Low-Maintenance Ground Covers That Suppress Weeds
Six Easy-to-Grow Ground Covers That Choke Out 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.
Low-Maintenance, Weed-Abating, Perennial Ground Covers
name
| water requirements
| sun needs
| zones
| special characteristics
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
Golden Creeping Jenny (aka Moneywart)
| lots of water
| will grow in shade to full sun
| 3-9
| covers large areas quickly (fast growth)
|
Mazus
| keep soil moist
| prefers part shade but will grow in full sun
| 4-9
| in some conditions, it will bloom spring through fall
|
Phlox Stolonifera
| moist conditions
| partial sun or shade
| 5-9
| needle-like evergreen leaves form a dense mat to suppress weeds
|
Phlox Subulata (Creeping Phlox)
| dry soil
| full sun
| 3-9
| drought-tolerant erosion control
|
Red Creeping Thyme
| dry
| full sun
| 3-9
| fairly quick growing; heat-tolerant and deer-resistant; grows like a tightly-knit mat
|
Dragon's Blood Sedum
| occasional water
| full or partial sun
| 3-8
| hardiest and most versatile; thrives in poor soil
|
Golden Creeping Jenny
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.
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.
Creeping Phlox
Creeping phlox is a classic perennial ground cover that's hardy in Zones 3-9. Although it looks delicate, phlox is extremely rugged, and it grows easily in shaded and full-sun areas.
For shady, moist spots, try Phlox stolonifera for weed suppression. In full-sun, dry areas, Phlox subulata forms a thick, pretty carpet that keeps weeds at bay. Read more about these two kinds of phlox below.
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 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.
Phlox Subulata
For erosion control, few ground covers work better than 
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.
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.
Dragon's Blood Sedum
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.
Which is the fastest-growing ground cover?
Creeping Jenny is a fast grower, and thyme will gain about half its size by the next year, but really how fast any plant spreads depends upon how well it likes the conditions. They are not invasives.
Which Hardiness Zone Do You Live In?
If you don't know your area's plant hardiness zone, go to EdibleLandscapeDesign.com for links to zone maps in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, New Zealand, North America, South America, and the U.S.
More Ground Covers to Consider
About the Author
The Dirt Farmer has been an active gardener for over 30 years.
She first began gardening as a child alongside her grandfather on her parents' farm.
Today, The Dirt Farmer gardens at home, volunteers at community gardens and continues to learn about gardening through the MD Master Gardener program.
© 2011 Jill Spencer
Comments
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Hi Suzann, Is the island in shade or full sun? And do you know the type of weeds that are growing there now? --Jill
I have a pond with a small island in my backyard. I'm looking for ground cover for the island so I don't have to wade through the pond to maintain grass or other plants. I'd like something that is only a few inches tall and flowers would be a definite bonus. I live is southern Pennsylvania.
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Paddy M, lots of herbs are distasteful to rabbits, including thyme and Greek oregano, both of which I use as a groundcover. You'll have to harvest the oregano to keep it looking good and low to the ground, but it's super hardy. Best to you!
Liz, Sorry it's take me so long to respond. Your question sort of threw me. I don't think of grass as being particularly thick as it has a short root system and is not particularly good about absorbing water-- sort of like a thin towel. You might consider putting down cardboard over the grassy areas and then topping it with about two inches of mulch, then planting a thick-locking groundcover like thyme or sedum Angelica in the in-between areas. I had difficulty with nutsedge popping up in the Angelica at first, but now it's a thick chartreuse carpet. Best to you! Jill
Looking for a ground cover that is the most rabbit resistant. Cannot ask for rabbit proof, no such plant. They set back my spirea. I will cage them this fall. But do need a really good ground cover. Flowers would be nice but not essential. Thank you. Happy 4th
We are looking for a vigorous ground cover to overcome grass that has taken over in our perennial beds. I know grass has a thick root system that makes it hard for our desirable plants to get water and nutrients. Do any of these ground covers have super-thick root systems like grass?
