Best Ground Cover Plants
Twelve RHS-cited ground cover plants for UK gardens, including options for shade, under trees and heavy London clay. Weed-suppressing planting that feeds wildlife.
Twelve RHS-cited ground cover plants for UK gardens, including options for shade, under trees and heavy London clay. Weed-suppressing planting that feeds wildlife.
Ground cover is the planting layer everyone forgets. The borders get the headline perennials, the lawn gets the seed; the bit of soil between them ends up as either bare earth that grows weeds, or expensive bark mulch that has to be topped up every year. Neither is a long-term answer.
The right ground cover fixes both problems in one go. It knits across the bare soil, suppresses the weeds, looks deliberately designed rather than neglected, and feeds wildlife as a bonus. This guide is the twelve plants we lean on most across SE London, drawn from the Royal Horticultural Society's ground cover plants guide. All chemical-free, all proven on heavy London clay.
The RHS defines a good ground cover plant precisely: one that provides "rapid, dense cover, to suppress germination and development of weed seeds and to eliminate the need for weed control measures". They are usually evergreens or have densely twiggy growth. Three things make ground cover actually work:
There is one more rule the RHS quietly notes: "weed control will be necessary until young plants have established". For the first 18 months a new ground cover bed needs the gaps mulched and the weeds pulled by hand. Once it knits up, the plants do the job for you. That is the time investment you are signing up to.
The default fix for an awkward bare patch in a UK garden is a thick layer of bark mulch every spring. Mulch is good. We use it on every garden we maintain. But mulch on its own is not the same as ground cover, and using mulch where ground cover would do the job is a quiet drain on your time and money. Mulch breaks down each year and needs replacing. Plants spread, thicken and get better.
Ground cover also feeds wildlife in a way bark cannot. A dense mat of Geranium macrorrhizum or Vinca minor flowers for pollinators in spring; a carpet of pachysandra or epimedium shelters ground beetles and small mammals; an ajuga border buzzes with bumblebees in May. Bark mulch supports almost nothing.
So the best plan is usually both: ground cover doing the real work, with a thin annual mulch around the edges in the first couple of years while the plants knit together. After three years the ground cover is doing it all and the mulch is optional. We never use chemicals on any garden, so a chemical-free ground cover layer is doing the weed suppression naturally.
Ground cover for a sunny front edge is a different plant from ground cover under a north-facing tree. We design the layer to match the spot. Planting plans are part of our garden design service, priced bespoke to your garden, never a fixed package. Send us a photo of the bare patch and a rough indication of how much sun it gets and we will tell you what would carpet it best.
Each plant has a note on what conditions it suits (sun, part-shade, shade), whether it tolerates dry ground under trees, and how fast it spreads. Match the plant to the spot, not the other way round.
The first six are the easy, reliable picks we plant most often. The next six add specific qualities (silver foliage, dramatic seasonal change, drought tolerance) that broaden the range.
Spacing rule of thumb: 30 to 45 cm apart from 9 cm pots, knitting up in two seasons. Closer for an instant carpet, further for a slower fill-in.
Six workhorses then six specialists. Pair these up: one or two from the list as the main carpet, then a contrasting plant woven through for interest.
The no-fuss ground cover champion. Soft pink or white flowers in May, semi-evergreen aromatic foliage that turns red-orange in autumn, and a quiet spreader that copes with everything: dry shade under trees, full sun, heavy clay, neglect. The RHS lists Geranium macrorrhizum "Ingwersen's Variety" specifically. If you only plant one ground cover, this is the one.
The classic evergreen ground cover for shade. Glossy dark leaves, small purple-blue flowers from spring into autumn, and a steady spreader that knits into a dense carpet. The RHS recommends Vinca minor "Atropurpurea" (AGM). Watch the larger Vinca major, which is a thug; the minor is well-behaved.
The under-tree star. Epimedium x versicolor "Sulphureum" (AGM) is evergreen, with heart-shaped leaves and small spurred yellow flowers in spring. Spreads slowly into a dense weed-suppressing mat in dry shade where almost nothing else grows. The RHS lists epimedium specifically for shade and ground cover.
The bombproof evergreen for shade and acid-leaning soil. Pachysandra terminalis "Variegata" (AGM) has white-margined leaves that lift dark corners. Slow to start (give it two seasons), then a permanent dense carpet that needs nothing from you. Listed as one of the RHS top five ground covers.
Lamium "Beacon Silver" has silvery variegated leaves and pink flowers, brilliant in part-shade where the silver lifts the gloom. RHS-listed as a creeping ground cover. Spreads steadily; trim back lightly each year to keep it neat. Bees love the spring flowers.
Low evergreen mat with deep bronze-purple leaves and dramatic blue flower spikes in May. Ajuga reptans "Burgundy Glow" (variegated) and "Caitlin's Giant" (larger leaves) are both on RHS ground cover lists. Likes damp clay in part-shade. Bumblebees pour in when it flowers.
The big-leaved evergreen for the structural front of a border. Huge leathery leaves that turn red-bronze in winter and pink or white flower spikes in early spring when nothing else is open. The RHS picks Bergenia "Silberlicht" (AGM) and "Morgenrote" specifically. Tough on London clay, tolerates sun or part-shade.
The silver-foliage front-of-border plant. Soft fuzzy leaves like a lamb's ear, dusty-pink summer flower spikes. Stachys byzantina "Silver Carpet" is an RHS-listed ground cover form. Wants sun and good drainage; on heavy clay, plant on a slight mound or in raised edging. Wool-carder bees use the leaf hairs for nesting.
