Waldsteinia ternata 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A ground cover with glossy, three-part leaves like a strawberry that knits a dense carpet with its rooting runners, stays green through winter and…
Cotoneaster dammeri 30 cm × 2 m after 10 years
A ground-hugging, fast-spreading evergreen shrub whose shoots root wherever they touch the soil, weaving a dense carpet within a few years. It has…
Festuca gautieri 20 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Bearskin fescue makes dense, bright green cushions of needle-fine, prickly leaves that stay green all winter, which suits it to rock gardens, gravel…
Geranium macrorrhizum 40 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A perennial that slowly spreads on thick rhizomes into a dense, weed-smothering carpet; its soft, lobed leaves are strongly aromatic when rubbed and…
Ophiopogon planiscapus 20 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Black mondo grass is sold almost only in its black-leaved form: low, grass-like evergreen tufts that stay nearly black all year, so it looks best…
Geranium sanguineum 30 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A tough ground-covering perennial that forms a low mound of finely cut leaves, dotted with magenta-pink flowers from late spring into summer, and…
Festuca glauca 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, dome-shaped grass with needle-like blue-grey leaves for sunny, dry beds, rock gardens, edging and pots. The blue is strongest in full sun and…
Koeleria glauca 40 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A small, hedgehog-like tussock of steel-blue blades that is native to the dry, lime-rich sand grasslands of the region, so it is happiest in full…
Helictotrichon sempervirens 90 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
An ornamental grass that forms a steel-blue, porcupine-like dome which keeps its leaves through winter, with tall arching flower stems that ripen to…
Parthenocissus tricuspidata 10 m × 5 m after 10 years
A vigorous deciduous climber that clings on its own to brick, stone and concrete with adhesive pads at the tips of its tendrils, so it covers a…
Lonicera nitida 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
Box honeysuckle is a small-leaved, glossy evergreen shrub that grows fast and takes clipping at almost any time, so it is used for low hedges,…
Ajuga reptans 20 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A low ground cover that spreads quickly by runners and knits a dense carpet under trees and shrubs in part shade or shade, with spikes of blue flowers…
Aster dumosus 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, cushion-forming perennial that is smothered in purple, pink, blue or white yellow-centred daisies from late summer to mid-autumn, when…
Geranium × cantabrigiense 25 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A low cranesbill that knits into a dense carpet of glossy leaves, spicily aromatic when rubbed, with pink or white flowers from late spring to…
Campanula carpatica 25 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Carpathian bellflower is a low, cushion-forming perennial that is covered for weeks from early summer with upward-facing blue, purple or white…
Cotoneaster procumbens 20 cm × 1.8 m after 10 years
An evergreen cotoneaster that lies completely flat on the ground, with tiny, glossy, dark green leaves: it is only 10 to 30 cm tall but spreads one…
Nepeta × faassenii 50 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A loose mound of grey-green, aromatic foliage that carries clouds of lavender-blue flowers from May to September and is a favourite of pollinators.…
Nepeta × faassenii 'Walker's Low' 75 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
This grey-green catmint brings lavender-blue flowers and plenty of pollinators to sunny borders, path edges and rose plantings. Once established it…
Sedum spurium 15 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A low, succulent ground cover that quickly knits a dense mat with its rooting stems and is covered in pink, red or white starry flowers in summer,…
Dianthus gratianopolitanus 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It forms a dense, blue-grey, grassy cushion with clove-scented, mostly pink flowers above it in late spring. It belongs in rock gardens, on walls,…
Astilbe chinensis 60 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A perennial with ferny, dark green leaves that sends up stiff, feathery pink or lilac plumes from midsummer, later than the garden hybrid astilbes. It…
Helleborus niger 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen perennial that opens large pure white flowers with yellow stamens from midwinter to early spring, often pushing up through snow.…
Sedum cauticola 15 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low, trailing stonecrop with fleshy blue-grey leaves, topped by rosy-purple star flowers from late summer to mid autumn. It suits rock gardens,…
Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris 5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A deciduous climbing shrub for a shady, north or east facing wall: it clings by itself to brick, stone and tree trunks with aerial roots and bears…
Campanula glomerata 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A garden form of a wild meadow bellflower: in early summer upright stems carry tight, rounded heads of violet-blue, upward-facing bells that bees…
Leucothoe axillaris 50 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