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Hi Shawna,
Reading your comment makes me excited about your projects too!
I love creeping thyme and have some near a rose bush. Over the last couple of years it has moved itself away from the bush toward the rocky edging. Plants have a way of doing that! I find that ice plants "travel" on me too.
Since roses need good ventilation, I didn't mind too much and planted clumps of chives a good foot or so away as companion plants and, off the to side, the herb feverfew, which repels pests of all sorts.
The thyme really can stand up to foot traffic. I also find that if I plant among it, the disturbed area looks good within a day or two. You shouldn't need to water it after it's established.
Mazus or creeping jenny would work well around your lilies. I grow my calla lilies through creeping charlie. Yes, I know it's strictly a weed! lol
I've had success with sedum rupestre 'Angelina' in the same area. At first I didn't like it because nutbsedge kept growing through it, but as it's become more established, it's suppressed the nutsedge and is now a lovely green/gold carpet that keeps its color in winter, turning a bit red when it's really cold.
I think using sedums on the slope is a great idea, but you probably will need to weed a little bit until they get established. I think that's true with any groundcover unless it's an invasive plant, and then you'd have another sort of weeding to do!
I'm glad the article was helpful and wish you much success as you experiment.
Best,
Jill
GREAT article! I have been trying to choose some groundcovers for 3 areas - and I have been studying the ones you listed. I live in NC, Zone 7b.
One area is by my hedge roses - in the flower bed between them and the next row. I had to leave at least 12" to walk through to prune and treat roses. I was thinking creeping thyme or mavus bc sunny, and will get water some when I water the roses - or I CAN water it. Also, of big importance is that it is possible to walk on creeping thyme. Do any of the others have that quality?
Second, I need something over and around my oriental lilies. I understand they will grow up through mazus... But maybe not through the others??
Third, I just need something between new plants in a new flower Bed I am opening. It was going to be on top of a slope, but now I think it will be on the actual slope - so that people will see it. I am using drought tolerant plants, and I do NOT want to have to weed every week OR drag in tons of mulch every year. So, I think a combo of ice plants (6 total max), stonecrop (I have 6 total i can use and 2 of those are Fuldaglut - which you've mentioned), and creeping thyme, or mazus. I hope i won't be doing much watering after the first year.
I am up tonight ordering the last few plants for this project (#3 above) because a good clearance is ending! If it helps you help me, I am trying to focus on various shades of pink and purple at this location. Maybe white groundcover? Purple mixed with lavender butterfly bushes, pink cotton candy muhly grass, pink armeria, probably Lord Lieutenant Windflowers (blue-ish purple), French Lingerie reblooming daylilies, maybe a Millenium Globeflower, maybe Lilac Sensation OR Josee Lilac. I will add a bright crape myrtle in the fall - UNLESS you have a suggestion for a long or multi-season interest tree. Potentially a gardens because I may have a spare later. I'm struggling re choosing tall plants/trees. I have a Limelight Hydrangea tree nearby, but it hasn't grown much in two years. Soul is compacted, and it is a hot location. (Major drought last year - ceaseless rain now). Sorry to go on so much... I'm actually planning this tonight and I'm excited. I don't know if a wider person would add more plants for their foliage... Thanks so much with help re groundcovers! BEST article I have found! Definitely!
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Karen, that depends on many factors, including what the area is like, what you're sowing and when you're sowing it. You may want to ask your local extension agent.
Can I just broadcast seed the area?
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Hi Jan. Sometimes sedum and ice move on me. I plant them in one location, and five years later the patch is four feet away from where it began. When that happens, I take small chunks of established plants and plant them in the bare patches, then water them well. Sedum is fairly easy to start this way. Best! JIll
I have a large sectioned area that I planted 2 types of sedum in several years ago. The soil is more on the sandy side. My problem is that it seems to be cultivating more weeds because the sedum doesn't seem to grow really thick. Any ideas on how to get the sedum to thicken up in order to choke out the weeds? I live in zone 5.
