Succulent ground cover plants are popular among gardeners due to their appealing shapes and colors. Succulent plants are often used as accents, ground covers, or container plants.
What are the different varieties of best ground cover succulents, and what conditions do these plants need to thrive? Continue reading to learn more about these plants.
Contents
A Selection of Succulent Ground Cover Plants
There are many wonderful ways to spice up the conventional evergreen landscape with color and complexity. While cold-hardy types are excellent for northern winters, certain varieties will grow in poor soil and dry conditions. Given the proper soil type and weather conditions, they are hardy plants that require little maintenance.
1. Blue Chalk Sticks
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This creeping succulent, known by its scientific name Senecio Serpens, is native to South Africa. The summertime blooms range in color from white to chartreuse. This succulent is perfect for generating color contrast when placed next to plants with vibrant green foliage.
Blue Chalk Sticks is a beautiful, low-maintenance succulent plant that adds a unique texture and color to garden beds and rock gardens. It is native to South Africa and its blue-green foliage and delicate texture make it an attractive choice for gardeners who want a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plant.
The tiny, daisy-like flowers that bloom in showy clusters are a great source of nectar for pollinators. Pruning the plant regularly will help maintain its shape and make it look its best.
Blue chalk sticks succulents are ideal for gardens in containers. They create a fantastic ground cover if you live somewhere that doesn’t get freezing weather. The tips of this plant turn purple when subjected to intense sunlight and heat.
2. Gold Tooth Aloe
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Gold Tooth Aloe, also known as Aloe nobilis, is a species of Aloe native to South Africa. It is a slow-growing succulent that is prized for its striking appearance and low maintenance needs.
The plant is characterized by its rosette of fleshy leaves that are covered in dense clusters of golden-yellow teeth along the margins. In spring, Gold Tooth Aloe produces tall spikes of orange to red flowers that are highly attractive to hummingbirds and other pollinators.
This plant is drought-tolerant, making it a great choice for rock gardens, desert landscapes, or as a container plant on patios and balconies. Gold Tooth Aloe is also a great option for indoor cultivation, as it is able to thrive on bright, sunny windowsills.
The clumping, low-growing aloe grows to a height and width of about one foot and has several offsets that cluster together. It has short, thick, succulent green leaves forming rosettes and long, yellow teeth along the edges.
Bees, butterflies, and birds are attracted to the stunning aloe blossoms. You can use it in elevated planters, hanging baskets, and containers. You can also combine this gorgeous aloe with other drought-tolerant cacti and succulents in rock gardens or with boulders.
Use it as an accent, a garden edger, around narrow entryways, and as ground cover in large quantities. This Aloe is believed to be a hybrid and does not exist in nature. Beautiful green leaves with golden spines on the edges can be found on this succulent, making it look quite dangerous, but it’s not!
3. Rigid Spurge
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Rigid Spurge, also known as Milkweed Euphorbia, is a succulent plant native to Africa and Madagascar. This plant is known for its striking blue-green foliage and architectural structure. This plant, also native to Southern Europe, is commonly known as upright myrtle spurge. The blue-green succulent-type leaves wind around the stems and turn reddish-bronze in the fall.
It is a low-maintenance shrub that is relatively easy to care for and grow. It is drought-tolerant and can thrive in hot, dry conditions. This makes it a popular choice for rock gardens, borders, and as an accent plant in mixed plantings.
It forms rosettes of fleshy leaves and produces yellow flowers in summer. Rigid spurge is a low maintenance plant that is drought-tolerant and can grow in intense sun or medium shade. At the stem ends, tiny, greenish flowers are encircled by chartreuse bract clusters. When handling the stems, use gloves because they emit a milky sap that can be itchy. The plant will readily self-seed.
With time, the plant can grow up to 23 inches tall and approximately 35 inches in circumference. The leaves might turn a faint shade of red in the winter. Expect the plant to produce tiny, green flowers when it blooms.
It is a great choice for gardeners looking for a unique, low-maintenance plant that can add texture and visual interest to their garden. However, it should be noted that Rigid Spurge is toxic and should be kept away from pets and children.
Rigid spurge is also known for its medicinal properties. In traditional medicine, the sap from the plant has been commonly used as a treatment for various skin conditions, such as warts and corns.The sap can cause skin irritation and should be handled with caution.
4. Blue Spruce
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The Blue Spruce is a type of evergreen coniferous tree that is native to the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is popularly used as an ornamental tree in gardens and landscaping, due to its striking blue–green needles and symmetrical form.
The hardy, mat-forming alpine plant known by its scientific name Sedum reflexum is native to the UK and other regions of Europe. It is a quick-growing plant that provides dense ground cover, though less robustly than grass.
It is a popular choice for use as a living Christmas tree and is also often used in landscaping as a specimen tree. Its distinctive blue-gray needles are the result of a genetic mutation, and they remain blue throughout the tree’s life.
It is relatively low maintenance and can be easily pruned to maintain its conical shape. It is important to provide winter protection for this tree, as well as to place it in a location with well-drained soil and low humidity. It is susceptible to a variety of pests and diseases, so it’s important to keep an eye out for symptoms and treat promptly if necessary.