A low, slow evergreen with glossy leaves for shady spots on acidic soil; the forms on sale turn red to maroon in autumn and hold that colour all…
Hedera helix 10 m × 3 m after 10 years
Common ivy provides year-round greenery over shady ground, fences and walls. Keep its vigorous growth within bounds with regular trimming, and avoid…
Polypodium vulgare 30 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Common polypody is a small evergreen fern that creeps slowly on its rhizome to weave a loose mat over mossy rocks, stone walls and the bases of trees.…
Salvia officinalis 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
An aromatic subshrub with grey-green, velvety leaves that works both as a kitchen herb and as an ornamental, and whose bluish-purple flowers draw bees…
Thymus vulgaris 30 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
Common thyme is a low, evergreen, strongly scented subshrub that works as a kitchen herb, a bee plant and an edging for sunny, dry beds all at once.…
Achillea millefolium 80 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A tough native perennial with finely cut, aromatic foliage and flat flower heads that bees and butterflies visit all summer; garden cultivars also…
Heuchera sanguinea 45 cm × 35 cm after 10 years
A low perennial with a mound of leaves that stays green through winter, topped from late spring to early summer by airy sprays of tiny coral-red bells…
Dianthus plumarius 30 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An old cottage garden favourite: its grey, grassy leaves form a dense cushion all year, and in early summer it is covered in fringed, clove-scented…
Santolina chamaecyparissus 50 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen subshrub with silver-grey, finely cut, strongly aromatic foliage that grows into a tight little dome and carries yellow button flowers in…
Vaccinium macrocarpon 20 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, evergreen dwarf shrub whose creeping shoots knit into a mat and which ripens large, red, tart berries in autumn; it is self-fertile, so a…
Gypsophila repens 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A dwarf alpine cousin of the tall baby's breath: it makes a grey-green, narrow-leaved cushion 10 to 20 cm tall that is covered in a cloud of tiny…
Lysimachia nummularia 10 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A creeping perennial with coin-shaped leaves that roots wherever its stems touch the ground and carries small bright yellow cup flowers in summer; a…
Juniperus horizontalis 30 cm × 2 m after 10 years
A ground-hugging, wide-spreading evergreen that covers a sunny bank, the top of a retaining wall or a rock garden with a green or blue-green carpet…
Thymus praecox 10 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, aromatic mat only a few centimetres tall that is covered in summer with pink, lilac or, depending on the variety, white or reddish…
Euphorbia cyparissias 30 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A perennial whose fine blue-green, needle-like foliage makes it look like tiny conifer seedlings, covering a dry sunny bank or gravel patch in…
Campanula portenschlagiana 15 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low bellflower that forms a tight cushion; from late spring to midsummer its small, ivy-like leaves almost disappear under violet-blue bells. It…
Viburnum davidii 80 cm × 1.3 m after 10 years
A low evergreen shrub that forms a wide mound, grown mainly for its leathery dark green leaves with three deep veins. White flowers open in spring,…
Hemerocallis × hybrida 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Garden daylilies are almost indestructible, long-lived perennials: above a clump of arching, grassy leaves they carry trumpet-shaped flowers for weeks…
Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, dense daylily that keeps producing lightly scented golden yellow flowers in flushes from early summer to autumn, so it is rewarding as an…
Lysimachia punctata 90 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A vigorous, upright perennial covered in bright yellow flowers for weeks in summer and asking for almost no care. It looks best in sun or part shade…
Leucothoe fontanesiana 1 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low evergreen shrub with arching stems and glossy pointed leaves that turn bronze-red and burgundy in autumn and winter, with small white bell…
Hypericum × dummeri 70 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A low, spreading, semi-evergreen shrub with reddish stems and blue-green leaves that bears large golden yellow cup-shaped flowers from early summer…
Juniperus virginiana 2 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A very undemanding, tough evergreen: it takes drought, limy and poor soil, city air and hard frost, asking only for full sun and a spot free of…
Iberis sempervirens 25 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming subshrub with dark green, leathery leaves, covered in spring by so many pure white flowers that the foliage almost…
Sorbaria sorbifolia 1.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
An extremely hardy shrub with finely divided, rowan-like leaves and creamy white feathery flower plumes in summer; the compact cultivar most often…
Juniperus squamata 50 cm × 1 m after 10 years
Flaky juniper is sold as dwarf, steel-blue garden forms: Blue Star is a slow, dense dome, Blue Carpet a flat, wide-spreading ground cover, and…
Tiarella cordifolia 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A woodland ground cover with maple-like leaves that last through mild winters and airy, foamy spikes of white or pink flowers floating above them in…