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Hi Stu,
I'm sending you a link to the CA native plant society website. (I belong to the MD native plant society.) http://www.cnps.org/cnps/grownative/tips/lawn_alte... The site which has recommendations for native plants you might like to use to naturalize that shady area of your property. You might like Mimulus aurantiacus (bush monkey flower). It tolerates shade and has a cheerful yellow bloom. Best to you!
Hi There,
My house in Lake Arrowhead, CA is taken over by weeds. Very shady, drought can be an issue in CA. Oak Trees block the sun. House is at 5,500 elevation, 18 miles south of Big Bear. What covering should I use? My wife does not want weed killing chemical spraying. Help! thanks.
I'm so very glad to has discovered this site. I live in Tampa Florida..in the City..but still a neighborhood that enjoys a quarterly "Best Yard" notice! My home faces the North and I have plenty of weeds...I keep them mowed to save face...but weeding the entire yard wood leave me with sand. What would you recommend or suggest to help me possibly get thru this heart ache? Except re-sodding, and if I have to do that..I might just cement it! Disparately seeking help!
Hi, we just bought a new house and there is no landscaping at all, just dirt and weeds starting to grow. I am going to plant some Spring bulbs and some trees and bushes now during Fall here in Northern Utah. And then I want to plant a ground covering to choke out the weeds in the landscaped areas. Is it best to plant the ground covering in Fall or wait til Spring? Also, my main concern, is will the ground covering choke out the bulbs from coming up year after year? And will the ground covering jump the curbing and start growing in the grassy areas? I want to avoid landscape fabric because it doesn't work well from my experience. Thanks so much!
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Mona, you might want to use a green manure crop, which you grow until just before it blooms and then till into the soil to increase soil fertility. Here's an article about them from Mother Earth News: https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/...
All the best to you! Jill
Hi, enjoyed the article !! i have a 200sqm area that was a lawn area before i travel.. It has become a weed area, i am planning to design it next year..however i need to clean it and grow land cover in the mean time. What would be a fast growing , yet easy to pull out ground cover in south Australia , full sun , preferably less watering during summer. I hope it can rejuvenate the soil .. I will appreciate feedback on possible options. Many thanks.
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Hi Melissa! I'm passing along to you a link to your area extension service so that you can ask a gardening expert in your state (mostly likely a professor) about the best choices for that area of your yard. You will probably want to choose native plants, which will require less maintenance than non-natives. Anyway . . . here's the link: http://extension.missouri.edu/main/aae.aspx
All the best! Jill
I live near Republic, MO and we have a lot of weeds and the front of my house has big bushes I want to pull out, because they just collect a lot of leaves from our 30 trees we have on our 5 acres. I have young baby, so don't want high maintenance, and currently have a lot of wasps living in the front bushes as well... Is there something you would recommend to plant here? It is partial shade or mostly shaded area.
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Hi "Leafy Splurge." There's a new dragon's blood sedum called Sedum spurium "Fulda Glow" (Fuldaglut ) you might want to try in your Zone 3 garden. I have no practical experience with it, but it's supposed to be hardier than the other varieties and stay somewhat green even in subzero temps. Good luck!
Do you feel either the dragon's blood sedum or the Red Thyme wood work in fighting Leafy Spurge in sandy / dry soils (Saskatchewan near Saskatoon, Canada)? We are looking for ways to cut down or get rid of chemicals while getting control of this weed.
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Very true, Sarah. Ground covers that crowd out the weeds are a perfect solution. Thanks for commenting! All the best, Jill
I was needing something like this. My kids keep insisting on weeding the places that have no plants in them. This is much easier for them, but makes overall maintenance harder for me. SOMETHING has to fill in the dirt before the weeds come back.
