Tag: Groundcovers

Ask the Expert: How to Invite More Good Bacteria Into Your Garden (And Your Gut) – Gardenista

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Is your garden probiotic? In other words, is it teeming with beneficial microbes that vastly outnumber pathogens and keep you healthy? Looking at your landscape from this angle, suggests British ecological gardener and designer Sid Hill, can be an easy way to boost your gut health.

Gardeners tend to have healthier microbiomes than non-gardeners, he says, since handling plants and soil and working outdoors increases our intake of the good guys, which easily enter our systems. Biodiversity in plants boosts the biodiversity of our gut flora. So, removing even just lowly moss or pulling little plants out of cracks reduces this access. Instead, as gardeners we need to make sure our landscapes invite more plant life, and one way to do this is by using materials that have bioreceptivity. It’s simpler than it sounds.

Photography courtesy of Sid Hill.

Above: Gardener Sid Hill demonstrates on his YouTube channel that even the ground can be full of beneficial microbes if allowed to support moss and other small plants.

Sid is a gardener who also coaches other gardeners on how to make their spaces more effective in supporting biodiversity. His communication style is persuasive, seen to good effect on his YouTube channel and on Instagram. Growing up, Sid was home-schooled, traveling around Europe with his parents in a campervan. At age 15, he even set up his own gardening business. Sid’s style is thoughtful. He is not looking for instant fame.

Recently, we asked Sid to tell us more about how something as passive as paving or a wall can support biodiversity.

Why is it important to encourage plant life in overlooked places?

Above: Sid Hill lives in Totnes, Devon, historically a part of the ancient rainforest around the western edges of the British Isles. It’s mossy and the trees are covered with lichen. “Use materials that naturally host life on their surfaces.”

“Science is showing that our own biology is closely linked to the health and diversity of plants in the landscape. We are constantly exchanging microbes with the environments around us. When those environments are thriving with plant life, that microbial exchange helps to strengthen our personal microbiome. And diversity is key.”

What materials in a garden are bioreceptive?

Above: Sid made this paving using local slate and stone, and aged wood as seating. In a bucket of water, he broke up moss that he gathered nearby and applied it to the cracks, which soon became green.

“Natural stone, weathered wood, and other organic materials are bioreceptive in the sense that they have the ability to host life. Surface texture is a huge factor in whether something supports life or not (the ingredients for this are shelter, water, and nutrients). That’s why cracks in paving are so successful: those crevices provide shelter from disturbance, hold moisture, and capture organic matter, which offers nutrition for mosses and other plants to establish.”

How do you reduce the impact of paving?

Above: To bind together pathways, Sid uses soilcrete. “It creates a semi-permeable surface which helps soften hard landscaping and bring life back into those built areas.”

“I’m an experimental gardener, always testing ideas and playing with new theories. The idea behind ‘soilcrete’ is to create a mix of roughly 5:1 garden soil to cement instead of using sand. Sand extraction has a huge environmental footprint, although, of course, cement is even more impactful. It’s very easy to use, but natural builders I’ve spoken to have since suggested using lime instead of cement. I haven’t tested that yet, so for me it’s still open for experimentation.”

How can we adjust or improve the hard landscaping we already have?

Above: Resist the impulse to tidy every crack and crevice.

“The key is to make plant growth look intentional. Allow moss to grow in a geometric pattern through paving cracks. Lift a few paving slabs and plant herbs or ornamental grasses in those gaps. Or you can sow wildflowers into the cracks so you end up with a patio that offers bursts of flowers through the season, rather than something that feels neglected or overgrown.”

See also:

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January 19, 2026
What to Do in the Garden in Extreme Heat: Tips for Climate-Resilient Landscapes

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This summer has been hot—really hot. Gardeners across the globe have recently experienced the four hottest days ever observed, and by all accounts, this is the new normal. Late last year the U.S.D.A. released their new Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which shifted zones for many locations, including the Midwest and Northeast, into the next warmer half zone. So, what’s a gardener to do? We reached out to a group of garden pros who have experience in gardening in extreme heat to ask them how we can plant and maintain our gardens to better weather hot summers.