Hosta fortunei 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
The Fortune's hosta group (for example gold-edged 'Aureomarginata' and white-edged 'Francee' and 'Patriot') is a dependable foliage plant for part…
Pennisetum alopecuroides 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An ornamental grass forming a hemispherical, arching clump that carries soft bottlebrush plumes from late summer into autumn and turns golden yellow…
Lysimachia ciliata 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
In gardens it is nearly always the purple-leaved form that is grown: small lemon-yellow star flowers open above the dark foliage in summer, which…
Carex flacca 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen sedge with blue-green leaves that are glaucous beneath, slowly knitting into a dense carpet by short rhizomes. It is very adaptable:…
Dryopteris affinis 1 m × 90 cm after 10 years
Golden male fern is a big, sturdy, shuttlecock-shaped fern: the fronds unfurl yellowish green in spring with stalks covered in golden-brown scales,…
Sedum acre 10 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A tiny, moss-like evergreen succulent that forms a carpet only a few centimetres high and is smothered in golden-yellow starry flowers in early…
Vinca major 45 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
A glossy-leaved evergreen ground cover that quickly covers large areas with long arching stems that root where they touch the soil, and bears large…
Anemone blanda 15 cm × 20 cm after 10 years
A tiny tuberous anemone that weaves a carpet of blue, white or pink daisy-like flowers under deciduous trees and shrubs in early spring. Plant the…
Santolina rosmarinifolia 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A Mediterranean subshrub with bright green, thread-fine aromatic foliage that forms a dense cushion and is covered with pale yellow button flowers…
Rosa Ground Cover Group 60 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A group of low, wide-spreading roses (The Fairy and its relatives, the Flower Carpet series and similar) that cover a slope, a border edge or a…
Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln' 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
This compact ornamental grass works well in small groups, mixed perennial borders or a large container. Soft bottlebrush flower heads appear in late…
Geranium × hybridum 50 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
This record covers the garden cranesbills sold by cultivar name: loose mounds of cut leaves with saucer-shaped blue, purple, pink or white flowers,…
Delosperma cooperi 10 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A succulent mat barely a hand high that is covered from early summer to autumn in dazzling magenta-purple, daisy-like flowers. It belongs in blazing…
Delosperma × hybridum 10 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A group record for the hardier ice plant hybrids sold under series names (Wheels of Wonder, Jewel of Desert, Sundella, Suntropics) or as single…
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides 25 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low perennial spreading by rhizomes that carries gentian-blue flowers from late summer until the frosts while its leaves turn bronze-red. It makes a…
Bergenia cordifolia 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
Its large, round, leathery, glossy leaves stay all year and flush burgundy and bronze in the cold, and in early spring it carries clusters of pink…
Calluna vulgaris 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen dwarf shrub with tiny scale-like leaves that covers itself in pink, purple, red or white flower spikes from late summer into autumn;…
Heuchera × hybrida 40 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Coral bells are grown mainly for their low mound of lobed leaves, which stays decorative almost all year: cultivars come in deep purple to near black,…
Hosta × hybrida 50 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
Hostas are the classic foliage plants for shady parts of the garden: broad, veined leaves in green, powdery blue, gold or with white or yellow…
Hosta sieboldiana 'Elegans' 90 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
Its large, corrugated blue-green leaves fill shady borders nicely, and it also works as a specimen or in a large container. Give it humus-rich,…
Sempervivum × hybridum 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A hardy evergreen succulent whose fleshy rosettes knit into dense cushions: made for gravel beds, wall crevices, troughs and green roofs, where most…
Sagina subulata 5 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A ground cover that forms a moss-like evergreen cushion only a few centimetres high, dotted with tiny white flowers in early summer; it is also sold…
Anemone × hybrida 1 m × 1 m after 10 years
A perennial that flowers from late summer into autumn, when most borders are winding down: white or pink blooms float on slender stems and look best…
Aster ageratoides 70 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A very tough, late-flowering aster: from late summer until the frosts it is covered in a haze of pale lilac, white or pinkish flowers, in sun or…
Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron' 60 cm × 1.2 m after 10 years
A low, upright grass whose leaves emerge green and turn red from the tip downwards, ending blood red by autumn. It looks best in groups with the light…
