Hello, fellow gardeners! I’ve been taking care of gardens for years, and I know how hard it is to keep them looking great during the winter. I’m so excited to tell you about my favorite ground covers today! They’ll keep your garden green and beautiful even when everything else seems dead!
Why Your Garden Needs Winter Ground Cover
Before diving into the specific plants, let’s talk about why winter ground cover is such a game-changer:
- Prevents soil erosion during winter storms
- Keeps weeds from taking over in early spring
- Provides habitat for beneficial insects
- Makes your garden look alive when everything else is dormant
- Helps retain soil moisture and temperature
Top Winter Ground Cover Plants That Actually Work
1. Brass Buckle Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata)
This is my absolute fave! Here’s why I love it
- Gorgeous yellow-green foliage all year
- Thrives in zones 5-8
- Spreads 12-18 inches
- Works in both sun and partial shade
- Needs moist, acidic soil
2. Celtic Pride Siberian Cypress
This tough guy is perfect if you’ve got deer problems:
- Grows 1-3 feet tall
- Spreads up to 60 inches
- Deer resistant
- Super low maintenance
- Stays green all winter
3. Ajuga ‘Burgundy Glow’
I’m obsessed with this one’s colors:
- Tri-colored foliage (cream, burgundy, dark green)
- Bronze tones in fall
- Blue flowers in spring
- Great for shady spots
- Low-growing and spreads easily
4. Dwarf Japanese Garden Juniper ‘Nana’
Perfect for those tricky slopes:
- Super hardy (zones 5-9)
- Shade tolerant
- Deer resistant
- Ground-hugging growth
- Great for erosion control
5. White Album Euonymus
This one’s my go-to for problem areas:
- Tolerates partial to full sun
- Works in zones 5-8
- Low maintenance
- Forms dense mounds
- Evergreen year-round
Pro Tips for Winter Ground Cover Success
After years of trial and error, here’s what I’ve learned:
- Soil Prep Matters
- Test your soil pH before planting
- Add organic matter for better drainage
- Clear the area of weeds thoroughly
- Timing Is Everything
- Plant in early fall for best results
- Gives roots time to establish before winter
- Water regularly until ground freezes
- Maintenance Tips
- Mulch around plants for extra protection
- Trim back dead growth in late winter
- Watch for pest problems early
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Trust me I’ve made these mistakes so you don’t have to
- Planting too close together
- Choosing varieties not suited for your zone
- Forgetting to water during dry winter spells
- Not considering mature spread size
- Mixing aggressive spreaders with slower growers
Design Ideas for Winter Ground Cover
Here’s how I like to use these plants in my garden:
-
Under Trees:
- Ajuga
- Mondo grass
- European wild ginger
-
On Slopes:
- Juniper varieties
- Creeping thyme
- Holly
-
Border Areas:
- White Album Euonymus
- Candytuft
- Liriope
Winter Ground Cover Care Calendar
Fall (September-November)
- Plant new ground covers
- Apply slow-release fertilizer
- Mulch heavily
Winter (December-February)
- Remove heavy snow carefully
- Check for frost heave
- Protect from winter burn
Early Spring (March-April)
- Trim dead foliage
- Check for winter damage
- Apply light fertilizer
Cost-Effective Options
If you’re on a budget (like I was when starting), try these approaches:
- Division Method
- Buy fewer plants
- Let them establish
- Divide and replant next season
- Mixed Planting Strategy
- Combine fast and slow spreaders
- Fill gaps with temporary plants
- Use local native varieties
My Personal Experience
Y’all, I gotta tell you about my first winter garden disaster! I totally ignored ground cover and ended up with a muddy mess come spring. Now, I’m like a ground cover evangelist – seriously, these plants have saved my garden’s looks (and my sanity) during winter!
Final Thoughts
Winter ground covers are like the unsung heroes of the garden world. They might not be the showiest plants, but they’re definitely the most reliable workers in your garden. Trust me, your future self will thank you for planting these hardy champions!
Remember, gardening is all about experimenting and finding what works for your specific situation. Don’t be afraid to try different combinations until you find your perfect winter garden solution!
Want more gardening tips? Drop me a comment below – I’d love to hear about your winter garden adventures! ❄️
Chequers Spotted Dead Nettle
Checkers Spotted Dead Nettle is a fairly aggressive low-growing plant with green-white foliage and purple flowers.
| botanical name Lamium maculatum ‘Chequers’ |
| height 8″ |
| hardiness zones 3-9 |
Dead nettle is a love or hate plant. It is quite aggressive and can swallow up other plants if you don’t keep it under control. But the green and white foliage with purple flowers of chequers spotted dead nettle are lovely. If you have an area not much will grow, or you’re looking to cover a large area, dead nettle will do the trick.
It can take a variety of sun conditions, however, I think part sun is the sweet spot. It likes well-drained soil. Dead nettle needs water to be established, and then it will grow and spread freely with little extra water.
It comes up and blooms in the spring and adds greenery throughout the season. It also spills and looks great in containers. You can just dig it up from the garden and put it in the pots because you’ll have so much of it.
This plant blooms in spring with small pink, purple and blue bell-shaped flowers.
| botanical name Pulmonaria officinalis |
| height 12″ |
| hardiness zones 3-9 |
Lungwort is a great ground cover for tough-to-grow areas. It can grow in dry and shady conditions. For anyone struggling with growing under large evergreens, lungwort will grow here, as this perennial is shade-friendly.