Read on for their advice for picking plants, watering plantings, protecting trees, and more.

N.B.: Featured photograph above courtesy of Refugia, from Garden Visit: Refugia’s Quiet Revolution in Philadelphia’s Suburbs.

1. Stop planting.

After a particularly dry, hot summer in 2022, Claire Davis, an ecological garden designer in the Hudson Valley vowed: No more summer planting. “I decided that I wanted a cut-off date for plantings,” she says. “That super-dry, hot summer felt brutal for newly planted areas, and it was pretty miserable as a gardener trying to take care of them.” As a bonus, Davis says that pushing pause on planting has given her much welcome breathing space in her garden maintenance calendar. Instead of giving into the impulse to add annuals for “a little color” in midsummer, make detailed notes about when and where you lacked blooms, so you can make a plan to fill the gaps come fall.

2. Favor native perennials.

Above: The Bosque Garden at NYC’s The Battery, designed by Piet Oudolf, features native perennials. Photograph courtesy of The Battery Conservancy, from An Interview with Warrie Price, President and Founder of The Battery Conservancy.

When you do add plants in the fall (or next spring), all the experts we spoke to placed an emphasis on using perennial plants native to your region because they are naturally adapted to the climate there. “For the most resilience in the heat, use mostly perennial native plants instead of seasonal annuals, because their root systems are more extensive,” says Ginny Stibolt, the author of Climate-Wise Landscaping, who gardens in Florida. She notes that forgoing annuals will also result in less disturbance of the soil, which helps build up humus, so that the soil stays moist even when it’s hot.

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August 6, 2024
Hardscaping 101: Ground Covers to Plant Between Pavers – Gardenista

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Too often pathway gaps are neglected and become a home for weeds. But where some may see awkward spaces between stepping stones, I see potential. Plants between pavers can soften hard lines, adding a lush, living element to a design.

It’s relatively simple to fill the cracks between pavers with creeping plants that will stay low, won’t mind being squashed a bit, and may even be fragrant. Ground cover can triumph over weeds, too. Read on for everything you need to know:

How do you choose a ground cover to grow between pavers?

Above: White blooming Isotoma grows in a pathway, framing pavers with texture and color in a California garden designed by Elizabeth Everdell. Photograph courtesy of Everdell Garden Design.

As a landscaper, I routinely feel like a boss on the plant employee search, hunting for highly qualified plant candidates for the position of ground cover. Listed below is my required criteria:

Height: A plant should be low growing, raging in height from basically flat to 2 inches tall. Anything taller could be trip pedestrians and make the pavers look as if they are sinking, even drowning. Rule of thumb: the larger the scale of the pavers, the taller the filler plants can be.

Foliage: The ground cover should be vigorous (but not invasive) and dense like a carpet to smother competing weeds and cooperatively traverse the spaces for continuity.

Above: Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista. Cotula leptinella ‘Platt’s Black’ (dollhouse fern) grows densely and has a shallow root system, which makes it ideally suited to creeping between stones to fill cracks. See more of this garden in our Gardenista book.

Hardiness: A plant that grows between pavers should be tough and durable to withstand occasional trampling by foot or paw.

No-Fuss: Ground cover plants for pavers must require as little maintenance as possible. A total given.

Design: The ground cover needs to meet the design needs of foliage color, texture, and form. The choice also should complement the colors and textures of the pathway material rather than compete with it, and be congruent with the current landscape theme.

What are the best plants to grow between pavers?

The options below are by no means the only ones, just some of the popular ones, and you have different options depending on whether your path basks in sun or hides in shade.

Above: Different varieties of thyme such as ‘Minimus Russetings’ and ‘Purple Carpet’ soften the pavers in this Brooklyn rooftop garden. Photography by Marni Majorelle. For more, see Brooklyn Oasis: A City Roof Garden, Before & After.

Full Sun:

Creeping thyme (Thymus spp): Considered one of the finest ground covers for filling in between flagstones. It meets all of the criteria of a good plant employee. This petite herb comes in many varieties, all with tiny, rounded fragrant leaves in shades of dark green, lime green, and even yellow with a white edging. Elfin or woolly thyme are especially good varieties that will grow in difficult soils, stay flat and are frighteningly easy to grow.

