Beautiful Blooming Ground Covers That Suppress Weeds

 

Weeds are usually controlled only after they have already spread. However, removal is a never-ending cycle. To nip the troublemakers in the bud (literally), you can take preventive measures - and plant decorative as well as bee-friendly ground covers. 

Even though the name suggests that groundcovers are only planted at ground level, the natural weed fighters are versatile: whether in a perennial bed, along a stone wall, or between paving joints - the dense plant covers can grow anywhere.  They will fill in bare spots, preventing wild weeds from sprouting in the first place.  Best of all, groundcovers are not only practical, as many varieties are hardy and evergreen, but also beautiful to look at.  Especially if you choose flowering perennials, shrubs, or climbers.  Learn about plant carpets that are equally suitable for gardens and patios.

These groundcovers help keep weeds at bay:

Blue or Pink Carpet Phlox 

The plants develop into a beautiful (often pink) carpet of blooms during the spring - right into June.  After that, the natural weed killer remains evergreen, making it a beautiful sight all year round.  It's also good to know that the ground cover is drought-resistant and hardy, making it a low-maintenance and undemanding plant.  In addition, it prefers a sunny to semi-shady spot in order to achieve - literally meaning - its full bloom.

Hardy Ivy

Ivy is known for its tenacity - making it an ideal ground cover against weeds.  The hardy and evergreen climbing plant is particularly easy to care for.  So you don't have to do anything but watch the sturdy ivy develop into an impenetrable carpet of plants with its adhesive roots.  The ground cover is also pretty uncomplicated when it comes to location: a shady spot will do.  It is also good to know that after a few years, the ivy begins to form umbel-shaped flowers in late summer.  These, in turn, serve as a source of food for bees and insects.

Ground Cover Thyme

Groundcover thyme - Thymus serpyllum - also called Sand Thyme is an evergreen, ground-covering semi-shrub with a growth height of 5 to 10 inches.  The branches are heavily branched to form beautiful, dense cushions. The fragrance of the flowers & the evergreen leaves is impressive.  The ground cover thyme is hardy.  With its beautiful floral bloom, it is ideal as an underplanting for taller perennials, or as a groundcover in the rock garden & perennial bed.  Thyme's fresh or dried leaves can also be used for cooking.

Small-leaved evergreen groundcover thyme blooms from June to August and loves a sunny location with well-drained soil in the garden. Hardy perennials, this groundcover is low maintenance and has low water requirements.

Goldmoss Stonecrop

Goldmoss Stonecrop - Sedum Acre - the name says it all: the small plant likes to grow on rocks, in joints, or on the dry stone wall.  It is satisfied with few nutrients, prefers a sunny location, and is drought resistant.  The tiny perennial grows just five to ten centimeters high and is also suitable as a ground cover.  Wall pepper can be planted all year round and captivates from June to July with yellow flowers that are insect-friendly.  The wall plant is hardy and evergreen - so it visually enhances the dry stone wall even in the cold season.

Basket of Gold

Basket of Gold - Alyssum saxatile - Early blooming begins in April and is both a treat for the eyes and for insects in search of food.  Although the bloom is short-lived, the rockweed is evergreen and hardy.  It can be planted all year round and reaches a height of about 20 centimeters.  The fragrant plant thrives best in sunny locations. It is essential that you avoid waterlogging.

Planting ground cover - this is what you need to consider.

If you decide to use a ground cover against weeds, you should follow the following steps in advance: Root weeds have a bad habit of spreading rapidly in the soil, even if only tiny remnants of them are still in the soil.  Therefore, it is advisable to sift the soil before planting.  This way, you can be confident that you haven't missed any roots.  To be on the safe side, you should cover the soil with some compost and wait for a while to see if the weeds start sprouting again.  If it does, you can remove the remains before planting the ground cover.

If you want to create an impenetrable carpet of flowers in a short time, you should choose the smallest possible distances between individual plants.  This is because the greater the spacing, the longer it will take for the ground cover to spread over the entire area - and thus for weeds to stop growing back.  As long as this is not the case, the undesirable weeds will naturally continue to grow and must be weeded again regularly.  However, it is important here that you adhere to the recommended number of pieces per square meter, which the appropriate nursery will give you.

When planting ground covers, keep in mind that it takes time for them to grow together into an area-wide carpet of flowers.  By the time they do, pesky weeds have an easy time of it - accordingly, it may make sense to put the plants in the ground as early as fall.  This gives them more time to spread their roots and cover all the areas where the unloved wild weeds normally spread by next spring.  This head start is helpful, but not necessary.