The shade carpet that flowers. The RHS describes Tiarella cordifolia as "great groundcover, especially among bulbs and ephemerals, with vertical white flowers that create an appearance of mist on the ground". Heart-shaped leaves with bronze veining. Loves damp shade and a London-clay border.
Mound-forming foliage in greens, purples, ambers, silvers and near-blacks; the modern colour range is huge. Heuchera does not knit into a continuous mat the way Geranium macrorrhizum does, but it works beautifully as a denser planting of clumps with the gaps filled by something else. Part-shade, decent drainage.
The summer froth. Rounded lobed pale green leaves that catch raindrops like jewels, with sprays of tiny chartreuse flowers in June and July. The RHS lists Alchemilla mollis (AGM) for shade and ground cover. Self-seeds; cut back after flowering for a fresh second flush of foliage.
Honest mention. Ivy is the most effective ground cover on this list, especially in shade, but it does need controlling or it climbs and spreads further than you wanted. As a deliberate ground cover (not allowed up trees or fences) it works brilliantly under mature trees where nothing else will grow. RHS-listed; mature ivy also flowers for the specialist ivy bee in September.
Ground cover plants are some of the easiest to establish because they are root-driven, not flower-driven, in their first year. The strongest planting window is autumn (September to October), when the soil is still warm and rainfall is reliable. New plants spend the winter putting roots down, then come out of the gate strong in spring.
Spring (March to April) is the second-best window. Avoid planting in the heat of midsummer; ground covers establish badly in dry hot ground and you will be watering daily.
Mulch the gaps with bark or composted leaf mould as soon as the new plants are in. The mulch suppresses weeds for the first 18 months until the plants knit together. After that the plants do the job and the mulch is optional.
A freshly planted ground cover bed in October is mostly mulch with small plants in. By the end of year one most of the plants will have doubled in size; by the end of year two the gaps are closing; by year three you have the continuous mat the catalogue picture showed. Patience is the price of a good ground cover layer.
The other thing that surprises people: the maintenance is genuinely much lower than a normal border. Once a year, in early spring, we trim back any tatty winter growth, edge the bed if it has spread further than intended, and mulch any gaps. That is the full maintenance job for most of the planting below. No staking, no deadheading, no division for years.
If a section thins or a plant dies, we lift a small clump from somewhere it is doing well and split it into the gap. Ground cover is essentially self-renewing if you let it spread.
You can absolutely plant ground cover yourself. The decisions to get right are which plant goes where (matching to your light and soil) and how densely to plant (too sparse and weeds win; too dense and you are spending money you do not need to). Both are decisions a planting plan handles up front.
That is what our planting plans service is for. We walk the garden on WhatsApp, look at the bare patches, pick the right ground cover for each one, and plant them properly with the right spacing. Bespoke and priced to your garden, never a fixed package, with no chemicals on any plant, ever.
Ground cover is one of the most rewarding planting layers we plant. Your gardener Josh picks the right plant for each spot, plants them at the right spacing, and mulches the gaps while they settle. Bespoke and priced to your garden, never a fixed package, because every bare patch is different.
The RHS defines a good ground cover plant as one that provides rapid, dense cover that suppresses weed germination and removes the need for weed control. They are usually evergreen or densely twiggy, low-growing, and they spread to knit together into a continuous mat.
The RHS recommends epimedium, Geranium macrorrhizum, lamium, Vinca minor, Pachysandra terminalis and the native sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) for dry shade under trees. All of them tolerate the dry, root-filled soil under a mature tree where most plants give up.
Geranium macrorrhizum is the genuinely no-fuss workhorse for most UK gardens. Evergreen-ish, drought-tolerant, aromatic, and quietly spreads into a dense weed-suppressing mat without becoming invasive. Vinca minor and epimedium are the other two we plant most often when low maintenance matters.
Yes. Most of the picks above actively prefer the slightly heavy, organic-rich soil that improved London clay becomes. Geranium macrorrhizum, lamium, ajuga, bergenia and pachysandra all settle in well. Lambs' ear and heuchera prefer better drainage, so we plant those on a slight mound or in a raised edge.
Most ground covers take two to three years to knit into a continuous mat from sensible 9 cm pot spacing of 30 to 45 cm apart. Faster spreaders like Vinca minor and Geranium macrorrhizum can do it in one and a half to two seasons; slower ones like pachysandra and bergenia take a full three years. Mulch the gaps in the meantime so weeds do not move in.
Yes. A dense ground-cover mat shelters ground beetles, amphibians and small mammals that an open border does not. Many of the plants above also flower for pollinators: ajuga, Geranium macrorrhizum, lamium and bergenia all feed early-season bees. We never use chemicals in any garden we work on, so the ground cover does its job naturally.
Yes. Ground cover is part of almost every planting plan we do, and we are especially fond of using it under mature trees where lawn struggles or in shaded borders where weeds otherwise win. Planting plans are priced bespoke to your garden, never a fixed package, with no travel charges anywhere in South East London.
Most ground cover sits under shade or in awkward spots, so read our best plants for shady gardens guide alongside this. For the design service, visit our planting plans and garden design service page.
Send a photo of the bare patch on WhatsApp and we will tell you what would carpet it. Bespoke planting, no fixed package, no chemicals.