Carpet the Soil with Native Plants

As we gardeners attempt to merge the design principles of layered landscaping with the goal of using native plants, we often find that final layer—the ground level—to be the most challenging.

As a result, we often default to covering the soil with non-native and exotic plants such as Ajuga, Liriope, and Japanese Pachysandra. Such groundcovers are alien to our native bees and butterflies and may escape into the wild to compete with the native plants. Yet these plants are readily available in garden centers. Some may even be found as flats of small plugs, the most economical way to purchase for mass planting.

It can be more difficult to source native groundcovers. Until now…or perhaps the near future. The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives campaign is part of a state-wide effort to create both demand and supply of locally native plants. In partnership with the PNPN campaign, Piedmont Master Gardener volunteers are engaging with 13 area plant retailers to promote availability and sales.

Consider the following plants to carpet your landscape with beautiful groundcovers that contribute to the ecosystem by attracting and supporting our native bees and butterflies. And if you don’t find them, ask your nursery or garden center to stock them.

For Sun

Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus)

In the Aster family, Robin’s plantain is a stoloniferous plant that can form dense colonies. In spring, it produces branching flower heads on stems that may grow to 24 inches before senescing. The small daisy-like flowers are white to pale lavender; the entire plant is covered with tiny hairs. The basel leaves persist to make an effective year-around green groundcover.

Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea)

Thriving and blooming in moist shade, golden ragwort/groundsel has attractive rounded basal leaves that remain green through all but the harshest winters. The yellow flowers appear in April on stems up to 2.5 feet high. The plant self-seeds freely, is easily grown from seed, and can form large colonies. Stems should be cut after seed dispersal. Good for wet sites.

Moss Phlox (Phlox subulata)

Attracting spring’s first butterflies, Phlox subulata, commonly called creeping phlox, moss phlox or moss pink, glows on dry banks and stone walls. Bloom colors range from white through pinks to purple. Under six inches in height, the plants sprawl to form an evergreen ground cover. Good drainage is essential and trimming back by half after bloom helps to maintain their form. A lawnmower with the blade set high can accomplish this in the right location.

Barren Strawberry (Geum fragarioides)

Barren strawberry lives up to its name by producing no edible fruit. What it does produce are semi-evergreen strawberry-like leaves and charming yellow flowers in early to mid-spring. Like strawberries, it spreads slowly by rhizomes. It tolerates some shade and a variety of soil types as long as they are well-drained.

Heath Aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides ‘Snow Flurry’)

‘Snow Flurry’ is a prostrate cultivar of the three-foot tall species. It forms a low, dense carpet with flowering stems that look a bit like heather. In early autumn, the plants are covered with frothy panicles of tiny white flowers that draw butterflies and many other pollinators. Perfect for a rock garden or top of wall. Must have sun.

Lyre-leaf Sage (Salvia lyrata)

Lyre-leaf sage, named for its leaves’ resemblance to a stringed instrument, will grow in a driveway. Its trumpeting, tubular pale blue flowers, borne on stems about a foot tall, are not arresting to us, but bees love them. The basal leaves, showing rich purple veins in cool months, persist year around. A loyal and enthusiastic plant.

Field Pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta) and Plantain-leaved Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)

Pussytoes are adorable. Two species are most commonly found in the Piedmont. Field pussytoes with velvety, more upright basel leaves, can thrive in the most arid situations. Plantain-leaved pussytoes prefer a bit more moisture, and the leaves are larger and darker. The spring flowers are similar: near-white and fuzzy, looking like tiny cat’s feet. They spread by rhizomes and make a dense ground cover. Both are larval hosts for the gorgeous American painted lady butterfly.

Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)

Like other native penstemons, this one produces beautiful pale tubular flowers on tall stems—not the first thing one looks for in a groundcover. However, once the flowers are finished, the basal leaves persist and can be an effective ground cover. The flowers attract many long-tongued bees. They are called “Beardtongue” because the sterile stamen has a tuft of small hairs. Penstemons do best in sun and well-drained soil.

Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

Another native plant that may not be the first to come to mind as a groundcover is Virginia creeper, which can be a deciduous climbing vine or ground cover—or both. Its five-part leaves will carpet any surface in luxuriant green before turning brilliant orange-red in the fall. The purple-black berries are a winter food source for birds. It needs no support to climb buildings or trees; however, its adhesive tips do no harm to either. Vigorous, it tolerates most soil conditions in sun.

Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis)

This warm-season bunch grass is native to sandy soils in sun. Its flat, coarse leaves form a somewhat disorganized clump of green foliage rising to about 10 inches. The show begins in August when soft purplish flowers emerge in a loose inflorescence to cover the clump with an airy cloud about two feet tall. The flowers turn brown by October and the inflorescence detaches from the plant to blow along the ground distributing seed.

For Shade

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) and Virginia Heartleaf (Hexastylis virginica)

Wild ginger has pairs of large, soft, heart-shaped deciduous leaves. In contrast, Virginia heartleaf produces smaller, variegated, waxy evergreen leaves. With long rhizomes, each can produce a dense ground cover. Their similar, charming “little brown jug” flowers may be found at the base of the plant, hidden by spring leaves. The roots have a ginger-like aroma and a spicy taste, but they are unrelated to culinary tropical gingers. Grow in humus-rich soil in full or dappled shade and propagate by division or root cutting.

