Groundcover is any plant used for the purpose of growing over an area of ground to hide it or to protect it from erosion or drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover is the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer.

Strictly speaking, the most widespread groundcover are grasses of various types. In gardening terms, however, the term groundcover refers to non-grass plants that are used in place of grasses.

Four general types of plants are commonly used as groundcovers:

• Vines, which are woody plants with slender, spreading stems
• Herbaceous plants, or non-woody plants
• Shrubs of a low-growing, spreading variety
• Moss of larger, coarser varieties

Of these types, some of the most common groundcovers include:

• Baby tears (Soleirolia soleirolii)
• Bacopa
• English ivy (Hedera helix)
• Gazania (Gazania rigens)
• Ground-elder
• Ice plant
• Japanese honeysuckle, (Lonicera japonica)
• Junipers of various low-growing types
• Kudzu
• Lantana, creeping varieties
• Lilyturf (Liriope spicata)
• Mints of various types
• Nasturtium (Tropæolum majus)
• Pachysandra
• Periwinkle (Vinca major)
• Scotch moss (Sagina subulata)
• Shasta daisy (Chrysanthemum maximum)
• Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)

Plants | Gardening