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More tips for new gardeners

First-time Gardeners:

HARDINESS ZONE
It is usually shown on a map. These zones show a geographically-defined area in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by climatic conditions, including its ability to withstand the minimum temperatures of the zone.
In order to survive our harsch winter climate in Ontario, the plants you buy should not have a higher hardiness zone than 5.

COMPOST - FERTILIZER
Compost is an organic!!! fertilizer and mulch. Learn how to make organic fertilizer in a compost pile and benefits of compost as organic fertilizer and mulch:- Making compost is cheap or free.- Organic compost improves the environment.
- Compost improves soil structure, texture, and aeration.
- As a mulch, compost helps the soil retain water.
- Compost is an organic fertilizer that improves soil and plants.
- Compost stimulates healthy root development.
- A compost pile is an excellent means of disposing of organic debris, leaves, food wastes, grass clippings, etc.
- Organic compost improves the environment.
- AND IT IS FREE!!!

COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER
Major Ingredients: Most commercial fertilizers have 3 numbers on the front label, separated by dashes. For example: 5-10-5. This is the fertilizer analysis or percentage by weight of the 3 major nutrients plants need: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in that order. These are abbreviated as N-P-K. This example contains 5% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 5% potassium. The remaining 80% could be comprised of other nutrients and filler.

Nitrogen: The first number gives the concentration of nitrogen in the product.
Nitrogen encourages foliage growth, among other benefits.
Phosphorous: The middle number refers to the concentration of phosphorous. Phosphorous contributes to many fundamental plant processes such as rooting and setting flower buds. Potassium: The final number states the concentration of potassium.
Potassium contributes to the overall health and vigor of plants.

HOW TO READ THE PLANT LABELS
Plants that you buy at nurseries or garden centers always have labels that show the maximum height and width of the mature plant - to show you how far apart they should be planted from each other. Most important is the location info, if the plant likes sun or shade (or partial shade) and the watering instructions. Then you can find the hardiness zone, blooming time and pruning instructions. Most of the time these instructions are given as pictograms.

MULCHING
Place mulch around the plants. This serves many purposes; it cuts down on weeding, as well as aiding in temperature control and water retention. Your flower bed will always look fresh and groomed. Even if you love to work the soil and weed the plants - it would be more rewarding to tending to the plants or just watching them grow, rather than weeding.

WATERING
If you have lots of trees and shrubs in your garden, your perennial flowers live in dry shade and are very thirsty, as they receive very little rain and the big roots of the trees "steal" them their moisture.Water the roots - not the leaves. Water around the plant, not on top of it. The tap water we use in the garden is not as good as rain water for the plants. Ideal would be to install a rain barrel.
To maintain really healthy plants, water for longer periods of time, but less frequently. If it is not raining, water at least once a week. Do not let the plants dry out.
Always water very early in the morning so the plant leaves have time to dry out during the day which helps prevent fungal disease and sunburn (water acts like a magnifier glass of the sun rays).

PLANT A HERB GARDEN

The sunny part of your garden is ideal for herbs. All herbs prefer full sun and well-drained and "fluffy" soil, maybe added with a little bit coarse sand. Herbs are blooming too! Here is a variety of herbs with attractive blooms, just plant them in a sunny flower bed between your other perennials.

Lavender
Compact, green foliage is topped with fragrant spikes of blue flowers. An excellent border and pot plant.

Basil
Basil is a beautiful plant that has culinary, medicinal and ornamental qualities. There are about 150 species and they can be rich, spicy and mildly peppery and are used traditionally in Mediterranean, Italian and Thai cooking.

Chives
Tastes like mild, sweet onions. Great in salads or herbal vinegars.

Rosemary
Goes great with poultry, lamb, pork and is terrific in vinegars. Mulch well or cover with evergreens before winter.

Sage (Salvia)Beautiful gray-green foliage, with blue flowers. Used in sausages, pork and veal dishes, as well as in poultry stuffings.

Oregano
Used in a variety of tomato dishes and in Italian, Spanish and Mexican cooking as well as in vinegars.

Orange Thyme
A citrusy thyme that is excellent with fish, roasted vegetables, stews and soups or in marmalades and chutneys.

Freezing your herbs:
I use a lot of herbs for cooking. But some herbs grow so vigorously that I have to cut the surplus in fall. I rinse the twigs thoroughly under running water, cut them in tiny pieces, fill them into a separate ziplog bag for each type, (mark the name on the bag) and store them in the freezer. That gives me herbs for many months ahead and memories of summer.