10 Great Groundcover Plants for Sun and Shade

When you feel like tossing a rug over your yard, count on groundcover plants. These dependable, hardworking plants carpet the ground with minimal fuss. You still need to water, weed, and feed, but they're quick-fix solutions for many landscape problems.

Find groundcovers that control erosion, blanket hillsides, or thrive in dry conditions while complementing your home. Some are evergreen; others lose foliage in winter. A few tolerate foot traffic—turfgrass is a groundcover!

Drought-Tolerant Groundcover Plants

Thyme excels in beds, borders, containers. Woody-stemmed with tiny fragrant leaves and flowers usable fresh or dried. Creeping varieties handle moderate foot traffic. Plant between stepping stones. Full sun, well-drained soil. Zones 5-9. Learn more about thyme.

Find great ideas for stepping-stone paths.

Sedums (creeping types) form dense mats 3 inches tall. Succulent leaves/stems thrive in low water, bloom in white, pink, red, purple, yellow, orange. Prized for green roofs and living walls. Full sun to partial shade, well-drained soil. Zones 3-10. Learn more about sedums.

Hens-and-chicks make terrific groundcover in tight spaces (between pavers, troughs). Succulent rosettes 3-6 inches tall, easy, almost no maintenance. Zones 4-8. Learn more about hens-and-chicks.

Explore other plants for trough gardens.

Groundcover Plants for Shade

Sweet woodruff flourishes in dense shade. Plant under trees/shrubs for tiny white spring flowers. Reaches 6-12 inches, forms well-behaved clumps. Zones 4-8.

Bishop's weed for fast, aggressive spread in shade/part shade slopes or large woodland areas. Variegated variety is slower, adds brightness. Reaches ~1 foot, drops leaves in winter. Zones 4-9. Learn more about bishop's weed.

Check out tips for taming a slope.

Ajuga where grass won't grow. Takes light foot traffic; avoid high activity. Blue, pink, lavender, white flower spikes in spring. Foliage in green, maroon, bronze, purple, pink, white; 4-9 inches tall. Zones 3-9. Learn more about ajuga.

Lamium with silver-marked foliage brightens shady corners. Reaches 6-8 inches tall, spreads twice as wide. Use as highlight near darker foliage. Avoid foot traffic. Zones 3-8. Learn more about lamium.

Incorporate groundcover plants in shade garden designs.

Evergreen Groundcover Plants

Brass buttons (Leptinella squalida 'Platt's Black') grows ≤3 inches with feathery bronze-black to purple-gray foliage and yellow-green buttonlike blooms in late spring/early summer. Full sun to partial shade, moist well-drained soil. Zones 5-9.

Mondo grass (not a true grass) has slender strappy leaves in green to almost black, 3-24 inches tall. Full to part sun, rich moist soil. Great for edging borders, sidewalks, driveways. Zones 6-10. Learn more about mondo grass.

Lamb's-ears with fuzzy silvery-green leaves sprawl in sun or partial shade. Reaches 6-36 inches. Flower stalks with tiny white, pink, purple, violet, red blooms in summer; cut off to keep leaves as stars. In hot climates leaves may melt but revive with cooler weather. In winter, clip old leaves in spring. Zones 4-9. Learn more about lamb's ears.

See more easy groundcover plants.

Get free charts of sun- and shade-loving groundcovers.