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Thanks, Patricia. I love the creeping thyme. It's really, really tight and the blooms are pretty, too. Thanks for commenting!--Jill
O, Jill, these are lovely enough to used solely for the beauty they impart. But knowing that they serve the purpose of helping them to control weeds makes them all the more appealing.
Thanks for sharing. This is being bookmarked for later reference.
Pinned.
Angels are on the way ps
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Thanks, rbm! Hope the phlox works for you. Thanks for stopping by.
Good information! I really like the creeping phlox, will give this a try in my front yard. Good hub!
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Hope the dragon's blood does well for you, quester. It's a good looking plant, even when it's not blooming. Take care, Jill
another great Hub! - going to try the dragon's blood - since we use an herbal med by the same name - works wonders so I see if the plant will work wonders for a poor area - thanks
q
Great choices! Especially the thyme. I use herbs mulching around them for these situations because they are so useful. Thanks for a great hub.
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So many people seem to dislike mint, but like you I'm really fond of it. Working with it is so pleasant because it smells so good! Thanks for the vote! Take care, Jill
Thanks for the information. I've used Creeping Jenny before around the house, and it grows very nicely and I never have weeds around it. I also like to use mint species for ground cover. Spearmint, lemon balm, and other garden mints are perfect. Voted up
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Thanks for reading, fdoleac. Hope you give dragon's blood a try. It really is a remarkable plant!
Thank you for this information. Of particular interest is the dragon's blood sedum.
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Awesome! Happy you stopped by, MysteryPlanet, and good luck with your gardening project. --DF
Believe it or not I was looking for just this information. We had an area to get filled in recently and I need a good ground cover to plant in the area
Talking too much? Pshaw! Your pearls of knowledge are heartily welcomed! Thank you!! I'll keep you posted on my progress. :)
- Author
Sounds like we have some of the same issues! I'm in Zone 8. Soil compaction will probably be your greatest challenge. Red creeping thyme would work where you are, and so would ice, although it allows a few weeds to peek through, but it spreads like a dream. On banks, try Scarlet Flame Carpet Phlox or moonbeam coreopsis (drought tolerant and it has a sweet flower). If you want even more color, you could use daylilies, too. Exploded pumpkin daylilies won't choke out all the weeds like a thick groundcover, but deer don't seem to like that particular cultivar, and they bloom more than once. They're easy to naturalize, so they'll spread on their own. Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm' (a hardy variety of black-eyed Susan) spreads like a weed here. It blooms a long time and looks interesting in the winter, too, if you don't cut back the flowers. Wow! I'm talking way too much! Wish you luck!
Thanks to your Backyard Gardener link, I determined that I'm in a zone 9 region. Dry and dusty hard packed clay soil on a dirt road (lovely!) that is excellent at breeding waves of weeds. I need to put 'em down once and for all with some tenacious ground cover. I'd like to do so with some variety since there's a lot of (ha!) ground to cover.
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Thanks for the positive feedback, Miss Mellie. I really appreciate the encouragement! Tell me your general geographical location, and I'll try to come up with some drought-tolerant groundcovers for you.
Voted up and useful: I've been looking for some weed-choking ground cover, and here you supply the very ideas I need! Now: any additional suggestions besides Dragon's Blood for poor soil in dry, sunny spots? I have slope areas to cover, and would love to see more options, particularly plants that get along with minimal to no care aside from watering.
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That's great! Hope it works out.
thanks, we were just talking about a problem area in our yard and you may have solved the problem.
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Thanks, Eiddwen. Btw, I really liked your Barley Saturday hub (http://hubpages.com/hub/Join-me-on-Barley-Saturday... The pictures were great!
A very useful hub and well presented.
Useful/up for this one.
Thanks for sharing and take care
Eiddwen.
- Author
What a great choice! I like burgandy colors in the garden, too. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks so much for these ideas. I'm definitely going to try the dragon's blood sedum. Great hub!
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