Native Ground Covers
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Native Ground Covers Common Name Latin name Description Alleghany Spurge Pachysandra Shrubby to vine-like, ground cover which grows 8-10" procumbens tall and spreads indefinitely by rhizomes. Sun to part- shade. Black Cohosh or black bugbane, Actaea racemosa Perennial or self-sowing annual wildflower 3-6” tall fairy candle including spikes of white flowers. Good on steep slopes and dry soils. Barren Strawberry Geum Low, spreading plant for sunny locations, with showy fragarioides yellow flowers that appear in early spring. Grows slowly, but forms dense mats of vegetation. Good on steep slopes and dry soils. Excellent fall color. 6” spacing. Early Sedge Carex Forms 4-6” tall, grass-like tufts which quickly spread into pensylvanica dense mats from long underground runners. Great lawn substitute; only needs to be moved once a year. Plant as fast spreading plugs. Sun to dense shade. Wild Strawberry Fragaria Grows to 4-7” tall. Spreads quickly and aggressively by virginiana runners which root to form new plants, often forming large colonies. White flowers, and small, edible strawberries. Sun to part-shade. Great lawn substitute; only needs to be moved once a year. 12” spacing. Salt tolerant. Excellent for the widest variety of pollinators. Fiddlehead Fern or ostrich fern Matteuccia Clump-forming, upright to arching fern which typically struthiopteris grows 2-3' tall. Grow in moist shady areas. Edible fiddleheads in spring. Vigorous spreader. Good in streambank stabilization with speckled alder. Thornless Raspberry or Rubus odoratus Coarse, suckering shrub with cane-like stems which thimbleberry typically grows 3-6' tall and spreads 6-12' wide. Lovely pink flowers and edible fruit, with little to no thorns. Dry to moist soils and sun to partial shade. Good edge plant. White Wood Aster Eurybia Blooms late summer to fall with lovely, small white divaricata flowers. Grows in dry, sunny areas. Aggressive spreader. Highland Dog Laurel or Drooping Leucothoe Suckering, multi-stemmed, broadleaf evergreen shrub Laurel fontanesiana with arching branches 3-4’ tall. Deer resistant. Needs shade and moist soils. Excellent pollinator. Not native to Massachusetts. Green and Gold or Goldenstar Chrysogonum Low-growing perennial, forming a foliage mat to 3-4” tall virginianum spreading to 18" wide or more. Blooms in spring. Not native to Massachusetts. Long Beech Fern or Narrow beech Phegopteris Spreading deciduous fern that typically grows to 4-6” tall fern connectilis with a slow spread to 36” wide. Woodland phlox Phlox divaricata Spreading blue wildflower which forms mats of foliage with stems typically reaching 12-15" tall. Shallow rooted. Shade tolerant and fast spreading. Running Foam Flower Tiarella cordifolia Groundcover with attractive, low-growing foliage and var. cordifolia blooms. Spreads quickly by runners. Full sun to shade. Pussytoes or woman's tobacco Antennaria Mat-forming, woolly plant with flowers crowded into plantaginea terminal clusters. 1-2” tall. Good for sunny, dry areas. Running Groundsel or Squaw Packera obovata Valued for its ability to thrive in shady locations, Weed naturalize rapidly and produce a long and profuse spring bloom of bright yellow flowers. Sun to part shade. 3-6” tall. Moist to dry soils. Loved by bees. Nodding onion or lady's leek Allium cernuum Tuft of basal leaves with one or more flowering stalks emerge, with each stalk terminating in a nodding umbel of light pink flowers. 1-2’ tall. Sun and moist soils. Blue mistflower Conoclinium Late summer to fall-blooming perennial with numerous coelestinum small, fluffy, tubular, blue-purple flowers in dense flat topped terminal clusters. Spreads aggressively. 1-3’ tall. Attracts bees and butterflies. Sun to partial shade with moist soils. Fragrant Sumac Rhus aromatica A dense, low-growing, rambling shrub which spreads by root suckers to form thickets 4-5’ tall. Deep rooted. Fall color in sunny areas. Sun to partial shade. Yellow Root Xanthorhiza Mat-like, spreading shrub with erect, leggy stems. 3’-4’ simplicissima tall. The bark and long roots are deep-yellow and bitter. Attractive foliage is glossy and green, turning yellow to reddish-purple in fall. Sun to part shade. Autumn Bent Grass Agrostis Perennial grass about ½–2½' tall that develops into loose perennans tufts of unbranched leafy clumps. In sunny habitats with fertile soil, this grass is taller and stouter, while in shaded habitats with poor soil it is shorter and more delicate. Lawn alternative. Partridge Pea Chamaecrista A self-sowing annual legume (nitrogen fixer) which fasciculata grows to approximately 1-2’ tall. It has bright yellow flowers from early summer until first frost, with flowers through the entire flowering season if rainfall is sufficient. Also grows in poor soils. Good early groundcover will eventually get outcompeted. Hoary Mountain Mint Pycnanthemum The stems are covered with a soft, whitish down and have incanum dense flower-clusters. Favored by butterflies, moths. Up to 3’ tall. Sunny dry locations. Spotted Bee Balm or Dotted Monarda punctata Prefers sandy soils and full to part sun. It is an eccentric Horsemint beauty in form and color with complex blossoms topping 2' stems in hues of pinkish-purple, green, beige, and maroon. Short-lived perennial but re-seeds itself. Prairie Dropseed Sporobolis Tufted perennial grass with narrow fine textured leaves. heterolepis Plants hold soil with their vigorous fibrous roots and expand slowly from short underground rhizomes. Bearberry or Kinikinik Arctostaphylos Low-growing, evergreen, woody groundcover shrub 2– uva-ursi 12” high. Small pink flowers and red berries. Salt tolerant. Oak sedge Carex Fine texture and fountaining habit. Good for dry shady appalachica sites, even in the root zone of trees. 3-6” tall. Lowbush Blueberry Vaccinium Small deciduous shrub, 6” – 12” tall with spreading leafy angustifolium branches. Clusters of white flowers bloom in spring, followed by tasty blue berries in summer. .