Learn about these five amazing groundcovers that are low maintenance and lovely additions to your landscape!
Cranberry Cotoneaster
Photo Credit: Fossil Creek
Give cranberry cotoneaster well-drained soil, and this striking, shrubby groundcover rewards with year-round beauty. Bees and butterflies enjoy it, too. Perfect for sites with full sun to light shade, this dense, mounded plant grows 2 to 3 feet tall and up to 5 feet wide. Pink spring flowers complement arching branches of small, glossy leaves that mature from dark green to beautiful autumn red. Plentiful red berries persist into winter and stand out against snowy backdrops. (Hardiness zones 4 through 7)
Purple Leaf Wintercreeper
The Purple Leaf Wintercreeper (Euonymus Coloratus) adds light and landscape excitement to sites with full sun to partial shade. This groundcover has green foliage tinged with a slight purple hue. As colder weather comes later in the season, the foliage turns a warm plum color. This is one of the faster growing plants in the Euonymus family, growing to 1-2' tall by 2-4' wide. (Hardiness zones 5 through 9)
Bowles Periwinkle
Common periwinkle was a long-time favorite for difficult planting sites, but this improved form won hearts over. Bowles periwinkle offers glossier, darker leaves and larger azure-blue flowers than its predecessor – and it excels in partial to full shade. For a vigorous, 6- to 8-inch tall groundcover, space these spreading plants about 4 to 5 feet apart in well-drained soil and control weeds while they become established. This groundcover resists deer, but it attracts butterflies and bees. (Hardiness zones 4 through 8)
Wisconsin Horizontal Juniper
As its name suggests, Wisconsin horizontal juniper was introduced to the nursery trade by the University of Wisconsin. A tough, attractive groundcover, this outstanding deer-resistant plant excels in full sun. The feathery, trailing stems offer interesting texture and attractive dark blue-green summer color. In winter, the foliage takes on a slight plum hue. Wisconsin juniper grows just 6 inches tall, but it spreads to form a dense, uniform groundcover up to 6 feet wide. (Hardiness zones 3 through 8)
Green Carpet Japanese Spurge
Green Carpet Japanese spurge offers an appealing combination of white spring flowers – favored by bees – and glossy, dark green leaves. Perfect for sites with full to partial shade and well-drained soil, this evergreen groundcover grows just 6 to 8 inches tall, but it spreads freely via above-ground stems, forming a dense mat of foliage and new plants as it grows. Once established, Green Carpet Japanese spurge tolerates dry conditions better than many other groundcovers. (Hardiness zones 4 through 8)
With low-maintenance groundcovers like these five favorites, you can enhance your landscape and have more time to enjoy it, too. For home delivery anywhere in the continental United States, shop our online selection of groundcovers and other plants.