Learn More About Ground Covers For Shade

By Kathleen Mierzejewski

Your garden doesn’t just have to be around the foundation of your home or out in direct sunlight. You can find hardy shade ground cover for those areas in your yard that are somewhat blank and shady. There are many different ground covers for shade areas in your yard. You just have to put your imagination cap on and decide exactly what you want to do with those areas.

Suggestions for ground cover for shade

There are some great ground covers for shade. One of the most popular shade ground covers are the hostas. Hosta plants are a great ground cover for shade that can handle shade so long as the soil is well-drained. They look good in foundation gardens, but they also look good when well placed around trees. Hostas are also great for areas that are out in the open yet in shady areas. You can plant two or three and they will flower giving your shady blank spot some life.

If you have a hilly area around some trees, such as on the bank between your yard and your neighbor’s, you can plant something like Periwinkle. Periwinkle is a great hardy shade ground cover and actually has pretty light blue or lilac colored flowers. Be careful with Periwinkle, however, as it tends to take over the area it is in quite rapidly. Again, as ground covers for shade go, Periwinkle will do well on hills because the ground should be well-drained.

Another popular shade ground cover is Pachysandra. Pachysandra reaches up to a foot in height and has large dark green leaves. These are great as a filler for foundation gardens that include larger bushes. Because of the shade from the bushes, Pachysandra is great underneath.

As ground covers for shade go, Pachysandra is perfect for these areas because it can cover the ground under the bushes and prevent weeds and other things from growing, giving your foundation garden a neat look. Make sure you have good soil drainage and that you don’t plant your Pachysandra where there are high winter winds or it will get destroyed.

Shady areas in your garden call for shady ground cover plants. You don’t want to leave shady areas blank because your yard is like an artist’s palette. You need to plant what you can where you can. Hardy shade ground cover is perfect for these areas because some flower, and others have beautiful green leaves. These things will pick up those boring shady areas in your yard and complete your landscaping in a nice way.

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