Above: Between the pavers grows a carpet of creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’) at this landscape in Northern California. Photograph by Jason Liske, from California Dreaming: A Golden Landscape on the Edge of the Continent.

Dymondia (Dymondia margaretae) is a good alternative. Its phenomenally flat, tidy appearance bears slender leaves that are green on top and gray underneath. A slight upward curl on each leaf edge provides a frosted, two-tone look and it occasionally bears small yellow daisy flowers.

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June 14, 2024
Ground Ivy: This Pretty Weed that Grows on Lawns Is Edible

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For months, from early spring to the edges of summer, ground ivy’s tubular blue flowers announce its (often resented) presence in sunny lawns or in the high shade of garden or woodland trees. Its leaves are tiny and toothed; when nights are still cold and crisp, they are more burgundy than green, and its earliest flowers are periwinkle-blue. In lawns that are mown regularly the plants form compact, woven mats. Left to grow, they become slender and tall, festooned with flowers that turn gradually paler as the weather warms.

Crush a stem, and sniff its leaves: minty, with an oregano undertow. Collect a handful to scatter across a salad, to muddle into a drink, or to brew into a strawberry and rhubarb cordial (find that recipe below).

Photography by Marie Viljoen.

Above: A lawn blooms blue with ground ivy in early spring.

Ground ivy’s strong flavor and refreshing scent make it an appealing, low maintenance, and cold-hardy culinary herb. Botanically, it is Glechoma hederaceae, a potent perennial member of the mint family. Although it is credited with many other common names in English, the two that are most familiar are creeping Charlie and gill-over-the-ground. The latter name’s etymology give us a clue to one of its uses: “gil” is derived from guiller—to ferment, in French; ground ivy was used in beer making (Peterson, 2011). It is native to Europe and and has long been used as a medicinal, culinary, and brewing herb.

Above: Ground ivy is impervious to mowing, and forms dense, steppable carpets.

While its spread can be aggressive where it is not native, its threat seems to be mainly to lawns. In the context of the persistent mania for a weed-free lawn monoculture (whose success often depends on herbicide use and a lot of synthetic fertilizer), I find this lawn weed hard to dislike.

Above: In early spring ground ivy’s leaves are tinged with burgundy, especially if it grows in full sun.

Above: Left unmown, ground ivy can grow tall before its stems flop to the ground, where they take root.

Above: A bowl of ground ivy on a rainy spring day.

Above: Cucumber, salted rhubarb slices, and sheep feta with pomegranate molasses and ground ivy.

I like to scatter its pretty flowers across salads where their piercing freshness is offset by juicy or salty elements.

Above: Ground ivy has become one of my favorite herbs to pair with strawberries.

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May 20, 2024
Best Blue Flowers to Grow in the Garden: My Favorite Blue Perennials and Annuals

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Recently, one of my clients asked if I would add some blue flowers to her garden. Her young daughter had learned that dogs are color-blind and can see only blues and yellows, and now she wanted to make sure their garden had blue flowers in it so that their dog would be able to enjoy them. Naturally my heart swelled and my list of blue flowers grew. I bolted to the nursery and picked up some favorites.

Because of this project, I learned to truly appreciate how blues add a cooling and calming splash of color. I also learned, after reading the book, How the Rose Got its Thorns and Other Botanical Stories, by Andrew Ormerod, that few plants produce anthocyanins, the pigments responsible for the blue hue, which is why blue flowers are relatively rare in nature. “They are most commonly found in environmentally impoverished habitats where pollinators are scarce—with its short wavelength, the color blue stands out and attracts bee pollinators,” he writes.

Here are eight of my favorite blue flowers (and possibly dog and bee favorites, too).

1. Lobelia, Lobelia erinus ‘Magadi Compact Dark Blue’

Above: Photograph by Kier Holmes.