It blooms little bell-shaped pink and purple flowers in the very early spring. This is why I really like this one. When my garden is a brown sleeping mess, the lungwort comes out and reminds me it’s spring. Then it grows large pointed leaves with irregular frosted spots on it. The leaves are fuzzy and irritating so make sure you use gloves while handling it.
I find in late summer, lungwort will often get powdery mildew. I will take clippers and trim off all the leaves, and a small flush of new leaves will appear.
Creeping Phlox is a perennial plant that produces bright star-shaped flowers in pink, lavender, and white.
| botanical name Iberis sempervirens |
| height 6″ |
| hardiness zones 3-9 |
Moss Phlox is a great evergreen perennial ground cover. It has spiky green foliage and creeps low along the ground. Most of the time, it doesn’t look like much, but in the spring, star-shaped flowers cover the whole thing. There are many varieties of colors, including, white, pink, and lavender. There are also multi-colored and candy-striped varieties.
Moss phlox likes part sun-part shade conditions. It forms a thick mat that weeds can’t grow through. It stays green year-round. Any brown bits can be trimmed out.
This plant looks best when creeping through rocks, pathways, or garden borders. I like to plant it as a river flowing through a bed. This quick-growing ground cover is perfect for sloping areas of your yard or garden.
Variegated Bishop’s Goutweed forms a large lush mound of variegated foliage and buds of delicate white flowers.
| botanical name Aegopodium podagraria |
| height 24″ |
| hardiness zones 3-9 |
This one might be controversial. It is extremely aggressive and hard to get rid of once it is planted. Some gardeners even consider it a weed. So put a lot of thought into this one before planting it. It will swallow up other plants and even start creeping into your lawn. The roots are tough and hard to remove. It will keep coming back no matter how hard you try to remove it.
Ok, after that glowing review, you may wonder why anyone would even plant this. But there are times when this ground cover is just what you need, especially if you have places where nothing can grow.
These might be areas near the foundation of your house, under tree wells, or on narrow strips of garden that are always bare. Goutweed will cover these areas. They will form a big puffy mound of variegated foliage with spikes of white flowers.
Goutweed can handle shade-sun conditions and doesn’t care about soil. They only need water to establish then they will grow rapidly without much extra (except during very dry periods).
I use this sparingly in gardens and make sure it’s not near anything that it can grow into, such as lawn or other perennials. You probably don’t need to purchase this one. You can likely find a neighbor with it and ask to dig some up.
This variety of stonecrop has beautiful blue-gray succulent foliage.
| botanical name Sedum reflexum ‘Blue Spruce’ |
| height 8″ |
| hardiness zones 3-9 |
Blue spruce stonecrop has succulent foliage that resembles a blue spruce (obviously). This full-sun creeper grows great in the nooks and crannies of rock gardens. It will pop out of the tiniest crack and add a punch of color and texture.
Another option is to use it as an alternative lawn. While it won’t take much actual foot traffic, it is low-growing and green. And as a bonus, it doesn’t need much water, and it doesn’t need mowing.
In the summer, it will shoot up spires of bright yellow flowers, which look great against the blue-gray foliage. This plant looks best when spilling out of containers, as well as creeping along the ground. Or topple over or use a broken terracotta pot and have it spilling out and onto the ground.
This is a low-growing perennial plant with delicate white flowers and silvery foliage.
| botanical name Cerastium tomentosum |
| height 8″ |
| hardiness zones 3-7 |
Snow-in-summer is a herbaceous perennial ground cover. It has narrow silvery foliage. It lies flat in the ground and forms a thick mat that keeps the weeds down. This perennial likes sandy soil and full sun. It looks great spilling over ledges and as edging in a perennial bed.
The spectacular show comes in summer when the whole thing is covered in dainty white five-petaled flowers. It looks like a carpet of snow. The silvery foliage looks great when paired with deep purple foliage, like a blackjack sedum.
This plant prefers partial sun and moist, rich, well-drained soil.
| botanical name Galium odorata |
| height 12″ |
| hardiness zones 3-8 |
Sweet woodruff is an easy little woodland ground cover. It prefers partially shaded areas of the garden. It also prefers moist, rich, free-draining soil. The little leaves are shiny green and deeply lobed. In the late spring, it explodes into tiny white flowers.
I like planting this Sweet woodruff under other perennials, like hostas, rhubarb, and astilbe. It keeps the weeds down, keeps the moisture in, and looks really lush.
It is so easy to transplant in the garden. Simply dig it up and plant it in a new space. It doesn’t even go limp, but rather happily grows in its new location.
Plant this instead of pulling weeds
FAQ
What ground cover stays through winter?
Juniper “Nana”: This ground-hugging evergreen is deer-resistant and can handle shade. It’s easy to grow and stays colored all winter.
What to cover a garden with in winter?
You can protect your garden from the cold winter months by covering it with different types of materials that will keep plants warm, keep water in, and keep weeds from growing. You can use mulch (like hay, straw, or leaves), frost covers (like burlap, sheets, or blankets), row covers, or even living cover crops like winter rye.
What is the best cover crop for a garden in winter?
The workhorses of winter cover crops for gardens are cereal rye and annual ryegrass. Oats can also be a good choice in areas with cold autumns and wet soil — they’re one of my favorites for my area.