In part 1, I talked about the advantages of using vines, shrubs and perennials to enhance your landscape and to solve landscaping problems.
Here are some of the best ground cover plants for the East Texas area:
Plants for shady areas include ajuga, Asian jasmine, English ivy, ferns (many types and varieties available, such as holly fern, wood fern, painted fern, sensitive fern, autumn fern, maidenhair fern), liriope, and mondograss (or monkeygrass).
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- Mondograss
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- Variegated vinca
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- Ajuga and lirope
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- Large area covered with Asian jasmine
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- Smaller area covered by Asian jasmine (and mowed to keep neat)
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- Veronica ‘Georgia Blue’
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- Chrysogonum – Green and Gold
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- One of many trailing junipers for sunny site
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- Japanese ardesia – great shade plant; may freeze back in hard winter, but is hardy.
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- Golden oregano
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- Louisiana phlox is attractive in spring
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- Mondo grass used as both a border and groundcover
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- Nice view of a “lawn” of mondo grass
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- Display of various sedums at the Dallas Arboretum.
Good evergreen ground covers for a sunny spot include any of the many prostrate and low growing junipers (examples are ‘Blue Pacific’, ‘Shore’, ‘Emerald Sea’, ‘Green Mound’, Blue Rug’, ‘Blue Chip’, ‘Bar Harbor’, ‘Tam’), Asian jasmine, and purple wintercreeper euonymus.
Other perennials used for ground covers include lantana, Phlox (thrift, Louisiana), sedums, wood violets, hosta, Chrysogonum (Green and Gold), lamb’s ear, thyme, golden oregano, Geranium (Cranesbill), Helleborus (Lenten Rose), Veronica, Setcreasea (Purple Heart Wandering Jew), Selaginella (Spikemoss or Arborvitae Fern), dwarf ornamental grasses, Lysimachia (Creeping Jenny or Charlie, Moneywort), verbena, Scutellaria suffrutescens (Pink Skullcap), Japanese sweet flag (Acorus) and many ornamental sedges (Carex).
