Evergreen groundcovers with decorative foliage

Evergreen and ornamental groundcovers for sunny areas

The Acaena inermis ‘Purpurea’

The Acaena inermis ‘Purpurea’ features an unusual foliage. Its leaves with serrated edges reveal multiple evolving shades. They transition from pink to purplish-red, sometimes even displaying olive green in winter.

In summer, this plant forms a cushion covered with small pale yellow flowers, followed by globose, spiny fruits.

In all seasons, this groundcover will adorn borders, the bases of walls, or sunny rockeries.

Quite hardy, accommodating, and low-maintenance, it is an easy perennial to grow. Just provide it with well-drained soil (that does not retain excess water) and keep it not too dry, especially in summer.

For more growing tips: Acaena, burr: planting, growing

The Dorycnium hirsutum

The Dorycnium hirsutum is a dense, spreading shrub, perfect as a groundcover. Its evergreen foliage consists of small silvery-grey leaves covered in fluffy hairs.

This natural carpet brightens up in summer with small silky white-pink flowers, which are highly melliferous. They are followed by lovely glossy purple seed pods.

From its Mediterranean origins, the Dorycnium prefers sunny locations, dry and light soils, even poor or calcareous ones. Although its lifespan is not very long, it self-seeds as long as the soil is not too wet.

Plant it in a pot, on a slope, or in a dry rockery.

The Euphorbia myrsinites

The Euphorbia myrsinites or Corsican spurge is a perfect perennial groundcover for dry gardens. This perennial forms a compact tuft of sprawling stems, on which are arranged fleshy, leathery, blue-green leaves.

Flowering occurs in spring: our spurge then adorns itself with very bright flowers, blending vivid green and golden yellow.

This sun-loving groundcover is hardy, low-maintenance, and easy to grow. Plant it in well-drained soil, without excess moisture. The graphic nature of euphorbias quickly makes a statement in borders, rockeries, or dry garden meadows.

For more growing tips: Euphorbias: planting, growing, and maintaining

The Sedums

Sedums are essential creeping succulents for sunny locations. While their flowers offer a beautiful diversity of colours in late summer, the foliage is equally impressive. Beautiful all year round, they come in multiple shades, such as:

• the Sedum album ‘Murale’ with its small plump leaves that change colour, first green, then red-purple, even violet at the beginning of winter;
• ‘Lemon Ball’, with fine but fleshy leaves, displaying an almost fluorescent green;
• the Sedum sieboldii, producing round leaves of a bluish-grey, tinged with pink-red at the edges;
• the Sedum spurium ‘Woodoo’, producing dark red leaves;
• ‘Little Gecko’ with its bright variegated green and yellow foliage.

Sedums form dense carpets and make perfect persistent groundcovers with long flowering periods. Undemanding and robust, they thrive on rainwater, enjoy even poor soils, and withstand drought without fail.

For more growing tips: Sedum ororpin: how to plant, cultivate, and propagate

The Houseleeks

Another ideal succulent for groundcover in dry terrain: the houseleeks or Sempervivum ! Their rosette foliage is as graphic as it is original. It decorates the garden all year round, offering a wide palette of colours:

• large rosettes changing from cherry red to water green throughout the seasons in ‘Chick Charms Cherry Berry’;
• pale green tinged with brown at the tips in Sempervivum calcareum;
• multicoloured foliage first green, then a flamboyant red-orange in ‘Chick Charms Gold Nugget’;
• an incredible dark purple almost black in ‘Dark Beauty’;
• foliage green tinged with purple, as if caught in an astonishing fluffy spider web in ‘Chick Charms Cotton Candy’.

Flowering occurs in summer with small star-shaped, colourful flowers.

Easy to care for and low-maintenance, these succulent groundcovers will thrive on their own in the sun, in even poor and dry soil.

For more growing tips: Sempervivum, houseleek: planting, growing, and caring

Clockwise from top: Acaena inermis ‘Purpurea’, Dorycnium hirsutum, Euphorbia myrsinites, Sempervivum calcareum, Sedum ‘Lemon Ball’, Sedum ‘Little Gecko’, Sedum spurium ‘Woodoo’

Evergreen and ornamental groundcovers for partial shade

The Ajuga reptans ‘Variegata’

The variegated creeping bugle ‘Variegata’ features attractive green and cream-white foliage. Its variegated leaves add a touch of light to shaded areas of the garden, or in pots on a terrace or balcony sheltered from the scorching sun.

In late spring, lovely spikes of purple flowers appear, standing above the foliage.

Low-maintenance and fast-growing, the creeping bugle will only require consistently moist soil. Plant it to create a beautiful decorative carpet at the base of trees and bushes, in the foreground of borders, or in containers.

