Perennial groundcovers can add color, texture to your landscape and functional benefits. This vast category of plants includes enough options to satisfy any location. There are groundcovers for full sun, partial shade, or full shade. Some are tolerant of poor soil conditions; others prefer fertile soil; varieties are even available for soggy or salty locations. Many groundcovers are low maintenance.

With a little planning, selecting hardy groundcovers for your climate zone will add beauty, interest, and functionality to your landscape. Ground covers can create landscape borders, be used as lawn alternatives, provide erosion control, fill-in garden areas or between trees, and attract wildlife.

Groundcovers spread in different ways, including by root stems or underground runners; some are clump-forming spreaders. The quantity of plants required will depend on space size, soil conditions, the way plants spread and timing of coverage.

Some site-specific ground covers ideas -

Hillsides are prone to erosion and usually require groundcovers that are drought tolerant and prefer well-drained soil. Some popular choices include: Achillea(sun), Ajuga (sun & shade), Carex(sun to shade depending on variety),Ceratostigma (Sun or light shade),Chrysogonum (light shade), Convallari (shade), Dianthus (sun), Dryopteris (Part sun to full shade), Epimedium (Sun or light shade), Euonymus (sun & shade), Festuca (sun & light shade), Geranium (sun & part shade), Hedera (sun & shade),Hemerocallis(sun & part shade),Hypericum (sun or light shade), Lamiastrum (sun & shade), Lantana (sun), Liriope muscari (sun & shade), Liriope spicata (sun & shade), Mazus (sun), Ophipogon (sun & shade), Pachysandra (shade), Phlox subulata (sun), Rubus (sun), Santolina (sun), Trachelospermum (sun & shade), Verbena, Vinca major (sun & shade)

Looking to brighten a shady area?: Acorus, Ajuga, Ardisia, Asarum, Brunnera, Epimedium, Euonymus, Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea', Galium, Hosta, Pulmonaria, Sagina, Vinca or for more Shade Groundcovers

Need to fill the area beneath trees?: Ajuga, Alchemilla, Asarum,Epimedium, Galium, Hakonechloa, Heuchera, Hosta, Pachysandra, Viola

Full sun groundcovers offer a lot of options: Armeria, Dianthus, Iberis, Lithodora, Nepeta, Phlox subulata, Santolina, Sedum, Thymus, for more options click on Sun Groundcover

Groundcovers that cascade over walls, rocks, or edges of beds include: Cerastium, Hedera, Lithodora, Pachysandra, Santolina, some Sedum, Thymus, Vinca,

Perennials between pavers, brick and stone probably need to tolerate some foot traffic. Some of the most preferred choices include: Ajuga, Isotoma fluviatilis (Blue Star Creeper), Lotus Plenus, Lysimachia (Creeping Jenny-Moneywort), Mazus reptans, Sagina subulata (Irish Moss and Scotch Moss), Sedum spurium 'John Creech' (Stonecrop), Thymus, and Trifolium.

• For Heavy Foot Traffic consider:

Full Sun

Blue Star Creeper (Isotoma fluviatilis f/k/a Laurentia fluviatilis) , County Park (Pratia pedunculata) , Thyme (Thymus), Green Carpet or Rupturewort (Herniaria glabra), Trifolium repens Bronze Dutch Clover

Partial/Full Shade

Miniature Brass Buttons (Leptinella gruveri), Trifolium repens Bronze Dutch Clover

• For Light to Medium Foot Traffic consider:

Full Sun

Double Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus 'Plenus'), Irish and Scotch Moss (Sagina),
Miniature Daisy (Bellium minutum), Pink Pussy Toes (Antennaria dioica 'Rubra'), Sedum spurium, Mazus reptans.

Partial/ Full Shade

Creeping Jenny or Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia), Creeping Speedwell (Veronica repens), Brass Buttons (Leptinella squalida), Variegated Pennywort (Hydrocotyle sibthorpiodes).

Lawn Alternatives are available in sun and/or shade areas, with evergreen or semi-evergreen perennial selections.

Does your groundcover also need to be salt tolerant?

Highly Salt Tolerant:

Achillea, Armeria, Calamagrostis, Cyrtomium, Dianthus, Ficus, Gaillardia, Hedera, Hemerocallis, Lantana, Miscanthus, Ophiopogon, Schizachyrium, Trachelospermum

Moderately Salt Tolerant:

Achillea, Anthemis, Artemisia, Aster, Echinops, Erigeron, Euphorbia, Festuca, Helleborus, Heuchera, Hosta, Oenothera, Penstemon, Perovskia, Phlox, Sedum, Sempervivum, Stachys, Veronica, Yucca

Want to check out all the groundcovers? How about perennials for erosion control? or just easy to grow perennials?