Ground Covers for Low Maintenance Gardens

Runners or clumpers: the real choice

Low maintenance does not mean no decisions. Spreading ground covers like creeping boobialla (Myoporum parvifolium) and pigface cover a metre or two per plant and smother weeds quickly, but they will keep going past the bed edge, so plan on trimming the margins once or twice a year. Clumping plants such as Lime Tuff lomandra and Evergreen Giant liriope never wander, which makes them the lazier choice along paths and driveways even though full coverage takes an extra season. If the area gets walked on, that decides it: no mow grass, kidney weed and creeping thyme all take light foot traffic, and thyme is happy between pavers.

Matching the plant to the spot

For hot, dry, open ground, the succulent mats (blue chalk sticks, pigface) and silver growers like Dymondia shrug off heat, salt and poor soil. For moist shade under trees, native violet and kidney weed spread indefinitely by runners where lawn gives up, and dwarf mondo builds a solid dark green carpet. On slopes and retaining walls, Cousin It spills its soft weeping foliage 2m wide, with silver trailing dichondra (Dichondra argentea) cascading more than a metre down the face. Coastal gardens are the easy case, since more than half the range tolerates salt. In frosty southern gardens choose frost hardy types such as creeping boobialla, lomandra, seaside daisy and thyme; no mow grass and the succulents prefer light frost only.

Spacing and how many to buy

Spacing sets how fast the gaps close. Divide the bed area by the spacing squared for plant numbers.

• 15cm to 25cm apart. Dwarf mondo, kidney weed and Dymondia, roughly 16 to 40 plants per square metre for a solid carpet within a year.
• 30cm to 40cm apart. No mow grass, creeping thyme, native violet, liriope and seaside daisy, about 6 to 11 plants per square metre.
• 50cm to 60cm apart. Lime Tuff lomandra and pigface, 3 to 4 per square metre.
• 1m apart. The big spreaders, creeping boobialla and Cousin It, a single plant per square metre.

Tubestock makes big areas affordable: a 20 square metre bank is often cheaper to plant than to mulch.

The first year is the only hard year

Weed thoroughly before planting, because nothing suppresses weeds until it has knitted. Mulch between the young plants, water deeply once or twice a week through the first summer, and tip prune the fast growers to push them sideways. After that the jobs shrink to edging the spreaders and an annual cut back of seaside daisy, which self seeds readily and is best kept away from bushland margins.

Common questions

Which ground covers spread fastest?

Creeping boobialla, pigface, kidney weed and native violet are the quickest here, each covering their full spread in one to two growing seasons from a 1m or closer spacing.

Which are safe around dogs?

No mow grass, kidney weed, native violet, creeping thyme, Dymondia, pigface and liriope all carry our Pet Friendly flag. Creeping boobialla and blue chalk sticks do not, so browse the pet safe plant range if your dog chews.

Can a ground cover replace my lawn?

In low traffic areas, yes. No mow grass forms a soft undulating mat that rarely needs mowing, and kidney weed handles light foot traffic. Our no mow lawn alternatives guide compares the options honestly.

Do ground covers really suppress weeds?

Once fully knitted, a dense planting blocks most annual weeds from germinating. Until then it does nothing, which is why close spacing and pre-planting weed control matter more than the plant you pick.