Have you ever heard of living mulch? A useful solution for gardeners looking to improve soil health, suppress weeds and reduce watering during the warmer months of the year consists of low-growing ground cover plants that create a protective green layer above the soil.
Like traditional garden mulches (such as bark or straw), this living mat has many benefits, including keeping the soil cooler in the summer, slowing moisture loss, and reducing erosion during periods of hot and very dry weather.
Other than that, though, many live mulch plants help improve the soil over time. Legumes (or the pea family), for example, fix nitrogen in the soil, so it’s always a good idea to simply cut sweet peas and beans at ground level in the fall and let those roots work their magic. This process can also reduce the need for additional fertilizers.
Try these 6 living ground cover plants
As well as protecting the soil, live mulch plants provide valuable habitat and nectar for pollinators, helping to boost biodiversity while creating a rich look in beds and borders.
So whether you want to protect your dry yard from soil degradation, enrich tired soil, reduce maintenance, or simply fill bare patches with attractive greenery, consider the answer. It’s quite simply one of the easiest ways to create a healthier, more resilient garden.
So with that in mind, here are six necessary ground cover plants to consider this year.
1. Nasturtium
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Nasturtiums are valuable to gardeners. All this without fuss trailing plants they bring months of colorful blooms, while the rounded foliage (almost like water lilies) cleverly covers the bare soil. They work in pots, of course, but I like to use them in vegetable beds or kitchen gardens, filling in the gaps between rows of carrots, lettuce or whatever else you’re growing.
If you want try it scalpel cultivationsow seeds (available for purchase through Amazon) directly where they are to be developed. You can plant them most anywhere with a preference for full sun and a decent amount of water to help them establish and establish. In warmer places, such as the U.S resilience zone 8 plus, partial shade is fine. No lubrication required.
Try these ‘Black Velvet’ variety for stunning bloom display, available through Walmart.
2. Egg
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For sunny yards, yarrow they are a good choice of live mulch, easily covering borders and flower beds.
Live yarrow plants are available through Walmartand those opposite USDA Planting Zones 3-9, tolerates cold winters and hot summer sunshine. It has attractive silver-green foliage that covers the ground, as well as colorful flat flowers that pollinators love.
Yarrow plants typically have a dense fibrous root layer that can help bind and anchor lighter, sandier soils as well. For a brighter variety, try pink ‘Cerise Queen’, available from Amazon.
3. Red clover
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Shamrock is a perennial legume of low growth which fixes nitrogen in the soil, as well as carpeting vast areas of lawn, beds or borders. Sure, some might consider it a pesky weed, but not me. It has beautiful, delicate leaves with three (or four, if you’re lucky) leaflets, plus lots of pollinator flowers in spring and summer.
red clover, or Trifolium pratensethrives in cool, moist soils and tolerates some shade. It forms a dense mat that suppresses weeds and reduces soil erosion in summer as well. And, if you dread yard work and dread the weekend chore of mowing, clover is a good lawn choice, requiring far less water than traditional turf.
Red clover seed is available from Walmartand can be grown down to US hardiness zone 6. It is usually not frost sensitive and will produce masses of purple-pink blooms from May to September.
Remember: red clover is classified as an invasive plant in some areas of the US, particularly in areas with disturbed soil. Be sure to consult your local office’s website before planting.
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Wild ginger plants are native to North America and are the perfect living mulch to create a richer, greener carpet.
4. Wild ginger
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Hardy to zone 3, wild ginger (or Canadian ducksif you prefer) is a North American ground cover species that grows across much of Canada and the US.
In shady and humid environments, it can grow a little very well, forming dense mats that spread by rhizomatous growth. But, in large plots, where you have space, wild ginger is a good choice for living mulch plants that protect the soil and do not require much attention,
You can find bare wild ginger plants in the Amazon. Just remember that, as far as how to grow wild gingershade is essential. Planting under large trees or shrubs is a good choice, particularly if you want to cover large areas of bare ground.
5. Purple Prairie Clover
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Purple meadow clover, or Dalea purpureais one of those natives meadow plants who quietly does a lot of hard work in the yard. This is drought tolerant perennial Legumes fix nitrogen in the soil, helping to improve fertility, while producing slender stems with vibrant purple flower spikes that pollinators love all summer long. What more could you want?
Hardy down to US Zone 3Purple meadow clover thrives in full sun and well-drained soils, making it an ideal mulch for hot, dry gardens where many other soils struggle. It has a deep root system that helps stabilize the soil, improve structure and reduce erosion over time.
If you’re gardening for wildlife, this is an especially good choice. Bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects flock to the nectar-rich flowers, while the foliage supports many native insect species. So make sure you take care of them purple clover seeds, which are widely available from retailers including Amazon..
6. Creeping Phlox
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creeping phloxor Phlox stoloniferait’s one of my favorite native ground covers for covering awkward gaps. Whether spilled over retaining walls or carpeted at the front of your borders, it creates a dense mat of evergreen foliage that works hard all year round.
Hardy in US zones 5 through 8, creeping phlox thrives in well-drained soil and performs best with at least a few hours of direct sun each day. The more sunshine, the more flowers. Once established, it requires very little attention, making these easy living mulch plants to grow that help shade the soil, conserve moisture and reduce weed growth.
The phlox show begins in spring, when the foliage is almost hidden under masses of white, pink, purple or lavender flowers. This floral display lasts for several weeks, but the rather smart green foliage remains attractive long after the blooms have faded, helping to protect bare soil throughout the growing season.
So what more reason do you need to pick some up creeping live phlox plants from amazon?
