Spreading Floral Delight: Ground Cover Plants

This entertaining and informative ebook describes several colorful annual and hardy perennial flowering plants suitable for wonderful ground cover landscaping.The emphasis here is on those that provide outstanding floral displays along with their horizontal leafy growth.

Ground-covering plants (especially those with profound blooming) are ideal solutions for difficult landscaping problem areas. The interlocking growing plants will smother weeds, cool the soil for better root development, and restrict water evaporation loss, so you water less often. If you are planting on a slope, these plants will also control or prevent soil erosion.

Blanketing an area with any ground cover may require purchasing several plants or a large quantity of seed. This will require money and more initial work to get the ground suitable for planting. But think of this as an investment for greater rewards. Within time, the result is an extensive carpet of beauty that will eventually require less maintenance and labor, depending on which plants you use. 

Your best bet is to use hardy perennial plants that return yearly. Most offer vibrant flower colors that add to the enjoyment of a usually dull area. Some colorful annual bedding plants also spread, but covering a less extensive area is more prudent. Consider them when preparing an enlarged bed and replace them with other annuals each year.

Finally, a word of warning concerning the potential for excessive or invasive growth of a few specific ground covers. Depending on your climate, some plants, under ideal environmental growth conditions, can overextend the boundaries you impose. That overgrowth can reach beyond your neighbor's lot or, theoretically, in a worst-case scenario, in your general region. Any plant has that potential, so observe how well your ground cover spreads. It's time to cut off those excessively growing horizontal shoots if they extend too far out of bounds. 

Before purchasing the following plants in many larger garden centers and online, please check your local agricultural extensive office for updated information if any are problematic in your location.