The Partner brought home some Coprosma Acerosa the other day, left over from a mass planting on some tasteless client’s job. Yes, I know that’s unfair and we can’t all like the same things, but of all the ground covers you could have, that one would be at the bottom of my list.
I gave both him and the plants a look that should have caused immediate withering and put them back in his trailer.
“But it will fill in a gap,” the Partner protested. “We’re not in the business of filling in gaps,” I replied. “We’re in the business of creating a garden full of things we love and empty of things we don’t.”
Actually, that’s a bit of a lofty ideal, because I’m as guilty as anyone of shoving things into the ground just because someone gave them to me. Sometimes it turns into something I love, and sometimes not.
Whatever kinds of ground covers you decide to plant, resist the temptation to totally cover the ground with foliage, unless it’s a very small patch.
For example, I used to hate all the coprosmas (and don’t get me started on muehlenbeckia), but I have warmed to one he brought home a few months ago called Green Rocks.
“At least it’s got proper leaves and looks alive,” I said snakily as I shoved it into the bark behind a railway sleeper. A few weeks later, it had spread out to around 50cm and sent a few tendrils cautiously over the sleeper, reminding me of a child putting a toe into the water at the beach. Okay, quite nice, I thought.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say Green Rocks has crept to the top of my list of favourite ground covers, but it’s certainly no longer barred from the garden. A semi-prostrate plant with vibrant, glossy green leaves, it’s vigorous and hardy, tolerating poor, dry or sandy conditions, coastal spray, sun or shade. It’s good for covering steep or difficult areas so it’s crept on to my list at number eight.
No, it’s not the naughty aluminium plant but Lamium Maculatum, which has pale or salmon pink flowers and very delicate grey-green foliage.
I’ve never loved that good old favourite Grevillea Bronze Rambler either, probably because you see it absolutely everywhere. I guess that’s because it’s a real survivor. It’s used to making do with little food, poor soil and drought and it’s incredibly adaptable. Oh, and it makes lots of flowers that last for ages, so it’s in at number seven, even if it is Australian.
Creeping Fuchsia is a very pretty New Zealand native with mid-green, heart-shaped leaves and little yellow flowers followed by red berries. It’s low growing and spreads to about a metre, and it’s cooperative about growing over rocks and trailing over walls. Coastal hardy, it will tolerate sandy or gravelly soils. Give it good drainage and a shady spot and you’ll be rewarded with vigorous growth. It gets number six.
My eco-warrior friend has threatened all sorts of dire consequences if I plant any more agapanthus, but I have to de
fend my number five, which is Agapanthus Streamline, a beautiful dwarf that provides sky blue blooms for months. It grows in most conditions, sun to semi-shade and is hardy to frost, and it really is a minimum effort, maximum impact plant to grow.
Star Jasmine is indeed a star ground cover. It grows quickly, flowers for ages and has a lovely scent.
I’m going to mention Star Jasmine now at number four, but don’t be nervous. It’s not related to the true jasmine, which is known for its invasive behaviour here in the north. This clever stuff is “jasmine like” and its real name, Trachelospermum jasminoides, refers to the perfume given off during flowering periods.
Abelia Snow Showers is one of the few plants I’ve bought that has behaved exactly as the nurseryman said it would, which earns it third place.
“It’ll grow into a big bun and keep its shape,” he told me, and it has. It looks the same as the common Abelia grandiflora you see as hedges, except the leaves are variegated and it retains its low, round habit.
My mother used to grow a ground cover in Dunedin called aluminium plant. I think it’s been declared a naughty plant now but that’s not a problem for me, because it has yellow flowers so it’s never going to be on my list. But its lookalike Lamium Maculatum is. It’s a tough, evergreen perennial that forms a spreading patch of small silver leaves with a narrow green edge. The pink flowers appear in spring, then continue off and on until autumn. Once established, it’s good for dry shade, and the stems will root into the ground where they touch.
Many common herbs make excellent ground covers and are easy to trim and cheap to replace.
Herbs are top of my ground cover hit parade. They’re cheap, they grow quickly, they’re not invasive, they smell good, they flower and you can eat them. I would never have thought of using them as ground cover until I saw a massive garden at the Dunedin Railway Station planted out in parsley and filed the idea for later use. Now I’m planting thyme, oregano, catnip, chives, dill, chamomile, marjoram, sorrel and sage amongst my ornamental shrubs, rather than trapping them together in the herb garden.
I think they’ll thrive on meeting new friends, so to speak, and I won’t have to walk so far to get them.
Banish boring:
Whatever kinds of ground covers you decide to plant, resist the temptation to totally cover the ground with foliage, unless it’s a very small patch.
Wall-to-wall green leaves is almost as boring as wall- to-wall brown soil, so add some visual breathing space by using a couple of rocks, a piece of driftwood, some big shells or a small paved path (it doesn’t have to go anywhere).
Mix up colours and textures (if you’re covering a wide area, plant bands of different colours and heights in swathes) and change heights from one area to another. If all your ground covers are low growing, use pots, a chair or a statue.
Take a look at how to create a beautiful garden entrance here.