This attractive, simple-to-grow succulent features blue-green foliage that resembles tiny spruce needles. It is a favorite of pollinators and blooms for nearly a month in the summer with tiny yellow flowers shaped like stars.
The leaves of this hardy plant are stem-borne and resemble spruce trees. It also looks fantastic with other hardy sedums and plants like sempervivums that thrive in free-draining soils.
The tree grows relatively slowly, reaching a height of about 60 to 100 feet, making it ideal for use in small gardens or as a specimen tree. In addition to its ornamental uses, it is also valuable for its wood, which is strong and durable. The wood is often used in construction, furniture making, and other wood products such as paper. The resin from the tree is also used to produce turpentine and rosin.
5. Portulaca Grandiflora
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The Portulaca plant, commonly known as moss rose, is native to South America. The plant forms a mat and is 8 inches tall and 1 foot broad, with thick, narrow, succulent leaves. It is often used in rock gardens, as an edging plant or a ground cover.
It is known for its brightly colored, cup-shaped flowers that appear in shades of pink, yellow, red, orange, and purple. The plant has fleshy leaves and stems that store water, allowing it to thrive in hot, dry conditions. Portulaca Grandiflora is easy to care for and makes a great choice for gardens, containers, or as a hanging basket plant.
It is drought-tolerant, low-maintenance, and attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies. This plant is a heat-loving plant that enjoys direct sun to partial shade and well-draining soil. It is a tough, resilient plant that can thrive in tough conditions, making it a popular choice for gardeners and landscapers.
It is easy to grow and care for, making it a wonderful choice for those who want to add a pop of color and visual appeal to their garden without much maintenance.The plant is also known to attract butterflies and other pollinators to the garden, which is another reason it is a popular choice for gardeners.
The flowers occur in solitary, semi-double, and double shapes and are various pastel shades of red, orange, yellow, and white. On overcast or wet days, the flowers close up, and from dusk until dawn, they do not open.
Use Moss plant in pots and hanging planters, in front of the border, in rock or crevice gardens, or to cascade down a wall. It will reproduce on its own without spreading.
6. Graptopetalum Paraguayense
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Graptopetalum Paraguayense, commonly known as Ghost Plant, is a succulent that forms rosettes of green leaves with red or pink edges. It is native to Mexico. The beautiful trailing rosettes on the graptopetalum make it ideal for hanging pots or ground cover.
Its small, star-shaped pink flowers bloom in summer, attracting hummingbirds and bees. This plant is a low-maintenance choice for gardeners, preferring well-draining soil and bright light with some shade, and only requiring infrequent watering.
Graptopetalum Paraguayense is also resistant to pests such as mealybugs, spider mites, and scale insects, making it a fantastic choice for those looking for a durable and easy-to-care-for plant.
It is a small, perennial, evergreen succulent that is sometimes cultivated in pots indoors but may also be grown outdoors in warmer climates. Handling the leaves carefully is recommended since they are delicate, need finesse, and are prone to falling off.
It is one of the most commonly grown succulents and has been well-liked for more than a century since it is so simple to grow and exhibits a variety of pastel tones. In direct sunlight, it turns pink, purple, and yellow; in partial shade, it displays more blues, greens, and silvers.
7. Tokyo Sun
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This plant, also known as sedum japonicum, is a succulent ground cover with a striking splash of yellow color. Sedum, which can withstand heat and drought, only gets to be about 3 inches tall, but it spreads and forms mounds quite quickly. This succulent produces golden star-shaped flowers in the summer.
It is a variety of succulent plant species, Echeveria. It is known for its unique appearance with rosette-shaped leaves with vibrant yellow-orange coloration. This stunning coloration results from its leaves storing pigments to protect itself from harsh sunlight.
It is a low-maintenance plant that requires well-draining soil and indirect sunlight to thrive. It is a slow-growing species, making it a great choice for small spaces or those wanting a low-key addition to their indoor or outdoor garden. Additionally, it is a drought-tolerant plant that can be left unwatered for extended periods without damaging its appearance.
At maturity, this plant will only reach a height of 2 inches and a spread of 8 inches. Individual plants should be spaced roughly 7 inches apart when grown in groups or used as a bedding plant.
Its foliage likes to stay close to the ground and low and dense. It has a medium growth rate and a projected life span of 10 years under optimal circumstances. Overall, Tokyo Sun is a visually striking plant that is easy to care for and perfect for a burst of color in any garden or home.
Conclusion
Succulent plants are commonly known for their usage as indoor plants placed on a window box or a bathroom shelf; however, they also make excellent ground covers. The best thing is that they are low-maintenance and can thrive in various conditions. Before you choose to plant these succulents as a groundcover, remember these points from the article:
- If you are looking for low-growing succulents, the best options are spruce and spurge succulents.
- Plants included in the list of succulent ground cover you can walk on are sedums and moss plants.
- If you want to attract pollinators, insects, and butterflies in your garden, choose from options like Aloe, spruce, moss, or Sedum plants.
With this exhaustive list, we hope you have acquired the appropriate knowledge.
References
- https://www.lakewood.org/files/assets/public/planning/development-assistance/pdfs/handouts/csugroundcoverplants.pdf
- https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/for-places/ground-cover
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