Groundcover that Remains Green in Winter (2024)

FAQs

Groundcover that Remains Green in Winter? ›

Juniper 'Nana'

Deer resistant and shade tolerant, this ground-hugging evergreen boasts an easy growing personality that holds its color all winter long.

Juniper 'Nana'

Deer resistant and shade tolerant, this ground-hugging evergreen boasts an easy growing personality that holds its color all winter long.

Creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis 'Wiltonii') is a hardy evergreen plant with silvery-blue foliage. In the winter, it can take on a purplish tone. It is a drought-tolerant ground cover that craves full sun and excellent soil drainage.

Pachysandra is a plant that's known for being able to grow in the shade. It's also evergreen, so it looks good all year. Unfortunately, it's also known for being very invasive (in some circles).

Some of the most common evergreen shrubs include arborvitae, boxwood, false cypress, holly, juniper, wintercreeper, azalea and rhododendron.

It will remain evergreen during mild winters. Pruning of the stems is recommended to maintain their appearance. The stems tend to spread out horizontally and take root to form a flat mat.

In winter, the leaves of creeping phlox remain evergreen but may be slightly browned by cold or dry weather, although fresh growth will appear in spring.

English ivy (Hedera helix) Ivy is one of the toughest, hardiest groundcovers available. Adaptable to almost any condition but dry full sun, it has saved many an “unplantable” area. It can become invasive, especially when seeds are dispersed far and wide by birds.

Alternative plant: Allegheny spurge

Unlike the aforementioned Japanese species, the foliage of this native pachysandra has a lightly glaucous-blue matte finish. Once established, it is extremely drought and shade tolerant. There are also some lovely variegated cultivars.

What grows faster, vinca or pachysandra? ›

Vinca minor spreads even faster than pachysandra, and although lilies, tulips, and other bulbs can freely penetrate its dense green mat, few weeds can. My beagle, Lily, enjoys this verdant ground cover too; I've more than once found her napping in it.

Pachysandra terminalis (Japanese Spurge) is a shrubby, evergreen ground cover which spreads via underground runners to form a dense carpet of rich, dark green foliage. Tiny white flower spikes appear in early spring, but the added value of this plant is its attractive foliage.

Here are some of her favorite evergreen plants to add life to the winter garden. Packera aurea (golden ragwort) and Packera obovata (roundleaf ragwort) are the most familiar species. Both have semi-evergreen basal foliage that forms dense rosettes to crowd out competitors.

Prunus lusitanica (Portugal Laurel) is a beautiful evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Iberian Peninsula. It features glossy dark green leaves, deep rhubarb-colored stems, and fragrant white flowers in late spring. The flowers give way to small red cherries that turn dark purple in fall, attracting birds.

In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season.

What it takes is a bit of planning and some useful season extenders, like floating row covers, cold frames, or small, plastic-covered hoop tunnels. The garden at its winter peak is abundant. A lettuce bed is draped with floating row cover to protect it from a freeze.

Evergreen trees are known for their year long green leaves. Deciduous and evergreen are two types of trees. Each type has a different life cycle. Deciduous trees lose their leaves in the fall and evergreen trees keep their leaves during the fall and winter.