Blue Wood Sedge (Carex flaccosperma)

Blue wood sedge is an easy-to grow, petite sedge with half-inch wide leaves forming a small clump that slowly spreads by short rhizomes to make a sturdy ground cover. The leaves emerge green and mature to a powdery blue-green. Thriving in moist shade, it tolerates poor drainage and can take partial sun if moisture is consistent.

Eastern Wood Sedge (Carex blanda)

With a low, mounded profile the semi-evergreen Eastern wood sedge is a versatile groundcover plant. Plant it in full sun or full shade with moist to semi-dry conditions; it is adapted to disturbed and compacted soils. Like all native carexes, its seeds and leaves are important resources for wildlife.

Alumroot (Heuchera americana)

Alumroot, a/k/a coral bells, is another of those plants that produce tall spikes of spring flowers over beautiful, persistent basal leaves. The slender hairy stalks, which rise 18 inches or more, bear pale miniature bell-shaped flowers over a long season, followed by tiny red fruits. The handsome leaves are deep green, shading to purple or red in fall. Listed as a shade plant, it will tolerate early-day sun if moisture is consistent.

 

Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginicum)

In dappled shade, green and gold produces masses of deep yellow flowers over a mat of dark green leaves in spring. Each plant spreads rapidly through stolons or rhizomes to 18 inches or more. Short stature—three to four inches—makes it ideal to line pathways. A dependable groundcover until late fall when it goes dormant until spring. Does best in slightly acidic soils; fast drainage a must.

Dwarf Crested Iris (Iris cristata)

Magical in the April woodland, the diminutive dwarf crested iris features showy pale blue, lilac, or lavender flowers with gold crests on the falls. The plants spread by rhizomes and quickly naturalize in a moist, partly shaded setting. Flowers are on very short stems. The leaves, 3-6 inches tall, persist throughout the growing season. Watch out for snails and slugs.

Partridgeberry (Michella repens)

Not easy to establish, but rewarding on small sites, prostrate partridgeberry is evergreen and mat forming. Grow in part to full shade in well-drained, moist, organically-rich soil.

Heart-leaved Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)

Evergreen in mild winters, foamflower spreads by stolons, which produce dense clumps of beautiful foliage. The deeply-lobed leaves may have reddish variegation along the stems; in fall they often turn reddish bronze. For up to six weeks in spring, tiny white flowers appear as airy racemes on numerous wiry stems that rise above the foliage to a height of 10-12 inches. Give it shade and consistent moisture.

Woodland stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)

The special value of woodland stonecrop is that it will tolerate part shade, unlike other sedums. Sometimes called three-leaved stonecrop, it will form a low mat of small, rounded succulent leaves in a rock garden or hug path stones along a walkway. In spring, clusters of white star-like flowers rise above the foliage. In winter, the creeping stems root at the nodes and break away from the mother plant. Tolerates deer and rabbits.

Ferns:

Hay-scented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)

The deciduous Hay-scented Fern, so named because its crushed leaves smell like new-mown hay, needs room to run. Its single, fine-textured, bright green fronds, up to two feet tall, spread aggressively by rhizomes to form colonies that can overrun weaker plants in moist shade. Beautiful and deer-repellant.

Marginal Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis)

More manageable is the evergreen marginal wood fern, with dark, leathery fronds that rise one to three feet from a central crown. Plant in consistently moist shade; count on using more plants to cover. And enjoy seeing it peek through snow cover.

New York Fern (Thelypteris noveboracensis)

With distinctive blades tapering at both ends, and trailing stolons that send up new fronds each year, New York fern spreads less aggressively than hay-scented. The deciduous fronds are chartreuse-green and rise to one to two feet. In the wild, it grows in marshy wooded areas and near streams. Give it shade and moist, acidic soil.

Violets:

Ah, violets! Blooming in early spring, the sweet-scented flowers are an early nectar source for butterflies.  If violets did not volunteer so freely, we would treasure them. Best massed and left to naturalize as groundcover along walkways and under shrubs

Birdsfoot Violet (Viola pedate)

The birdsfoot violet is so named for its leaves’ resemblance to a bird’s foot, and is an exception in that it is more difficult to grow than other violets. The plants usually have bi-colored flowers, with upper petals darker purple and lower ones light blue. They want full sun and very well drained soil.

Common Blue/Confederate violet (Viola sororia)

The common blue or Confederate violet features downy heart-shaped basal leaves and large blue-violet flowers from April and occasionally into August. They prefer humusy, moisture-retentive soils in full sun to part shade. Those with purple-veined white flowers are called Confederate violets. The foliage hosts fritillary butterflies.

Parting Advice

Rather than large areas of a single species of groundcover, consider planting graceful swathes of different species to make a natural tapestry. Consider the contrasting textures and colors of leaves and blossoms.

Avoid planting groundcovers into heavy mulch. You want to be certain that roots are well-seated in soil, crowns are not smothered, and above-ground stolons can reach soil easily.

Many of the plants described above will be available at the Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale on May 7.

Resources

Digital Atlas of Virginia Flora

Missouri Botanical Garden

Albemarle County Recommended Native Plants

North Creek Nurseries

Prairie Moon Nursery