There are many ways to prevent weeds from growing: regularly pulling or hoeing, sealing the area with stones or foil – or simply planting plants that don’t give the weeds a chance. Ground cover is best for this.Ground cover plants form a dense, permanent plant cover and thus prevent weeds from sprouting . It’s actually quite simple: where the ground is covered with dense plant growth, weeds hardly stand a chance. This is quite natural in beds and borders where you grow a combination of your favourite plants and there is no room for undesirables, or in well-maintained lawns . But then there are those areas that are happy to be left to themselves because they are not the focus of attention, for example in deep shade, under treetops, in sunny, dry locations or on slopes and embankments.
Designing the garden with ground cover
The uniformity of a ground cover can turn difficult places into a highlight of the garden, because where there was previously a wild mess, a densely closed plant cover brings calm to the design. If one species is too boring for you, you can combine two or three different species. But make sure that they have the same location requirements and a similar level of competitiveness.
The most beautiful ground cover plants for sun and partial shade
How do ground covers work?
The strategies that plants use to conquer large areas are very different. Some spread through their roots, like thyme , others through above-ground runners, such as carpet knotweed (Bistorta affinis), and still others through creeping rhizomes. Sometimes the perennials simply have a very sprawling, broad-bushy growth, such as lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), so that a closed plant cover quickly forms if the plants are planted at the right distance. Grasses such as bear’s-foot fescue (Festuca gautieri) or Japanese grass (Hakonechloa macra) can also cover large areas of ground with their springing leaves, which they also enliven by moving up and down evenly.
Ground cover against weeds: These are the advantages
The choice is large: There are perennials , shrubs and climbing plants that form an impenetrable carpet of plants, no longer allow any light to reach the ground and thus literally nip the weeds in the bud. Another advantage: the soil is also protected from drying out in the sun and erosion from rain. Easy-care ground covers are ideal for embankments or other hard-to-reach areas in the garden.
Densely growing ground covers are particularly effective. These include carpet knotweed (Bistorta affine ‘Superbum’), fairy flower (Epimedium), golden strawberry (Waldsteinia ternata) and dwarf sedum (Pachysandra terminalis). However, these should not be placed in direct sunlight. For a location with plenty of sun but not too dry soil, the evergreen carpet sedum (Sedum floriferum) or ground cover roses are recommended as flowering ground covers .
Evergreen ground covers have the advantage that they form an attractive carpet of soil all year round. If you value autumn colours , you will also find suitable representatives. For example, the leaves of bergenia (Bergenia) and fairy lily turn in striking colours. Under woody plants, ground covers also play their trump card as “leaf eaters”. The annoying raking of leaves in autumn is not necessary here; instead, you can simply leave the leaves lying around as fertilizer.
The best ground covers for shade
Plant ground cover to control weeds
Before planting, make sure that there are as few root pieces as possible left in the soil. Some plants such as couch grass or ground elder , so-called root weeds, can sprout again even from tiny remnants. The best way to do this is to sift through the soil with a digging fork. Then cover the bed with about a finger’s width of mature compost and wait until the weed seeds it contains have germinated. Then go through again with the cultivator and add the ground cover.
How closely you plant the plants depends on you: if the plants are further apart, it will take longer for the carpet to become dense and you will still have to weed for a while – but this option is cheaper. However, if you want to achieve a comprehensive result in the shortest possible time, you should plant the plants more closely. So that the ground cover carpet is dense quickly, but the plants do not compete with each other, it is important to only plant a certain number of perennials or grasses per square meter . The recommended numbers per square meter vary greatly from plant type to plant type. You can get information about how many specimens of your desired candidate you need either from your local gardener or from the catalogues of good perennial nurseries. The latter can often also be found on the Internet.
Tip: If you plant ground cover in spring , it will take quite a long time for it to take root and spread across the area – during this time, weeds can take hold again. Plant in autumn so that enough roots can form by the beginning of winter. In spring, the ground cover will then have a head start and can start straight away with its job – namely covering the ground.
