SWEET WOODRUFF

(Galium odoratum)

Sweet Woodruff is a lovely plant that will spread like a ground cover in your garden. It has small white flowers in spring through early summer. It’s vigorous but not aggressive and can coexist nicely with bulbs that will come right up through it. They spread stoloniferously by sending out stolons or side shoots just beneath the soil surface.

WHERE TO PLANT SWEET WOODRUFF

• An ideal ground cover. Plant as a ground cover around shrubs.

• A wonderful border accent in woodland gardens.

• It thrives in rich garden soil, in part to full shade.

OTHER GROUNDCOVERS

• Other ground covers that do well in shade include the more common evergreen pachysandra and Vinca minor, Periwinkle.

• Pachysandra: We carry the Japanese spurge, pachysandra terminalis. Our favorite is the native one, Pachysandra procumbens.

• Vinca: We carry Vinca minor Bowles, with the early summer blooming blue flowers and the white flowering Vinca minor. We also carry Illumination, a vinca cultivar with yellow variegated foliage and a blue flower.

• Epimedium, barrenwort: Another less common groundcover that thrives in shade is Epimedium. Epimedium Spine Tingler is a cultivar that is available now. This year we also have Frohnleiten, Rubrum, Sulphureum, Niveum, Pink Champagne, Domino and Amber Queen, which won the RHA (Royal Horticultural Award) of Merit.

• Ferns: Ferns can spread nicely like ground covers such as Matteuca struthiopteris (the Ostrich fern), Dennstaedtia punctiloba (Hay Scented Fern) and Onoclea sensibilis. Dennstaedtia punctiloba and Onoclea sensibilis are both hard to find. We don’t have either in stock right now.

• Geum: The native Geum has been mentioned as a good ground cover. Geum triflorum has beautiful seed pods.

• Thyme: Creeping and wooly thymes are ground covers we like to recommend for sun. Creeping thyme comes in white flowers (albiflorus), red flowers (coccineus) or pink chintz with pink flowers. We also carry creeping lemon and Elfin thyme.

• Laurentia fluviatilis, Blue Star Creeper and Pratia: Two other interesting plants that spread like ground covers.

  And there are plenty more! 

Try planting ground covers at the base of your shrubs instead of mulching. Ground covers are very effective at keeping weeds out!