Question: What will grow in shade, where lawn grasses don’t thrive?
Answer: Shade groundcovers
Grasses are plants that adapted to grow in the sun. While there are selections that will tolerate some shade, areas of relatively deep shade are simply not suited to growing a lawn. There are options for gardeners who like a clean, smooth palette in their landscape and are looking for alternatives to grass in a shaded area.
There are several low-growing shade groundcovers that can be used to produce a green covering for the earth under trees. Most will not tolerate foot traffic, as the turf will, so it is a good idea to place steppingstones or create pathways if the area is going to encounter frequent foot traffic.
Planting Shade Groundcovers
Groundcovers are usually sold as individual small plants or in flats. The spacing for planting will be determined by how fast you want to create the dense cover. Spacing the plants further apart will still result in full coverage but it will take longer to achieve. The recommended spacing for most of the listed groundcovers is 6”-12” apart at planting. While most of these groundcovers are robust enough to compete with weeds once fully established, the gardener should still be prepared to weed and mulch the bed through the first two or three growing seasons.
If you can accommodate a bit more height, there are also several fantastic taller growing groundcovers for shady sites.
Bugleweed
Ajuga
Ajuga is a dense, rapidly spreading, mat-forming ground cover with glossy, heavy substance leaves in a range of colors from green to bronze to near black. Abundant compressed whorls of 3”-6” blue flowers cover the plant in spring and are quiet eye catching en masse. Ajuga grows densely enough to choke out weeds and has the potential to compete with lawn so is not recommended for use in an area immediately adjoining lawn. Ajuga spreads by rhizomes and is shallow rooted, which makes it susceptible to freezing out in low lying areas that are icy in winter months. Due to its resilience and rapid growth, however, it will quickly fill in again in spring.
Dead Nettle
Lamium
Lamium is a member of the mint family and, as such, is an eager grower with a spreading habit. There are several varieties that are mostly grown for their foliage, which can be silver, frosted, or attractively mottled. My favorite of this group is Lamium ‘Chequers’. It is a robust grower that will thrive even in the most inhospitable conditions, including dry shade. The foliage is green with subtle silver markings. It has a truly remarkable blooming season, bearing hooded rosy-purple snapdragon-like flowers from May through November, even blooming through the snow. It mounds to a height of about 8”-10”. ‘Chequers’ has astonishing vigor and should not be planted anywhere that it is not going to be given free reign. For a difficult site, though, it is a perfect choice.
Periwinkle
Vinca
Vinca is an evergreen vining groundcover that spreads by sending out long, rooting, runners. In spring it produces an abundance of periwinkle blue flowers and, when in full bloom, can be quite stunning. It has small glossy green leaves and is an enthusiastic spreader. It is essentially ground hugging and won’t exceed 3”-6” in height.
Japanese Spurge
Pachysandra
Pachysandra is an upright evergreen ground cover which grows 8”-10″ tall and spreads by rhizomes to form a dense carpet. It produces insignificant white flowers in early summer but is grown exclusively for its foliage. Pachysandra prefers acid soil so, in our alkaline southern Wisconsin soils, will benefit from fertilizer formulated for acid loving plants.
Sweet Woodruff
Galium
Brilliant green, sweetly fragrant foliage is the hallmark of Sweet Woodruff. Its whorled leaves are topped by masses of tiny fragrant white flowers in late spring. The fragrance intensifies as the foliage dries and this plant was used historically to stuff mattresses and is used commercially today in perfumes and potpourris. The fresh leaves and flowers are an essential ingredient in traditional May Wine, a spring beverage made with white wine, sweet woodruff and fruit. Woodruff grows 6”-8” tall.
Irish Moss
Sagina subulata
Irish moss forms a lush emerald green moss-like carpet. It grows completely flat and is an excellent choice for between steppingstones in a woodland setting. There is also a lighter colored form that will be chartreuse color in full shade and brilliant yellow in partial sun.
by Zannah Crowe