For more growing tips: Creeping bugle, ajuga: planting, growing, maintaining

The Carex conica ‘Snowline’

‘Snowline’ is a small grass with evergreen foliage. When planted in groups, it makes a beautiful graphic groundcover for partial shade. This dwarf variety has long ribbon-like leaves in a lovely green edged with silver.

The summer flowering reveals small cream-coloured flowers.

In borders, containers, or as an edging, this small tuft of vegetation will bring lightness and elegance.

For more growing tips: Carex: planting, dividing, and maintaining

The Leptinella squalida ‘Platt’s Black’

The cultivar ‘Platt’s Black’ is notable for its finely dissected foliage, reminiscent of mini fern fronds. This spreading perennial forms a beautiful dark cushion with bronze and purplish hues.

The summer flowering reveals small yellow flowers.

Plant this buttonweed in partial shade, in dappled light protected from the harsh rays of the sun. Grow it in containers, as an edging, in cool rockeries, or at the woodland edge. It can even serve as an alternative to lawn in low-traffic areas.

Easy to care for, it will only require a fresh, well-drained substrate to thrive.

For more growing tips: Leptinella, buttonweed: cultivation, planting, and care

The Sagina ‘Lime Moss’

‘Lime Moss’ is an adorable groundcover plant resembling a small cushion of lawn. This subulate Sagina will add a lovely touch of light to partially shaded areas, thanks to its very fine evergreen foliage, blending gold and bright green.

In spring and summer, it reveals a multitude of small white flowers.

Use this little mossy carpet to fill gaps, enhance cool rockeries, or dress the base of low walls. It will fit seamlessly into a well-kept garden or one inspired by Japanese aesthetics.

Grow it in well-drained soil that remains moist. Hardy and easy to care for, it will slowly develop on its own, colonising the space with its stolons (creeping stems that create new plants).

The Heucheras

How could we not mention heucheras in a selection of decorative groundcover plants for partial shade! They offer a wonderful diversity of foliage colours, often evergreen. They can cater to all tastes:

• the Heuchera ‘Caribbean Sea’ produces copper-orange leaves, tinged with silver;
• ‘Pink Panther’ boasts purplish-pink foliage with prominent veins;
• ‘Red Lightning’ offers green-gold leaves veined with red-bronze;
• ‘Miracle’ rewards us with an evolving colour, first yellow-green, then red tinged with gold in autumn.

Light summer flowers rise above this dense groundcover cushion, adding a touch of verticality.

Heucheras thrive in rich organic soil, but well-drained.

For more growing tips: Heucheras: planting, growing, and maintenance

Clockwise from top left: Ajuga reptens, Carex conica ‘Snowline’, Leptinella squalida ‘Platt’s Black’, Sagina ‘Lime Moss’, Heuchera ‘Caribbean Sea’, Heuchera ‘Red Lightning’, Heuchera ‘Pink Panther’

Evergreen and ornamental groundcovers for shade

The Vinca minor ‘Argenteovariegata’

This small variegated periwinkle is a creeping plant with a spreading habit, brightening shaded areas. The evergreen foliage of the variety ‘Argenteovariegata’ offers us glossy dark green leaves, splashed with silver-white cream.

In spring, it produces small violet-blue flowers.

Very tolerant, hardy, and low-maintenance, our periwinkle will thrive in all exposures, including shade.

For more growing tips: Periwinkle: planting, growing, and maintaining

The Asarum epigynum ‘Takasago Saishin’

‘Takasago Saishin’ is a rare Asarum but very interesting for creating a groundcover carpet in cool shade. Its evergreen and glossy foliage with a hint of the exotic combines dark green and light green, marbled with cream and silver.

The spring flowers, a purplish-brown speckled with yellow-cream, are modestly hidden beneath this foliage.

Hardy and easy-going, this perennial will acclimatise in soil that remains slightly moist.

For more growing tips: Asarum, asaret: planting, cultivation, maintenance

The Tiarella ‘Mystic Mist’

‘Mystic Mist’ rewards us with quite astonishing decorative foliage. The leaves resemble those of heucheras. They are initially water green sprinkled with white, contrasting with deep red-brown veins. In autumn and winter, they then take on warmer shades of pink-orange, frosted with white.

The spring flowering consists of small feathery spikes of pinkish-white.

Aesthetically pleasing all year round, this Tiarella will quickly form a spreading clump. It will colonise the shaded and cool areas of the garden, but will also thrive in containers or pots.

For more growing tips: Tiarella and heucherella: planting and growing

Tiarella ‘Mystic Mist’, Vinca minor ‘Argenteovariegata’, Asarum epigynum ‘Takasago Saishin’