Hakonechloa macra 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A soft grass with arching, bamboo-like leaves that is happiest in part shade and shade, good under trees, along edges and in pots. It needs humus-rich…
Juniperus procumbens 25 cm × 1.2 m after 10 years
A very low, dense, blue-green evergreen mat: gardens almost always grow the dwarf form 'Nana', which stays barely a hand tall and slowly spreads to…
Cyrtomium fortunei 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Leathery, matt green, sickle-shaped leaflets make the fronds look like sprays of holly, and in mild winters they stay green all year. It is the…
Athyrium niponicum 45 cm × 55 cm after 10 years
Japanese painted fern is a low, arching fern usually sold in its painted forms: the fronds are silvery grey with a green wash and burgundy midribs,…
Carex oshimensis 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen sedge with arching leaves, sold almost only in yellow or cream striped forms. It suits the edge of a part-shaded bed, the ground under…
Pachysandra terminalis 30 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low evergreen ground cover that knits a glossy green carpet under trees and shrubs, even in deep shade where lawn gives up. It is slow to start,…
Acorus gramineus 30 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen perennial that looks like a grass but is not one: its fan-shaped tufts of narrow, glossy leaves are decorative all year, and the…
Polystichum polyblepharum 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Glossy, dark green, finely divided fronds form a neat vase-shaped clump that stays green through winter. In spring the tips of the unfurling fronds…
Sedum kamtschaticum 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, mat-forming succulent perennial that covers itself in golden yellow star flowers in summer and turns orange to reddish in autumn. It…
Alchemilla mollis 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
You will know it by its soft, hairy, rounded leaves that hold raindrops and dew like beads, topped by a haze of yellow-green flowers in early…
Athyrium filix-femina 90 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
A deciduous fern with lacy, light green fronds that form a shuttlecock-shaped clump, good for filling shady, moist spots under trees and shrubs.…
Stachys byzantina 50 cm × 1 m after 10 years
Its soft, thickly woolly, silver-grey leaves form a low, spreading carpet that children love to stroke; in summer it sends up grey, felted stems…
Veronica teucrium 40 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A low, bushy perennial that is almost hidden under spikes of vivid gentian-blue flowers in May and June, to the delight of bees and butterflies. It…
Thymus × citriodorus 25 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming evergreen subshrub whose tiny leaves smell strongly of lemon when rubbed, so you can pick it for fish, poultry and tea. In a…
Helleborus orientalis 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, shade-tolerant perennial that carries nodding white, pink, plum or speckled flowers from late winter into spring, when little else is in…
Calamintha nepeta 45 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, bushy perennial that wraps itself in a cloud of tiny white or pale lilac flowers from midsummer until frost and is then one of the busiest…
Vinca minor 20 cm × 1 m after 10 years
Plant it beneath trees and shrubs for a carpet of glossy evergreen leaves and violet-blue spring flowers. It performs best in partial shade and…
Convallaria majalis 25 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A woodland ground cover that carries strongly scented white bells (pale pink in some forms) in late spring and makes a dense carpet under trees and…
Liriope muscari 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A clump-forming perennial with dark green, grass-like leaves that copes with part shade and shade under trees and carries spikes of purple flowers…
Dianthus deltoides 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low pink that forms loose evergreen mats and is covered for weeks from early summer with small magenta, pink or white flowers. Plant it in sun in…
Dryopteris filix-mas 1 m × 90 cm after 10 years
A large, shuttlecock-shaped woodland fern that also grows wild in the region, and one of the least demanding ferns for shade and part shade. Use it…
Oenothera macrocarpa 25 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A sprawling perennial with trailing stems that carries huge, hand-sized, lemon yellow, lightly scented flowers for months from early summer; they open…
Carex morrowii 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An evergreen sedge that forms dense, arching, grass-like clumps, grown mostly as cultivars with white or cream leaf margins. Use it under trees and…
Phlox subulata 15 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming ground cover perennial that covers itself in flowers in late April and May, so the foliage almost disappears. It suits rock…
Saxifraga × arendsii 15 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A small perennial that forms tight, moss-like evergreen cushions, covered in spring with pink, red or white flowers on short stems. It suits rock…
Antennaria dioica 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It weaves a ground-hugging mat of silver-grey, woolly leaf rosettes, topped in late spring by small white and pink flower heads that look like a cat's…
Arabis caucasica 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It forms a cushion of grey-green evergreen leaf rosettes that disappears in early spring under lightly scented white flowers, pink in some…
