Ground cover plants make a great addition to any garden. They are usually shorter plants that need some maintenance and serve several different purposes in the landscape. They add a fine finish to your yard, limit weed growth, and enhance the aesthetic appeal of your garden. However, in cooler regions, many of the ground cover plants die, leaving the land exposed, leading to weed issues and soil erosion.
But if you are looking for ground cover plants that provide year-round coverage for a garden area, you need to go for evergreen ground cover plants. They make a beautiful addition to your yard and leave it thriving all year round. In this post, we look at the four best evergreen ground cover plants that can keep your garden thriving throughout the year. But before we get into the details, let’s look at some of the reasons why evergreen groundcover plants should be a part of your yard.
So let’s get started.
Why Choose Evergreen Groundcover Plants
There are several good reasons why you should choose evergreen groundcover plants in your garden. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
- Evergreen groundcover plants are visually appealing, especially when most of the other plants in your yard are dead,
- Evergreen groundcover plants provide shelter to beneficial pollinators and insects to live through the winter season.
- Several varieties of evergreen groundcover plants have roots that help control soil erosion.
- Throughout the year, the widespread structure of the evergreen ground cover shoots allows the heavy rainfall and snow to diffuse before it hits the ground.
- Lastly, the evergreen groundcover plants limit weed-seed germination and provide constant shade to the soil.
An added advantage of choosing evergreen groundcover plants is that most of their varieties produce flowers, making your garden visually appealing and encouraging species of pollinators, especially during the growing season.
If you look forward to enjoying all these benefits of growing evergreen groundcover plants in your garden, make sure to match a plant’s growing needs to its location. For example, some evergreen ground cover plants thrive in full sun and are best for xeriscaping, while others can grow well in the shade or may need more water.
Now that you know what benefits evergreen ground cover plants bring to your garden let’s look at some of the best evergreen ground cover plants to grow.
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4 Best Evergreen Ground Cover Plants
1. Candytuft
Candytuft is one of the best evergreen groundcover plants that can keep your garden green all year round. It is best planted in early fall, and the slow-growing plant will continue to spruce up your garden for years. The blooming plant produces masses of white flowers that stand out against the dark green foliage and create an appealing pattern for humans and insects. However, one thing that doesn’t favour this evergreen groundcover plant is the scent, which is actually unpleasant.
Candytuft makes a suitable variety for growing in USDA hardiness zones 4 to 8. It is best to plant it in moist soil when planting. Once established, candytuft plants can moderately tolerate drought; however, it is important to water the young plants during dry periods.
2. English Ivy
English Ivy is another evergreen groundcover plant that spreads horizontally. But since it is a climber, it can grow vertically, reaching a height up to 80 feet. The plant is primarily grown for its evergreen leaves and is classified as a foliage plant but is also bears small whitish-green and greenish-yellow flowers. English ivy grows well in partial to full shade and thrives in temperatures between 45 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
English ivy makes a suitable variety for growing in USDA hardiness zones 4 to 9. It is best to plant it in fertile, moist soil that’s slightly alkaline. While it is an evergreen groundcover plant that can thrive all year round, it is toxic to pets and humans, so make sure your pets and kids stay away from the English Ivy plants in your yard.
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3. Japanese Spurge
The Japanese Spurge is another evergreen groundcover plant that can be a great addition to your yard. The evergreen ground cover lacks woody stems and produces white flowers in spring, but it is primarily grown for its evergreen foliage.
The plant grows best in full shade and needs fertile, acidic soil to thrive and is drought resistant. Moreover, the Japanese Spurge makes a suitable variety for growing in USDA hardiness zones 4 to 8. You may notice patches of brown leaves during winter, but the foliage doesn’t die completely, which makes it one of the best evergreen groundcover plants that can keep your garden thriving throughout the year.
4. Black Mondo Grass
Black Mondo Grass is last on the list of best evergreen ground cover plants. While there are several types of mondo grass, the black variety brings a unique color to your landscape that differentiates it from other plant colors. The plant has thick tufts of arching black leaves with pink flowers appearing in late spring or early summer.
Black Mondo Grass is evergreen and is hardy to USDA zones 6-10. The plant thrives in partial to full shade and is drought resistant. Taking care of the black mondo grass care is straightforward. All you need is regular watering and rich soil to establish the plant. Once established, weekly watering and occasional fertilizing is enough to keep the plant thriving all year round.
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Final Words
There are several other evergreen ground cover plants that you can grow in your yard and keep green throughout the year, but the ones mentioned here make some of the best evergreen ground cover plants. So why not plant a few in your garden, so it keeps thriving all year round.
