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Easy-Care Groundcover Plants for Dallas
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Groundcover plants fill a very diverse set of needs within our landscapes. Perhaps you have heavily shaded areas of your lawn or a side yard where the grass won’t grow. Maybe part of your terrain is severely sloped, and you would like a plant to help control erosion. Your garden beds might just have a narrow or awkward space that other plants cannot fill. For all of these reasons and potentially more, groundcover plants offer us many solutions within our landscapes. We have included a list of the most commonly used and easy-care groundcover plants for Dallas.
Common Ivy
Botanical Name: Hedera helix
Common Names: simple ivy, common ivy, English ivy
Hardiness: Hardy in USDA Zones 4-9
Lighting Preference: Partial shade to full shade
Common Ivy is an evergreen ornamental plant often used as a creeping groundcover and a climbing vine that attaches easily to trees, fences, and walls. It’s a fast-growing and shade loving perennial that quickly fills large voids in heavily shaded landscaped areas and under trees. It blooms green-white and green-yellow flowers in the fall. Common Ivy is toxic and considered invasive, so be cautious when choosing a space to plant it, and we would not recommend planting it in areas where children and pets frequent.
Ajuga
Botanical Name: Ajuga reptans
Common Names: bugleweed, ground pine, carpet bugle, bugle
Hardiness: Hardy in USDA Zones 3-8
Lighting Preference: Partial shade to full shade
Ajuga is often used as a ground cover in landscaped areas without grass or to fill in spaces where other plants struggle. It grows well in shaded areas of the garden and under trees, keeping weeds at bay. It needs little care, grows in the shade, and blooms from spring to summer. Because of the bloom, Ajuga makes a wonderful edging plant for flower beds and walkways. The colors of the flowers include blue, purple, pink, and white.
Vinca Major
Botanical Name: Vinca major L.
Common Names: bigleaf periwinkle, large periwinkle, greater periwinkle, blue periwinkle
Hardiness: Hardy in USDA Zones 7-10
Lighting Preference: Full sun (tolerates) to full shade
An evergreen perennial, Vinca Major grows quickly as a groundcover plant in landscaping. It’s often used to support soils in landscaped areas with a slope and as an edging plant in flower beds. It blooms from April to May and sometimes throughout the summer, grows from sun to full shade, and requires very little upkeep. The color of its flowers is blue.
Vinca Minor
Botanical Name: Vinca minor L.
Common Names: small periwinkle, common periwinkle, creeping myrtle
Hardiness: Hardy in USDA Zones 4-9
Lighting Preference: Shade to partial shade
Vinca Minor is a moderate- to fast-growing groundcover with blue flowers and green foliage. It has a clumping growth pattern and is capable of growing in heavy shade. Vinca Minor requires little maintenance and is resistant to rabbits and deer. Although it occasionally flowers from summer to fall, its prime blooming season is April to June.
Mondo Grass
Botanical Name: Ophiopogon japonicus
Common Names: dwarf lilyturf
Hardiness: Hardy in USDA Zones 6-11
Lighting Preference: Full sun to partial sun
Mondo Grass is a broadleaf evergreen groundcover with dark-green grass-like foliage and small, lilac flowers that bloom from late spring to summer. It’s often used as a border plant lining the perimeter of planting beds, and it does well as a container plant too. It stands up well to foot traffic and is often used around patios and walking paths. Mondo Grass prefers moist soils, so make plans to water often or use an automated irrigation system.