Ground cover alternatives for your garden

Where you want the low openness of lawn but not the work associated with it, a spreading ground cover can be the ideal choice. You won't be able to walk, lie, play games or wash the car on it, but once it is established and is forming a thick cover over the ground, your only work will be to water it when necessary and perhaps to pull out the occasional persistent weed.

The best ground cover is one that spreads quickly in all directions from the planting point and which grows thickly enough to exclude light from the soil, thereby preventing weeds from growing. Many climbers can be used as ground covers, Chinese star jasmine and Hardenbergia violacea being two of the best for this purpose. But there are also shrubs that cover the ground, such as the grevilleas 'Poorinda Royal Mantle’, 'Fanfare' and 'Bronze Rambler', or Lantana montevidensis with its masses of mauve or white flowers. Other good choices include the soft-stemmed but tough Convolvulus sabatius which grows in sun or shade, Scaevola aemula, an Australian perennial which covers itself in deep blue flowers for months on end, and arctotis, a South African perennial with big colorful daisies over its grey, lobed leaves. There are dozens more but don't be tempted to plant one of everything. Instead, choose only one to cover the whole area - after all, lawn consists of one species that looks good by itself.

Before establishing ground covers, it's important to kill off everything that grows in the chosen area now. If you don't, you'll have grasses and weeds coming up through the ground cover later, creating an untidy appearance. Spray the area with a herbicide, then, after a few days, when the chemical has started to work, water thoroughly to encourage seeds to germinate, and spray again. It may be necessary to treat the area a few times, so don't be in a hurry to put in the new plants. A permanently weed-free result is well worth the wait.


Good Ground Covers

Anything that covers the ground densely, preventing light from reaching the soil, is a ground cover - and that can include big, spreading evergreen shrubs that provide thick foliage right down to the ground.

Taller, shrubby ground covers
Leptosperrnum flavescens 'Cardwell', Crevillea 'Superb', Bauera rubioides, Euryops pectinatus, Baeckea virgata 'Nana', diosma, Eranthemum pulchellum.

Lower, shrubby ground covers
Hebe propinqua and other hebes, many of the ericas (heaths), Banksia spinulosa, Lavender 'Hidcote', Epacris microphylla, cushion bush and curry plant.

Cround-hugging plants
Evolvulus pilosus, Crevillea 'Poorinda Royal Mantle', Hibbertia scandens, ox-eye chamomile (Anthemis), snow-in-summer, Pratia pedunculata and creeping thyme.

Shade-tolerant plants
Baby's tears, mondo grass, Chinese star jasmine, Heterocentron elegans, Houttuynia cordata, Lamium maculatum, Plectranthus cilistus and Pachysandra terminalis.