Planting ground cover under rhododendrons is particularly useful. You can bring many favorable benefits to the popular garden shrub. You can find out what these are and which species are particularly suitable for this in the following article.
Rhododendrons and ferns get along very well
Why rhododendrons love an underplanting
For many shrubs, it is advisable to underplant them with ground cover. This gently invigorates your roots, supplies them with humus and moisture and shades your planting ground. Rhododendrons can really use this kind of support.
They have a flat-growing root system that requires a continuous supply of water and nutrients at the surface. At the same time, they do not like it at all when their location, especially their planting ground, heats up a lot. So you benefit enormously from the cooling shade that a ground cover offers you. In addition, the shading naturally prevents drying out, which can lead to considerable dry damage to the rhododendron.
So let's record what ground covers offer the rhododendron:
- gentle revitalization and loosening of shallow rooted soil
- continuous supply of moisture and nutrients
- Ground shading and cooling, protection against drying out
Suitable ground cover for rhododendrons
Not all ground covers are suitable for underplanting rhododendrons. Above all, they should not have too tough a root system so as not to hinder the development of the shrub's roots. Nevertheless, they should provide good and widespread shade and be able to tolerate a shady location. Because rhododendrons like to be in a little more shade and cast deep shadows with their thick, dark foliage.
These requirements are met, for example, by the following types of ground cover:
- Gold nettle: It tolerates partial shade very well and can pick up a lot of fallen leaves in autumn, which it processes into valuable humus. With its variegated, silvery leaves, it also forms a very attractive contrast to the deep green rhododendron.
- Lungwort: The lungwort shades the ground well with its broad leaves and has a loose root system. Here, too, there is a pretty play of textures due to the dotted leaves.
- Foam blossom: With its wide foliage, it also has a good shading effect and forms a humus-rich soil. Its quite tall, delicate panicle flowers are pretty to look at in spring.
- Fern: Ferns feel very comfortable in the shade and have a good soil-improving effect. Their charismatic fronds are a particularly attractive structural contrast to the smooth, solid rhododendron leaves.