Arenaria montana 10 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It forms a low, evergreen, fresh green cushion that in late spring almost disappears under pure white flowers that are strikingly large for the size…
Euphorbia myrsinites 20 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, blue-grey spurge whose trailing stems, clad in spirals of leaves, sprawl between stones like tentacles and end in vivid yellow-green…
Carex comans 40 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A fine, hair-like evergreen sedge that forms an arching mop of silvery green or bronze leaves, depending on the form. It looks best in pots, along…
Sedum sieboldii 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low succulent perennial: stems arch out from one point like spokes, carrying round, blue-grey, pink-edged leaves in threes, and pink starry…
Origanum vulgare 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Oregano is a wildflower and a kitchen herb in one: from midsummer its pinkish-purple flowers are busy with bees and butterflies. It is happy in sunny,…
Mahonia aquifolium 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A slow-growing evergreen shrub with glossy, holly-like, spiny-edged leaves that copes with shade and part shade under trees, where few other shrubs…
Matteuccia struthiopteris 1.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
With its fresh green fronds standing in a shuttlecock shape like ostrich plumes, the ostrich fern is one of the most striking plants for damp, shady…
Carex muskingumensis 75 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
An unusual-looking sedge: the narrow, light green leaves stand in whorls along stiff, upright stems like the fronds of a tiny palm or papyrus, so it…
Mentha × piperita 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A tea and kitchen herb with a strong menthol scent: the dark green, toothed leaves are good fresh or dried in tea, lemonade and baking, and its…
Hedera colchica 6 m × 3 m after 10 years
Persian ivy has the largest leaves of any ivy: leathery, heart-shaped and up to 20 to 25 cm long, green all winter, and it is mostly sold in yellow or…
Lonicera pileata 60 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, wide-spreading, dense shrub with small glossy dark green leaves that makes a dependable ground cover in sun or shade, on banks, under trees…
Eragrostis spectabilis 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Purple love grass is a low warm-season grass: in late summer a reddish-purple haze of flowers floats above the green tuft of leaves, fading to brown…
Epimedium × rubrum 30 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Red barrenwort is one of the best ground covers for dry shade under trees and shrubs, where root competition defeats most other plants. Small red…
Persicaria amplexicaulis 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
Red bistort is one of the longest-flowering perennials: from early summer until the frosts its dense, leafy mound keeps producing slender spikes of…
Sedum reflexum 12 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A trailing succulent whose needle-like, fleshy leaves make it look like tiny spruce twigs; it forms a loose mat and carries yellow star flowers in…
Helianthemum × hybridum 25 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Hybrid rock roses are low, spreading evergreen subshrubs with grey-green or silvery foliage that cover themselves from late May to midsummer in white,…
Cotoneaster horizontalis 70 cm × 1.8 m after 10 years
A slow, flat-spreading shrub with herringbone branches and tiny glossy leaves that turn red in autumn, followed by red berries that last into…
Arabis blepharophylla 15 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low rock garden perennial of evergreen leaf rosettes that covers itself in deep rose-pink to purplish, lightly scented flower clusters in early…
Geranium 'Rozanne' 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
'Rozanne' is useful for covering the ground beneath roses or softening the front of a perennial border, with violet-blue, white-centred flowers from…
Muhlenbergia reverchonii 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A clump-forming warm-season grass with hair-fine leaves that turns into a pink cloud of flowers in autumn and keeps a good shape through winter. It is…
Geum coccineum 40 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low, rosette-forming perennial that carries bright orange-red flowers on wiry stems from late spring to midsummer; nurseries mostly sell the…
Armeria maritima 20 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low, dense evergreen cushion of grass-like leaves, topped in late spring by pink or white flower globes on thin stalks. Use it in rock gardens, as…
Campanula poscharskyana 15 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A vigorous bellflower with trailing stems that are smothered in star-shaped lavender-blue flowers from late spring into summer, often blooming again…
Hebe × hybrida 40 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
A collective name for dense, evergreen dwarf shrubs from New Zealand that are grown for their shape: there are box-like green balls ('Green Globe',…
Brunnera macrophylla 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A shade-loving perennial with large, rough, heart-shaped leaves that carries a haze of tiny sky-blue, forget-me-not-like flowers above the foliage…
