Easy ground cover gap fillers to plant now
Variegated plants are good options for adding detail low down to cover bare ground. This can be especially effective if you have a lot of deciduous shrubs and roses in the garden. White or cream variegation planted beneath them will lift the spirits in winter more than the sight of muddy brown soil. Don’t be scared of variegated ivy as ground cover. It’s drought-tolerant, winter-wet tolerant and tough enough to survive the most brutal of hacks back. Just make sure that you trim it before it starts to unwantedly climb up walls. ‘Glacier’ is not as vigorous as common ivy and has an attractive cream edge to the leaves. For a smaller leaf, try euonymus ‘Emerald Gaiety’, which has dainty, dark green and white leaves and forms a very ‘well-behaved’ plant that’s tolerant of being trimmed back if necessary. It’s a good choice for shade and keeps its variegation well, even in a dark corner of the garden. It grows to around 80cm (2¾ft) tall and can spread up to 1.5m (5ft). For something shorter, to make a carpet of variegated leaves, Pachysandra terminalis ‘Variegata’ will stay to 20cm (8in) tall, producing clusters of leaves with a subtle white edge, displayed almost in a cup-shape. For autumn flowers as well as attractive ground cover foliage, try the evergreen perennial lily-turf Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’. While most ground cover evergreens let other plants take the limelight, this one is a proper show-off! Its glossy, strap-like leaves will light up the drabbest of winter days and the purple pokers of flowers are an unmissable feature in autumn, followed by black berries. It grows to around 40cm (1¼ft) tall.