Regular weeding and hoeing, home remedies or the increasingly unpopular chemical club: you don't have many other options for effectively combating annoying weeds. However, there are some ornamental plants that grow so sprawling that they can crowd out weeds. You can find out what these are and how to plant them correctly in the following article.

Periwinkle flowers beautifully, covers bare patches with greenery and gives no room for weeds

Ground covers suppress weeds

Weeds and moss spread particularly in places where other plants tend to thrive hesitantly. Attractive ground covers form dense carpets so that unwanted weeds can no longer spread.

When choosing the plants, be sure to pay attention to the location so that the green blanket closes quickly due to the vigorous growth.

Which plants are there that displace weeds?

There are a variety of ground covers that are suitable for this purpose:

Shades prefer varieties like:

  • elf flower
  • Ysander (fat man)
  • periwinkle
  • hazel root
  • Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla)
  • foam flower
  • splendor pier.

For semi-shady to sunny locations are suitable:

  • Carpet knotweed
  • stone seed
  • Blue fescue
  • Wollziest
  • Purplebells
  • Bergenia
  • groundcover roses.

Not all ground covers are evergreen. For example, ground-covering roses shed their leaves in autumn. Some species adorn themselves beforehand with bright autumn colors and become eye-catchers when there is not much else going on in the garden.

Why do ground covers suppress weeds?

If you stick to the recommended planting distances, these plants quickly form dense, green carpets that displace weeds. The seeds of the weeds cannot even sprout because almost no light penetrates through the carpet of plants to the ground.

How are ground covers planted?

If you want to replant an area with ground cover, you should proceed as follows:

  • The best planting time is early autumn. Then the perennials can still form enough roots to survive the winter well and in spring have a certain growth advantage over the weeds that are just germinating.
  • Dig up thoroughly and carefully remove all remains of the roots of weeds.
  • Cover the bed about an inch thick with mature compost and work this well into the soil.
  • Plant as densely as indicated on the plant label.

tips

Ground covers protect the soil from drying out and erosion. This makes them very suitable for embankments and hard-to-reach garden areas where you want to keep the maintenance effort low.

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Herbs