Native groundcovers

All groundcovers do wonders for a garden by suppressing weeds and stabilising soil moisture and temperature. Native groundcovers go one step further, and there are fantastic choices available for every situation.

Using a native option adds yet more layers to the plant’s value, as most of them offer suitable habitat for local critters, require minimal water, are low maintenance and are adapted to Australian conditions.

Retaining walls

A retaining wall is a blank canvas waiting to be decorated. Floriferous groundcovers, such as fairy fan-flower (Scaevola aemula), creeping boobialla (Myoporum parvifolium) and Goodenia ‘Gold Cover’, bring the wow factor. Creeping boobialla is a tough plant that copes with drought, light frost and saline soil, growing 25cm high and up to 3m wide. Forms include those with a fine leaf, a purple leaf, or white or pink flowers.

Groundcovers with growing oomph will embellish and ‘soften’ tall retaining walls. Snake vine (Hibbertia scandens), beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae) and Grevillea ‘Bronze Rambler’ spread metres wide, and they have colourful insect- and bird-attracting flowers. Beach morning glory thrives in the tropics and subtropics, while G. ‘Bronze Rambler’ and snake vine flourish everywhere except the tropics.

Two plants that love the radiant heat that stone and brick walls emit are the beach babies: white or hot-pink flowering pigface (Carpobrotus glaucescens and C. rossii) and warrigal greens (Tetragonia tetragonioides). As you’d imagine, they thrive in dry, saline and well-drained soil.

Large areas

Plants that spread widely help reduce maintenance, turn a boring expanse into a feature, and bring joy to the hip pocket.

Grevillea ‘Poorinda Royal Mantle’ is a dense, prostrate groundcover that quickly spreads in all directions to about 6m. The leathery leaves are a glossy green, with coppery new growth. Red flowers appear mostly in winter and spring, attracting nectar-loving critters. Suitable for tricky or eroding embankments, it grows in most soil types and is drought and frost tolerant. It can be grown in all but tropical areas.

Running postman (Kennedia prostrata) suits temperate to subtropical areas and prefers a moist, well-drained soil. In the tropics, consider pink-flowering beach bean (Canavalia rosea) or beach vitex (Vitex rotundifolia). Both spread more than 6m and set roots along the stems, so they’re perfect for binding soil.

Super-spreaders that can transform dry, dusty expanses include Banksia ‘Roller Coaster’, with its crazy habit, and spreading correa (Correa decumbens), which suits either sunny or shady spots.

Cottage gardens

The groundcovers that are most suitable for sunny cottage gardens and beds are the slightly taller-growing show-offs. Daisies, such as chamomile sunray (Rhodanthe anthemoides), everlasting daisy (Rhodanthe chlorocephala subsp. rosea), Brachyscome spp. and the many Xerochrysum varieties, are the stars of the show for many months through spring and summer.

While daisies tend to need replacing every few years, some of the sprawling small shrubs, such as Alyogyne ‘Blue Heeler’, Crowea ‘Green Cape’ and Grevillea ‘Winter Delight’, offer more prolonged substance and can form the backbone of a garden bed.

Rockeries

With grey-green, furry leaves and cheery, butterfly-attracting flowers, yellow buttons (Chrysocephalum apiculatum) looks good with all types of rocks, and readily spills over and around them. It grows Australia-wide, and there are many different forms, so seek out the one that occurs naturally in your area. Most forms grow 15–30cm high by 1–1.5m wide.

Trailing pratia (Pratia pedunculata) is the quintessential rockery plant. It’s delightfully dainty and low-growing, and spreads via stolons creeping politely into crevices. It looks as if it would prefer shade, but it’s a sun lover. It has small, lush leaves, and masses of tiny, starry, white or mauve flowers in spring and summer.

For a rockery that’s situated in dappled shade, consider growing kidney weed (Dichondra repens), running postman (Kennedia prostrata) and stalked guinea-flower (Hibbertia pedunculata).

Header image credit: Ramm Botanicals