Here are some of my favourite spring flowering ground cover plants
Cyclamen
Hardy cyclamens make excellent ground cover. Very low-growing, the leaves form a mat and the colourful flowers appear before the foliage, often at a time of year when little else is blooming. By careful selection of different cultivars, cyclamen can provide a flower display over a long period.
Although they generally prefer the light shade offered by a deciduous tree, I have them growing between, and among, herbaceous perennials on our northfacing garden and they are thriving.
Cyclamen purpurascens flowers from late summer. It has very fragrant flowers and dark green and silver leaves.
For flowers in autumn, choose Cyclamen hederifolium, the ivy-shaped leaves provide ground cover throughout winter and spring. It self-sows and new plants grow readily from seed.
Winter flowers are provided by Cyclamen coum. This very hardy cultivar will usually survive the harshest of winter weather.
Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley)
Lily of the Valley forms a thick, spreading clump of leaves in spring, providing great ground cover. During May, dainty white flowers open with their unmistakable fragrance and the foliage dies back in mid to late autumn. As a woodland plant, it prefers partial or dappled shade. Avoid planting in full sun as this is likely to stop it flowering.
Caution should be taken when handling, so always wear gloves as all parts of plant are toxic and can cause irritation.
In a previous home, we had Lily of the Valley growing in the shade of the wall by the front gate and for those few weeks each year, when they were in bloom, the front garden was filled with their heady scent.
Aubretia
Aubretia is one of those groups of plants that used to be seen everywhere and then fell out of favour. I’m pleased to see that they are reappearing in gardens and appreciated for their ability to cover soil, scramble across and down walls and and help keep weeds at bay. It prefers a well-drained or drier situation, which is why it’s so good to grow in walls and raised areas. It can be cut back after flowering to encourage a second flush of flowers later in the year.
Aubretia varieties offer a range of colours from white through to pinks, purples and even reds, so there is an aubretia for almost any garden as long as you can provide good drainage and the soil isn’t waterlogged through the winter.
Erica (Heather)
For years I didn’t see the appeal of Erica, but recently I have come to love them. For a couple of
Flowering ground cover for spring
months each year, masses of tiny flowers cover the evergreen foliage that provides dense ground cover. Try varieties like ‘March Seedling’ for rose pink to purple flowers or ‘White Glow’ for white blooms.
Most heathers grow to approximately height 10inx27-59in (25cm x 70-150cm spread). As with all plants, do not dig them up from the wild, but buy from the garden centre or online retailer. Water during the first year to allow the roots to establish, and after that they shouldn’t need watering unless we have a particularly prolonged dry spell.
Rosemary prostratus (edible leaves and flowers)
There are several different forms of rosemary plants, from very upright to those that almost creep across the soil, and everything in between. Rosemary prostatus is one that hugs the ground, forming an evergreen mass of stems with aromatic leaves and attractive pale mauve flowers.
Rosemary is easy to grow from cuttings and requires little attention. As a Mediterranean plant it needs well-draining soil and will struggle to survive in a very cold and waterlogged environment, but it is hardy in the UK during most winters. Galium odoratum (sweet woodruff)
Galium odoratum is ideal for growing in damp, but well-drained, areas of the garden and although happiest in partial or dappled shade, it may even tolerate full shade. It has light, fresh green leaves and the tiny white flowers are held above the leaves (approx. height 7-9in/18-22cm). We grew it below an ornamental cherry tree, where it thrived and spread to form a ground cover layer that was functional and attractive. Sweet Woodruff is a generally trouble-free and shallowrooted herbaceous perennial, which makes it easy to keep in check if it starts to outgrow its allotted space. Propagate by division in autumn or spring and ensure that you water regularly until new clumps are established.
It is also easy to grow from seed. Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’
Another ground cover gem for partial shade is Siberian bugloss with its large silvery leaves that are veined and edged with green. The leaves alone make Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ worth growing. Tiny blue flowers appear during spring - they remind me of forgetme-nots, but are a distinctly darker shade of blue.