Essex Wildlife Trust, Abbotts Hall Farm, Gt Wigborough, Colchester, Essex CO5 7RZ
Ground cover plants
Low-growing plants that cover the bare earth are useful in any garden because bare earth invites weeds. They are also valuable for wildlife as they provide cover for insects and small mammals.
| Height (cm) | Spacing (cm) | Sun | Soil | Flower time | Flower colour | |
|
evergreen foliage
|
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| Cotoneaster dammeri | 5 | 40-60 |   |
6 | white | |
| Euonymus fortunei | 30-45 | 40-60 | |
6-7 | greenish white | |
| Ivy Hedera helix | 15-30 | 60-80 | |
10-11 | yellow | |
|
flowering evergreen
|
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| Bugle Ajuga reptans | 10 | 15-25 |  |
M | 4-6 | blue |
| Bergenia cordifolia | 30 | 30-50 | |
3-5 | pink | |
| Cornus canadensis | 10-15 | 20-30 | |
MA | 5-6 | white |
| Heather Calluna vulgaris | 30 | 30-50 | |
A | 8-9 | mauve |
| Heath Erica carnea | 15-25 | 30-50 | |
1-3 | white/pink | |
| Hebe pinguifolia Pagei | 30 | 60 | |
5-6 | white | |
| Rock-rose Helianthemum varieties | 15 | 50-60 | |
6-8 | pink/yellow/white | |
| Deadnettle Lamium maculatum | 25 | 30 | |
4-6 | white | |
| Rubus tricolor | 60 | 60-80 | |
7 | white | |
| Stonecrop Sedum acre | 5 | 20-30 | |
7-8 | yellow | |
| Thymus (creeping) | 5-20 | 20-30 | |
7-8 | white-purple | |
| Periwinkle Vinca minor | 5 | 30-50 | |
5-9 | blue | |
| Waldsteinia ternata | 10 | 20-30 | |
5-6 | yellow | |
|
flowering deciduous
|
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| Aubretia | 5-10 | 20-30 | |
4 | blue-purple | |
| Brunnera macrophylla | 30 | 40-60 | |
5-7 | blue | |
| Geranium spp | 30 | 60 | |
7-10 | blue | |
| Geranium macrorrhizum | 30 | 60 | |
5-7 | magenta | |
| Creeping jenny Lysimachia nummularia | 5 | 30 | |
M | 6-8 | yellow |
| Catmint Nepeta x mussinii | 60 | 40-60 | |
5-9 | blue | |
| Polygonum affine | 60 | 40-60 | |
M | 7-9 | pink |
| Polygonum bistorta | 80 | 50-70 | |
M | 5-7 | pink |
| Potentilla davurica mandschurica | 30-40 | 60-80 | |
5-9 | white | |
| Sun or shade: = sun; = semi-shade; = shade |
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| Soil: M = moist; A = acid | ||||||