10 Best plants for cottage garden ground covers

10 Best plants for cottage garden ground cover

3/25/2023

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Cottage gardens are well known for their expansive borders full of beautiful, flowering, plants.

Having such deep borders it has always been essential for cottage gardens to incorporate effective planting design. This means planting in a way that all plants can be appreciated to their maximum potential.

Such planting ensures taller species at the back and shorter at the front. Consequently this means cottage garden borders have a need for low growing planting.

Groundcover plants not only provide a transition from lawn to flowerbed they also provide visual textures and suppress weeds.

Here I will list and summarise 10 of the best groundcover plants for cottage gardens.

1. Fortunes spindle

Fortunes spindle is an attractive, low growing, Euonymus with decorative and variegated leaves.

This groundcover shrub is fantastic at forming a light coloured carpet to the front of borders. Fortunes spindle is well known for being extremely cold hardy and drought resistant. This makes it a hassle free way to easily cover bare areas of soil.

2. Lesser periwinkle

Lesser periwinkle has a trailing habit with decorative, arching stems and attractive foliage.

The leaves are dark green with a glossy sheen and create a dense, visual texture within planting schemes. It has beautiful 5 lobed purple flowers which have a jasmine look to them.

This groundcover is fast to establish and tolerant of most growing conditions.

3. Bergenia

Bergenia is an attractive, low growing, plant with large and lush green leaves. Characterised as a rhizomatous, evergreen, perennial this groundcover will look good all year round.

During the summer they produce fabulous dark pink flowers on vertical stems. This plant is perfect for forming large areas of low growing foliage.

4. Lavender

Lavender is instantly recognisable to most people by its amazing fragrance and grey, blue, foliage. If planted in blocks lavender can grow to form a dense and busy groundcover.

This Mediterranean herb is the perfect low growing plant for dry areas around paths and patios. As well as having very attractive flowers it is also a great bee plant.

5. Lilly of the valley

Native to Europe and Asia this woodland plant has attractive, white flowers and large green leaves. The plant creates colonies of multiple plants by spreading rhizomes.

This enables it to form dense groundcovers when planted to the front of borders. Being naturally a woodland plant Lilly of the valley can tolerate dry and shady conditions.

6. Heuchera

Also known as Coral bells this low growing, evergreen, perennial is favoured as an attractive ground cover.

Its beautiful large and jagged leaves come in a range of bright and vibrant colours. During the summer it produces lots of small pink flowers on tall stems which dance on the breeze.

7. Lady’s Mantle

Native to Southern Europe Ladies Mantle is recognised for its aluminous green foliage and yellow flowers.

When grown as a groundcover it can provide interesting textures, colour and movement to cottage borders. This clump forming herbaceous perennial is tolerant of most soils and growing positions.

8. Crocosmia

Crocosmia belongs to a group of flowering plants closely related to the Iris family. Originally from Africa this clump forming perennial has extremely exotic looking flowers.

Although it does appreciate a warm sunny position it is generally tolerant and hardy. The bulbs of crocosmia readily divide creating a dense ground cover year after year.

9. Meadow cranesbill

Meadow cranesbills are herbaceous perennials native to Europe and Central Asia. Believed to have originated from mountainous regions this wild geranium is extremely hardy.

It is tolerant of many different soil types but does prefer to be well drained. This spreading plant soon forms dense mats of attractive foliage and flowers keeping weeds at bay.

10. Aubretia

Aubrietia is a low growing, evergreen, perennial with lush foliage and dazzling purple flowers.

Originally from mountainous regions of Europe and Asia it likes open and sunny locations. Aubrietia is incredibly hardy and able to thrive in most soils as long as they are free draining.

This relatively compact plant provides the perfect groundcover to the front of cottage garden borders.

Thank you for visiting our article on the top 10 Cottage garden ground covers. We offer cottage garden services throughout Buckinghamshire and the Southeast.

If you need a cottage garden builder or landscaper do not hesitate to contact us.

Below I have included some other cottage garden articles you may find relevant.

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The Author
Paul Nicolaides
BA (Hons) Dip

Paul Nicolaides has over 30 years of recreational gardening and 20 years of professional landscaping experience. He has worked for landscape contractors including design and build practices across London and the South East. In 2006 he qualified with a BA Hons degree and post graduate diploma in Landscape Architecture. In 2009 he founded Ecospaces an ecological landscaping practice which aims to improve social cohesion and reduce climate change through landscaping. In 2016 he founded Buckinghamshire Landscape Gardeners which designs and builds gardens across Buckinghamshire and the South East. This blog aims to provide easy problem solving information to its audience and encourage others to take up the joy of landscaping and gardening.