Cotoneaster microphyllus 40 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
An evergreen ground cover shrub with tiny glossy dark green leaves on stiff, flat-spreading branches, small white flowers in late spring and red…
Cerastium tomentosum 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, mat-forming ground cover with silvery, woolly leaves that disappears under a sheet of white flowers in late spring and early summer. It suits…
Diervilla sessilifolia 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, tough deciduous shrub that spreads slowly by suckers and grows in almost any soil, taking drought and even dry shade under trees, so it is…
Mentha spicata 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
One of the best-flavoured kitchen mints: its fresh, sweet-scented leaves go into tea, cold drinks, salads and meat dishes, and bees and butterflies…
Lamium maculatum 20 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
Spotted dead-nettle is a low, fast-knitting ground cover for shade and part shade: its silver-marked leaves brighten dark corners and pink, purple…
Rubus illecebrosus 60 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A low subshrubby bramble that behaves like a herbaceous perennial: the prickly shoots die back in winter and resprout from the ground, with large…
Oenothera fruticosa 50 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
An easy, sun-loving perennial whose bright yellow, four-petalled flowers open by day, unlike most evening primroses, and follow each other for…
Cotoneaster × suecicus 50 cm × 2 m after 10 years
A low, densely spreading evergreen shrub whose trailing shoots root where they touch the soil, so within a few years it knits into a…
Inula ensifolia 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, dome-shaped perennial with narrow sword-like leaves, covered for weeks in summer with golden yellow daisies. It suits sunny, dry, even…
Festuca amethystina 45 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Tufted fescue is a fine, hair-leaved, blue-green grass tuft topped in early summer by airy flower heads on violet stems. It belongs in a sunny edging,…
Deschampsia cespitosa 1 m × 60 cm after 10 years
Tufted hair grass forms a dense dark green tussock topped in summer by airy clouds of golden and silvery flower panicles that stay decorative into…
Phlox douglasii 10 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A dwarf phlox that forms a tight evergreen cushion of needle-like leaves, completely hidden in spring under small pink, purple, red or white…
Phlomis russeliana 90 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
Turkish sage makes a dense, weed-suppressing carpet of large, heart-shaped, felted leaves, and in summer its stiff stems carry tiers of soft yellow…
Sedum takesimense 15 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low stonecrop that forms a tight cushion of fleshy, toothed leaves, covers itself in yellow starry flowers in summer and keeps its leaf rosettes…
Arabis ferdinandi-coburgi 10 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A very low rock garden perennial that forms an evergreen mat of tiny leaf rosettes, splashed yellow or white in the garden forms, with white flowers…
Sedum album 10 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An evergreen succulent whose tiny cylindrical leaves knit into a low, dense mat that disappears under a haze of white flowers in early summer. It is a…
Aster divaricatus 70 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
One of the few asters that flowers in shade: from late summer into autumn its dark, wiry, zigzag stems carry clouds of small white daisies above…
Thymus serpyllum 8 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A scented subshrub only a few centimetres tall that roots as it creeps into a flat mat and is covered in pink and purple flowers, and bees, in summer.…
Cotoneaster salicifolius 40 cm × 2 m after 10 years
Nurseries mostly sell its low, prostrate cultivars ('Parkteppich', 'Repens', 'Gnom'): these weave a carpet 20 to 50 cm high and up to two metres…
Eranthis hyemalis 10 cm × 10 cm after 10 years
One of the very first flowers of the year: golden yellow cups on a green leafy ruff, barely a hand high, open in February and March, often through…
Euonymus fortunei 80 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
An evergreen, ground-covering small shrub that forms a dense carpet in sun or shade, and the variegated forms keep their colour through winter. Next…
Erica carnea 25 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming evergreen dwarf shrub with needle-like leaves that covers itself in pink, white or purple flowers at the end of winter, often…
Jasminum nudiflorum 3 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
With yellow flowers on bare stems in late winter and shoots that stay green all winter, it brings colour when little else does. It is not a true…
Euphorbia amygdaloides 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen woodland perennial with dark green or purple-flushed rosettes and long-lasting lime-green flower heads in spring. It is one of the best…
Lamium galeobdolon 40 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A shade-tolerant ground cover with hooded yellow flowers in spring; its plain green wild form is native to the moist deciduous woods of the region.…
Epimedium × versicolor 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Yellow barrenwort (usually sold as 'Sulphureum') is one of the toughest ground covers for shade: sulphur-yellow flower sprays in spring and…
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