Plant group
Eleven low spreading plants for covering bare soil, holding slopes and filling the front of beds, with spreads, light needs and planting densities.
Last reviewed 12 March 2027
A groundcover is not decoration at the front of a bed. It is living mulch. Its job is to stop bare soil from crusting over, heating up and washing away, and it does that job better and for longer than any applied mulch because it renews itself. In Australian conditions, covering the soil is the single most useful thing a low planting does.
Bare soil in an Australian summer reaches temperatures that damage the fine surface roots most plants depend on. It also crusts: the surface seals after rain and heat, and the next fall runs off instead of soaking in. Applied mulch fixes both problems, but it breaks down, blows into corners, and needs topping up twice a year. A closed groundcover does the same work permanently.
On slopes the case is stronger again. Water running across bare ground takes soil with it, and mulch on a slope simply migrates downhill. A groundcover that roots as it spreads — creeping boobialla is the obvious example — binds the surface and holds it. On a batter or the top of a retaining wall, this is usually the only thing that works without engineering.
Groundcovers are less forgiving of a wrong position than shrubs are, because they have no reserve of woody structure to carry them through a bad season. The three questions are light, moisture and traffic, in that order.
Light. Sun species put into shade do not simply grow more slowly; they open out, go thin and stay that way. Myoporum parvifolium, Scaevola aemula, Chrysocephalum apiculatum and creeping thyme all need full sun. Viola hederacea and Ajuga reptans need shade or part shade and will burn in an open western position. Dichondra repens sits in the middle and behaves differently by district: part shade in warm zones, full sun only where summers are mild.
Moisture. The split here is sharp. Native violet and Lobelia pedunculata need consistent moisture and are the right answer for a damp shaded corner. Pigface and creeping thyme need sharp drainage and rot at the crown in soil that stays wet. There is very little middle ground, and the failure takes a season or two to become obvious, by which point the whole planting is affected rather than one plant.
Traffic. Almost none of these plants take real foot traffic. Dichondra and Lobelia pedunculata tolerate occasional stepping; the rest do not. If an area is genuinely walked on, it needs paving or lawn, and there is guidance on the alternatives in lawns.
Density decides how long a bed spends looking half-finished. For a plant that spreads to about a metre, one per square metre gives closed cover in roughly two growing seasons. Doubling the density halves the time but doubles the cost and, on slopes, is often worth it because the soil is exposed for half as long.
Prepare the whole bed rather than individual holes. Groundcovers root shallowly and spread laterally, so a strip of improved soil around each plant does nothing for the ground in between, which is where they need to run. Loosen the top 200 mm across the bed, add compost, level it, plant, then mulch lightly between plants at about 25 mm — enough to suppress weeds and hold moisture, not so much that the spreading stems cannot reach soil.
Weed diligently for the first two seasons. This is the whole battle. Once a groundcover has closed over, weed pressure drops sharply because there is no light reaching bare soil; before that, weeds compete directly and will win. Hand weeding and mulch are the tools here.
Most groundcovers open out in the centre as they age. The remedy is renewal: shear the planting back by a third to a half in late winter or straight after the main flowering flush, which forces new growth from the base and closes the middle again. Brachyscome, Scaevola, Chrysocephalum and thyme all respond to this. Doing it every year is better than doing it hard every third year.
Running types need an edge to work against. Ajuga, Chrysocephalum and Viola all spread by runners and will keep going into lawn and paths unless something stops them. A mowing strip, a paved edge or a buried edging board saves a great deal of ongoing work. Cutting the runners back twice a year is the alternative, and it is a job that never ends.
Heights and spreads below are mature dimensions in open ground. Spread is the more useful figure for planning density.
Myoporum parvifolium
The fastest flat mat on this list and the standard choice for hot banks, nature strips and the tops of retaining walls. It roots as it runs, which makes it genuinely useful for holding soil on a slope. Full sun only; it thins out badly in shade and will not recover.
Zones: temperate, arid, subtropical
Kennedia prostrata
Trailing pea with scarlet flowers through spring, at home on poor sandy ground and actively unhappy in rich, heavily improved beds. Good on dry embankments and between established shrubs. Keep it away from irrigation lines; summer water over the crown shortens its life considerably.
Zones: temperate, arid, cool
Carpobrotus glaucescens
Succulent mat for pure coastal sand and full exposure, with large magenta flowers in spring. It is the correct plant for a foredune-style position and the wrong plant almost everywhere else — in soil that holds water it rots at the crown within a season or two.
Zones: subtropical, temperate, tropical
Viola hederacea
The most useful filler for damp shade under established trees and along the south side of a house, where little else will knit together. Spreads by runners into a low green mat with small purple and white flowers most of the year. Needs consistent moisture; it browns off quickly in dry heat.
Zones: temperate, subtropical, cool
Dichondra repens
Low green carpet often used as a no-mow alternative in areas with light foot traffic, such as a courtyard or a path edge. It thins under hard wear and will not take the treatment a lawn takes. Best in part shade in warm districts and in full sun only where summers are mild.
Zones: temperate, subtropical, cool
Scaevola aemula
Long-flowering blue fan flowers on a low spreader that suits the front of hot borders, retaining wall tops and containers. Flowers for most of the warm months. It is short-lived by nature: shear it back hard after the main flush and expect to replace plants every three or four years.
Zones: temperate, subtropical
Brachyscome multifida
Fine ferny foliage under mauve or white daisies for most of the year, forming a neat low cushion rather than a running mat. Shear it by half after the main flush to stop the centre opening out. Tolerates frost and dry heat, which makes it unusually versatile for a small perennial.
Zones: temperate, cool, arid
Chrysocephalum apiculatum
Silver-grey mat with clustered yellow button flowers over a long season, and one of the toughest choices available for dry inland verges and gravel gardens. It spreads by underground runners, so give it room rather than a tight edge, and cut it back hard in late winter to renew it.
Zones: arid, temperate, cool
Lobelia pedunculata
Very low creeper for paving joints, stepping-stone gaps and cool damp gardens, studded with small blue flowers through spring and summer. It needs consistent moisture and cool conditions; in a hot dry position it burns off and does not return. Takes light foot traffic once established.
Zones: cool, temperate
Ajuga reptans
Glossy dark rosettes with upright blue flower spikes in spring, and the most reliable evergreen cover for genuine shade. It spreads by surface runners and will keep going, so plant it where a hard edge — paving, a mowing strip, a wall — gives it something to work against.
Zones: temperate, cool
Thymus serpyllum
Tight aromatic mat for gravel paths, paving edges and the hot dry front of a border, covered in small pink flowers in early summer. Requires sharp drainage and full sun to stay dense; in damp or shaded ground it opens up, goes woody in the centre and looks poor within two years.
Zones: temperate, cool, arid
Check that any spreading species you are considering is not a declared weed in your state or region — vigorous groundcovers are over-represented on state weed lists. Check current biosecurity restrictions with your state or territory service before moving plants, cuttings or soil between states or regions.