Sometimes you need a fast-growing annual to add to pots, containers, and window boxes that are in a sunny spot. This lobelia is so good at filling planting gaps with color. With a trailing habit, it’s slightly upright, slightly relaxed, and produces vibrant blue flowers in the spring through summer if deadheaded. In mild climates this annual can reseed—in a good way. Hardy in USDA Zones 8-11. I like to plant mine from six-packs or from seed.

2. Siberian bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla

Above: Photograph by Patrick Standish via Flickr.

What makes this perennial extra cute are the heart-shaped leaves and the tiny baby-blue flowers that arrive in the spring and continue through the summer. Add this deer-resistant, easy-to-grow ground cover to a partly shaded cottage or woodland garden and pair it with hellebores, bleeding hearts, and ferns. Grows to 1 to 2 feet high and as wide. Hardy in USDA Zones 3-9.

3. Baby blue eyes, Nemophila menziesii

Above: Photograph by Joe Decruyenaere via Flickr.

Native to California, this darling annual gifts you with bright blue dainty flowers in the spring. Easy to sow from seed, it is commonly added to wildflower seed mixes. Pro tip: Sow your seeds in a partly sunny spot and provide them with ample water. I sowed my seeds in the fall for my spring bloom, but I live in a warm-winter areas. In cold-winter areas, sow your seeds in the spring. The flower grows to a petite 10 inches high and in a container, will tumble playfully over the edges. You can purchase seeds through Larner Seeds.

4. Pincushion flower, Scabiosa Caucasica ‘Fama Deep Blue’

Above: Photograph by Kier Holmes.

I grow this flower in my garden and and am rewarded with mega large ruffled blue blooms—4 inches across! I swear, these flowers are constantly buzzing with bees and butterflies from spring to fall. It also makes an excellent long-lasting cut flower, and the more I cut, the more blooms I get. Grows to 2 feet tall and wide and likes full sun and well-draining soil. Perfect when added to pots or edging a perennial bed or cutting garden. Hardy in USDA Zones 4-9.

5. Germander sage, Salvia chamaedryoides

Above: Photograph by Seán A. O’Hara via Flickr.

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April 30, 2024
Ceanothus: A Guide to Growing California Lilacs

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California Lilac, Ceanothus

Are you a devotee of multitasking plants—meaning, you choose plants based on whether they serve many purposes? If your answer is yes, then I have a plant for you: California lilac. Not only are ceanothus colorful, but they are extremely low-thirst, low-maintenance, and pollinator-friendly. And though they burst forth with amazingly fragrant spring blooms, California lilacs are not related to true lilacs (Syringa).

Please keep reading to learn more about the other lilac:

Above: California lilac spotted on A Leisurely Stroll Through the SF Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park. Photograph by Michelle Slatalla.

California lilac is a large genus of diverse, helpful, flowering trees, shrubs, and ground covers. Many are native to North America—with more than half a dozen native to Oregon, and many others only to California, which explains its common name. Adding to this diversity, some species are evergreen and other deciduous. You can generally tell them apart visually because the evergreen varieties have smaller (sometimes toothed), darker, and leathery leaves while the deciduous ones have softer, larger leaves. The flowers on both are most often fragrant, quite showy, and pollinator-attracting. Flower color ranges from white to pink to purplish-blue and electric blue. This explosion of blooms usually happens March into May. The other difference among them are their habit and ultimate heights. Some grow into spectacular trees 18 to 20 feet tall, while others creep along the ground and make great ground covers for erosion control and weed suppression.

Above: A Ceanothus in bloom. Photograph by Andy2boyz via Flickr.

While most gardeners believe that ceanothus suffer from a moderately short lifespan of 10 years or so, this is not totally accurate. These plants can live long lives—as long as you don’t kill them with kindness. Pamper these plants and you accelerate their demise. The culprits? Overly rich soil and too much water, soil amendment, or fertilizer. An interesting note is that the reason you don’t want to overfeed these plants is that some members of the genus are able to form a symbiotic relationship with soil fungi and microbes, creating nitrogen-fixing root nodules, meaning they make their own food. Plus, bad fungal diseases can arise from too much water and improper drainage.

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March 7, 2024