6 Low-Maintenance Ground Cover Plants to Prevent Weeds

Jill enjoys cooking, abstract painting, stewardship, & learning about gardening through the MD Native Plant Society.

6 Best Ground Cover Plants to Prevent Weeds

Hardy ground covers can not only improve the appearance of your yard, but they can also significantly reduce the amount of time you spend weeding.

Need coverage for a dry area that gets full sun? Struggling to grow grass in dry shade? Or perhaps your landscape suffers from boggy patches marred by bald spots and scraggly weeds.

One of the perennial ground covers below could be the perfect solution to your problem. Each grows thickly, choking out weeds as it spreads. And each requires little care to thrive where few other plants will grow.

1. Golden Creeping Jenny

Golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) is a rugged ground cover hardy in zones 3–9. It thrives in wet areas. Although it grows in partial shade, for best color, grow it in full sun. Its long, trailing stems have round chartreuse leaves and yellow flowers.

Creeping Jenny covers large areas quickly, putting out roots all along its stems and choking out weeds.

Use it to ring a pond, trail along a wall, or edge a walkway. It even makes a great spiller in mixed container gardens. Although creeping Jenny can be an aggressive grower, the cultivar "Aurea" is relatively well-behaved.

2. Mazus

Mazus reptans, commonly called mazus, is another low-maintenance perennial ground cover. Suitable for Zones 4-9, it performs best in part shade, but it will grow in full shade, too.

When the weather's hot, keep mazus moist. In mild climates, it remains green year round and begins blooming in early spring. If conditions are right, it will bloom throughout summer, sometimes even into fall.

At just two inches tall, mazus is the perfect ground cover to plant between stepping stones and along walls. And it's easy to propagate; transplant small plugs from established plants in early spring or fall when they're not in bloom, or root cuttings during the summer and plant them in autumn.

3. Phlox Stolonifera

Tufted creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) is a North American native that prefers partial sun or shade and moist soil. It has needle-like evergreen leaves that form a dense mat to effectively suppress weeds. In full-sun, dry areas, Phlox subulata forms a thick, pretty carpet that keeps weeds at bay.

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In early spring, it produces small white or pink flowers. The 'home fires' variety is a fragrant cultivar with hot pink blooms. When flowering, it can reach up to 12 inches high.

4. Phlox Subulata

For erosion control, few ground covers work better than creeping phlox (Phlox subulata).

It loves full sun, it's drought-tolerant, and it isn't picky about soil quality. Phlox subulata cultivars come in a variety of flower colors, including white, blue, red, and pink.

Like tufted creeping phlox, Phlox subulata has needle-like evergreen leaves.

5. Red Creeping Thyme

Red creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum coccineus ) is a heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant ground cover that grows in zones 3 to 9. It likes full sun and grows close to the ground at only two to four-inches tall. It's deer-resistant, too.

Plant it around stepping stones; it gives off a delightful scent when stepped on. Or plant it by walls, along borders, and in other areas that are difficult to weed.

Red creeping thyme adds attractive, deep green color to your landscape throughout spring, but it's most beautiful in summer when it erupts in gorgeous crimson flowers. It really, really chokes out the weeds, forming a thick mat.

We grew our thyme from seed, but you can also purchase organic plug trays for quicker results.

6. Dragon's Blood Sedum

Dragon's blood sedum may be the hardiest and most versatile of all weed-suppressing ground covers.

A cultivar of the succulent Sedum spurium, dragon's blood ('Schorbuser Blut') is hardy in Zones 3-8. Not only does it grow in full sun as well as partial shade, but it also thrives in poor soil.

Like creeping Jenny, dragon's blood sedum has trailing stems that root easily, so it's a snap to propagate. It does well in containers, rock gardens, and places where little else (besides weeds) will grow.

Dragon's blood sedum looks good year-round. In spring, it produces bright green leaves that turn maroon as temperatures drop. In summer, it has showy red flowers.

Less hardy Sedum spurium cultivars include ‘red carpet,' which has red leaves, and ‘voodoo,' which has mahogany-colored leaves. 'John Creech,' is a smaller, slower growing cultivar that produces pretty pink blossoms in fall. 'Tricolor' has green, pink, and white variegated leaves.

No matter which variety you grow, pollinators will be drawn to its broad flower heads.

FAQs

Can I replace my lawn with a low-maintenance ground cover?

Depending on your soil and situation, any of these ground covers could be used to replace a lawn. Any of these plants would require less maintenance than a lawn would, especially the ones that don't need a lot of water.

Which ground covers don't need mowing?

None of the plants mentioned above needs mowing.

Which ground covers are low-growing and hug the ground?

The tallest mentioned here is Phlox stolonifera, which is 12" at its tallest.

Which weed suppressors are best for shade?

Mazus works best in shade, but some cultivars of creeping phlox will also work.

Which are the best flowering weed suppressors?

Every type mentioned here is flowering, although mazus and phlox have the showiest blooms. Although the others flower, they don't produce stand-out blooms. Golden Creeping Jenny has yellow flowers, mazus and creeping phlox have lavender flowers, phlox stolonifera's are white or pink, phlox subulata's are white, blue, red, or pink, and both creeping thyme and dragon's blood are red.