Gardeners Are Replacing Mulch With These 5 Low-Maintenance Ground Cover Plants – They Naturally Suppress Weeds
'Living mulch' plants even keep soil cool and reduce watering
Mulching is one of the most effective ways to suppress weeds, improve soil health, and reduce watering in the yard. But, having to reapply it multiple times a year can be tiring and time-consuming. That's why many gardeners are now turning to living mulch plants for a more low-maintenance approach.
Instead of mulching with bark chip (like this brown mulch from Lowe's), leaves, or compost, this idea uses low-growing ground cover plants that do all the same jobs as traditional mulch. They cover bare soil, help retain moisture, suppress weeds, and support healthy soil. And the best part is, these plants return every year with little intervention.
So, if you're looking for an effective way to make your garden more drought-tolerant, nutrient-rich, and generally low-maintenance, then consider growing some of the below living mulch plants.
1. Creeping Thyme
Not only is creeping thyme one of the best living mulch plants, it's also one the best flowering ground cover plants for impact. With its bright magenta, purple, or white blooms, it creates a staggering carpet across your yard.
It grows across USDA zones 4-9 and is best suited to sunny, dry locations, making it perfect for shading bare soil to reduce moisture loss.
'Because creeping thyme has a dense matting habit, it's an excellent ground cover to suppress weeds,' says Rachel Bull, Homes & Gardens' Head of Gardens. 'Plus, it's a pollinator magnet.'
The best bit about growing creeping thyme is that it needs little-to-no maintenance. An occasional trim will keep it tidy, but once its flowers fade in summer, its evergreen foliage provides coverage even in winter.
Find a creeping thyme plant at Plant Addicts.
Rachel is a gardening editor, floral designer, flower grower and gardener. Her journalism career began 17 years ago on Country Living magazine, sparking a love of container gardening and wild planting. After more than a decade writing for and editing a range of consumer, business and special interest titles, Rachel became editor of floral art magazine The Flower Arranger. She then trained and worked professionally as a floral designer and stylist for six years, and has created floral installations at iconic venues. She joined the Homes & Gardens team in 2023, where she heads up the Gardens section, and presents the weekly gardening and floristry social series Petals & Roots.
2. Sweet Alyssum
This is one of the living mulch plants I've used in my raised beds to support the growth of crops and cut flowers.
It's low-growing and suppresses weeds, but it also shades the soil to keep roots cool and stop soil drying out so quickly.
What makes it particularly beneficial as living mulch for a veg patch is the fact it attracts such a wide range of beneficial insects, including hoverflies and lacewings, which eat aphids.
You can get sweet alyssum to flower for months on end by trimming it after its first flush of flowers. It has soft stems, so I just use gardening snips (like these Fiskars ones from Amazon). Plus, it readily self-seeds to return next year.
Sweet alyssum is hardy across USDA zones 5-9 and can be easily grown from these sweet alyssum seeds from Botanical Interests.
3. Woodland Strawberries
This one is a little different, but you can grow woodland strawberries a living mulch around shrubs and trees.
Woodland strawberries (USDA zones 3-10) offer dense foliage, pretty white blooms, followed by edible fruit.
The best part is they send out runners to spread and make new plants, so you don't have to worry about filling any gaps or bare soil. This also makes them excellent for protecting soil structure and reducing compaction.
Found in woodlands across the Northern Hemisphere, they do best in shadier conditions beneath tree and shrub canopies. But, you will need to provide some deep watering during hot summer spells to ensure they perform best.
When the older leaves of these perennials wither and break down, they also help put plenty of nutrients back in soil.
You can harvest these strawberries the same as a garden strawberry plant (like these from Bonnie Plants on Amazon), just be aware the fruit tends to be smaller, more fragile, and the flavor is more concentrated.
Alternatively, leave it to help feed birds in your yard.
4. Prunella
Prunella, also known as self-heal, is a low-maintenance plant that doesn't mind being trampled on. Its name comes from its medicinal plant heritage, where it has long been used for minor cuts, sore throats, and more.
With violet-blue, tubular flowers, it's a creeping perennial in the mint family. In the US, the native variety Prunella vulgaris var. lanceolata (USDA zones 3-7) is found in a range of environments, from wildflower meadows, to alpine regions, and open woodlands.
'Its mat-forming habit suppresses weeds and provides lots of coverage. When it blooms from late spring to summer, it attracts lots of types of bees to your yard, including bumblebees,' says Rachel.
This wildflower's dense, spreading root system makes it a great pick to maintain soil structure. Plus, it thrives in lots of soil types, including clay and sand.
Find prunella seeds on Amazon.
5. White Clover
White clover is the best living mulch plant for nitrogen-fixing, i.e. it takes nitrogen from the air and adds it to the soil, making it more fertile. But, this is just one benefit of growing clover in your yard.
You might already have white clover growing on your lawn, where it tolerates mowing and foot traffic. It flowers throughout spring and summer, providing a valuable source of nectar for pollinators, and it spreads quickly.
It can be a good plant to add to bare ground beneath fruit bushes and trees to conserve moisture and attract pollinators. Likewise, it works well between rows of crops because its interconnected root system helps reduce soil erosion.
Many people even choose to have a clover lawn to cut down on mowing and naturally fertilize the soil.
Find white clover seeds at Botanical Interests.
What to Shop
Plant these creeping thyme seeds to create a colorful carpet in your yard. It's drought-tolerant, deer-resistant, and attracts pollinators.
Use this soil test kit to find out about your garden soil's pH levels and available nutrients. A sample from your yard is lab-tested.
This brown mulch will retain moisture, suppress weeds, and feed your soil. This bag covers 2 cubic feet.
Growing living mulch plants is just one way to support your soil health. You can also grow other plants that improve soil quality and use organic matter to feed your soil, such as homemade compost.
If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?
