Groundcovers

Groundcovers can add interesting contrasts in texture and color to your landscape. They're attractive in beds or open areas and can reduce the maintenance your landscape requires.

There are groundcovers for shady areas, sunny spots, and everything inbetween. They're great for those hard-to-maintain places in your landscape, like small spaces that the mower can't get into or steep slopes.

Some groundcovers should be used alone, while others, like perennial peanut, can be incorporated into turf and even mowed.

Some of the most adaptable groundcovers are native Florida plants, like the beach sunflower, some ferns, and railroad vine. Other attractive groundcovers include English ivy and Asiatic jasmine.

Make sure you choose the right groundcover for your area and landscape.

UF/IFAS Sites

• Ground Covers & Lawngrasses
• Q&A: We've Got Large Oak Trees - Can We Plant Grass Underneath Them?

UF/IFAS Publications

• Florida-Friendly Ground Covers for North Florida (PDF)
• Ground Cover for South Florida: Full Sun to Limited Shade (PDF)
• Groundcover Publications
• If Not Grass, Then What? (PDF)
• Three Ground Covers: One for Shade, Two for Sun (PDF)
• Using Ground Covers in the Landscape (PDF)

Also on Gardening in a Minute

• Asiatic Jasmine
• Ground Covers for Shade
• Perennial Peanut

Other Sites

• Ground Covers--Clemson (SC) Cooperative Extension
• Ground Covers to Know and Use--University of Illinois Extension
• Juniper Ground Covers--Clemson (SC) Cooperative Extension