Ground Covers for a Healthy and Floral Yard

Let's first talk about what most residents grow in their yard: Grass. Grass can come in many different varieties whether we are looking for shade resilient varieties or full sun thrivers. While grass can come in a variety of colors, shade requirements, and textures, it can lack flowering abilities, you have to mow, dies in the winter, sometimes can get patchy, and is typically overtaken by what most people consider "weeds".

So why is it the standard to have grass on your property? Grass lawns originated from the baroque period of French gardens. Royal courts wanted to flaunt their money against the common folk who tended to have a garden plot on their land requiring them to grow their own food. The rich kings and queens wanted to show how much money they truly had by showing they could grow something they considered to be "useless". They grew this grass in formal and English side gardens which took massive amounts of upkeep and dominated the common folk.

These lawns travelled to the American countryside and Northeast from presidents such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson who showcased their large estates to the American public.

A few hundred years later, the rise of traditional lawns in suburban landscapes took a massive upheaval after the second world war. What was sold as the "American Dream" by homemakers such as Sears, you could not only own a nicely designed home with your family, but also have the perfect manicured lawn. This is where the rise of traditional landscaping came into play, where a team would come and take care of your yard, shrubs, and leaves. Now, 80 years later, almost everyone has a grass lawn.

However, humans have the greatest ability to evolve, use rational, creative and critical thinking. Many have questioned the use of traditional grass yards, not seeing their ecological importance with the new green movements, considerable decline in pollinators worldwide, and lack of beauty on the home fronts.

With creative and conscious thinking many have chose to transform their green havens into an abundant pollinator landscape. The beauty of ground covers are paving the way for new landscapes, no mow lawns, low maintenance lawns, pollinator friendly lawns, and flowering lawns that require no upkeep.

Groundcovers are low maintenance, spreading, trailing, and sometimes flowering plants that suppress weeds, add color to your existing landscape, add flowers to your lawn, require no mowing and are steppable. Many of these ground covers are evergreen, meaning they do not die back in the winter, are green year round, and look dense and plush. While some ground covers are semi-evergreen, meaning they slightly die back in the winter but not enough to have bare ground.

Other ground covers can be great for erosion control, drought resistance, animals, and seasonal interest. You can even choose a variety of native ground covers that will sprout, spread, flower, and die back seasonally, making way for the next groundcover.

However, because there are an array of different groundcovers, each one has different qualities, colors, flowering types, spread rates, and steppability requirements. Some ground covers work better in lawns than others, while some are great for garden beds as a mulch alternative, and others can even be medicinal and herbal in vegetable gardens.

Gardening Thyme installs a variety of different ground covers based on your needs, location, and preference. We match you with the right ground cover for your no-mow lawn, garden bed, or vegetable garden.