Hedges usually serve as property boundaries and privacy screens - nevertheless, their purposeful character can certainly be expanded and beautified. The best way is to use groundcover - we will show you some possible combinations and tips.
Ground cover greens empty spaces under hedges
Underplanting hedges with ground cover - the arguments
A hedge often has a very pragmatic role - it is simply intended to separate the property from the sidewalk or from the neighbors and to ensure privacy in your own garden. Many common hedge plants such as privet, holly or cherry laurel are therefore also dense and rather dark-leaved. They are usually not considered to have any decorative value. You can treat yourself to a certain visual plus with pretty underplanting.
In the case of comparatively high-stemmed or sapling hedge plants such as thujas or rhododendrons, there are also bare areas in the row of hedges that are not particularly attractive to look at and are more easily overgrown by weeds.
But even the absolute practitioners among gardeners can benefit from planting ground cover under their hedge. Because it can do good service in the form of weed control and soil improvement, especially under shallow roots. They provide shallow-growing hedge roots with moisture and nutrients and ensure that they thrive.
The arguments for underplanting hedges with ground cover at a glance:
- visual enhancement of a functional property demarcation
- Filling in bare areas between sapling hedge plants
- Soil improvement through the ground cover
Matching varieties
Since a hedge usually throws a lot of shade and is evergreen due to its privacy protection function, it is obvious that only shade to semi-shade compatible ground covers are suitable for underplanting. For dark hedge plants such as rhododendrons, the golden nettle, the spotted lungwort, the pretty, delicate foam flower or a fern are particularly suitable. These varieties also form a relatively loose root system - which makes them suitable for planting under other shallow-rooted hedge plants that do not want to be smothered by dense, typical weedkiller groundcover.
The goldberry, also called Waldsteinie, is an excellent and very popular foot flatterer for hedges. With its relatively dense growth, it is more for deep-rooted plants such as yew or hawthorn, but is extremely undemanding in terms of soil and light. With its strawberry-like foliage and small, cheerfully yolk-yellow flowers, it also offers a nice splash of structure and colour. The good old periwinkle or ysander are also trouble-free ground covers for hedges.