Empty spots in your Tennessee garden can make your yard look unfinished and messy. Ground covers are plants that spread quickly and fill these bare areas with beautiful greenery and flowers.
They help prevent weeds from growing while adding color and texture to your outdoor space. Check out these fast-growing options perfect for Tennessee’s climate!
1. Creeping Phlox
Carpets of colorful blooms appear every spring when Creeping Phlox takes over your garden beds. This low-maintenance plant spreads about two feet wide and creates a thick mat that chokes out weeds naturally.
Pink, purple, white, and blue flowers cover the foliage completely during blooming season. The needle-like leaves stay green year-round in Tennessee’s mild winters.
Plant it along walkways, on slopes, or between stepping stones for maximum visual impact.
2. Ajuga (Bugleweed)
Shady spots become showstoppers when Ajuga moves in with its glossy, colorful foliage. Bronze, purple, and green leaves create a stunning tapestry that stays attractive from spring through fall.
Blue or purple flower spikes shoot up in late spring, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. Ajuga tolerates foot traffic reasonably well once established.
It spreads quickly through runners, filling bare ground in just one growing season under trees or along foundations.
3. Vinca Minor (Periwinkle)
Glossy evergreen leaves make Vinca Minor a year-round winner for Tennessee gardens. Delicate blue-purple flowers pop up in spring and sometimes reappear in fall, adding cheerful color to shaded areas.
This tough plant handles drought, poor soil, and competition from tree roots without complaining. The trailing stems root wherever they touch the ground, creating a dense cover.
Use it on steep banks where mowing is difficult or under large trees where grass struggles to survive.
4. Mondo Grass
Looking like miniature grass but behaving much better, Mondo Grass forms neat clumps that spread steadily. Dark green, grass-like leaves stay attractive in all seasons, even during Tennessee’s occasional cold snaps.
Tiny purple flowers hide beneath the foliage in summer, followed by blue berries that birds enjoy. This plant thrives in shade where regular grass fails miserably.
Space plants six inches apart for quick coverage along pathways or as edging around flower beds and borders.
5. Sedum (Stonecrop)
Succulent leaves store water, making Sedum the champion of dry, sunny spots in Tennessee yards. Star-shaped flowers in yellow, pink, or white blanket the plants from late spring through summer.
This drought-tolerant warrior grows in rocky soil, clay, or even gravel where other plants give up completely. Stems root easily when they touch the ground, spreading the coverage quickly.
Plant Sedum in rock gardens, along hot driveways, or anywhere that stays dry and receives full sun throughout the day.
6. Liriope (Lilyturf)
Arching blades of green or variegated foliage give Liriope a graceful appearance in borders and mass plantings. Purple or white flower spikes rise above the leaves in late summer, providing color when many plants are fading.
Black berries follow the flowers, adding winter interest for birds and gardeners alike. This evergreen plant tolerates heat, humidity, and drought once its roots establish themselves.
Space plants twelve inches apart for fast coverage in sun or partial shade throughout Tennessee gardens.
7. English Ivy
Climbing or trailing, English Ivy adapts to whatever job you need done in shady garden areas. The iconic lobed leaves create a lush, forest-floor appearance that stays green through all four seasons.
Vines root at every node, creating an incredibly dense mat that prevents erosion on slopes and banks. Once established, it requires almost no maintenance or watering in Tennessee’s climate.
Keep it contained with regular trimming since this vigorous grower can overwhelm smaller plants or climb nearby structures.
8. Pachysandra
Whorls of glossy green leaves create a sophisticated look in woodland gardens and shaded areas. Pachysandra forms a dense, weed-blocking carpet about six to eight inches tall that stays evergreen in Tennessee winters.
Small white flowers appear in spring but the real star is the attractive foliage that brightens dark corners. This plant spreads through underground stems, filling in gaps steadily each year.
Perfect for planting under mature trees where grass refuses to grow and other ground covers struggle to establish themselves.
9. Creeping Jenny
Bright golden-yellow leaves light up shady spots like sunshine spilling across your garden floor. Round, coin-shaped foliage covers trailing stems that root wherever they make contact with moist soil.
Yellow buttercup-like flowers add extra brightness in summer months throughout Tennessee gardens. Creeping Jenny tolerates wet areas better than most ground covers, making it ideal for drainage problems.
Plant it along stream banks, around ponds, or in consistently damp areas where other plants develop root rot.
10. Sweet Woodruff
Delicate white star-shaped flowers float above whorls of bright green leaves in late spring. Sweet Woodruff releases a pleasant vanilla-like fragrance when the leaves are crushed or brushed against while walking.
This charming plant spreads quickly in shaded, moist areas under trees and along woodland paths. The foliage dies back in winter but returns reliably each spring in Tennessee gardens.
Use it as a fragrant carpet in shady areas where you want both beauty and a delightful scent experience.
11. Mazus Reptans
Tiny purple-blue flowers with yellow throats cover this low-growing plant from spring through early summer. Mazus Reptans forms a dense mat only two inches tall, making it perfect for filling spaces between pavers and stones.
It tolerates light foot traffic and spreads rapidly through creeping stems that root along the ground. This semi-evergreen plant stays attractive in Tennessee’s mild winters and bounces back quickly in spring.
Plant it in full sun to partial shade where you need fast coverage in tight spaces.