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TEN Ground Covers for Weed Control +2019 May Urban Garden/Edible Landscape Tour Albopepper Walk-thru



Select the best ground covers for blocking out weeds and reducing the need for wood mulch. What plants work well for shade vs sun? What about drought vs wet conditions? Which plants can handle foot traffic? Are there any edible ground covers? Watch to find out!

When it comes to keeping weeds at bay, sheet mulching with cardboard and wood mulch is a great way to reclaim an overgrown, weedy bed. But it’s only a quick fix and temporary measure. Weed seeds will still blow in and before you know it, new weeds are starting to sprout.

That’s why competition is so crucial. Don’t leave areas bare and vacant. Plant them in with layers of bushes, shrubs and ground covers. Creeping perennials are the lowest on the ladder, literally hugging the ground and crowding out many opportunistic weed seeds.

But selecting a ground cover is not a one size fits all decision. On my property I’ve experimented with over a dozen different kinds. Some have failed to hold up. Others have made the cut. I’m going to show you the ten ground covers that I’m currently growing.

Pay attention to where they appear in relation to my property line, buildings, walkways and other plants. Hopefully these options will give you some ideas for designing your own lush plantings!

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TEN Ground Covers on My Lot
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0:00 – Overview of Site

4:35 – Gravel Walkway

5:52 – 01 ► Creeping Thyme

6:35 – 02 ► Elfin Thyme

6:57 – 03 ► Irish Moss

7:36 – 04 ► Strawberries

8:24 – 05 ► Sedum Stonecrop

9:07 – 06 ► Sweet Woodruff

9:50 – 07 ► Lingonberries

10:05 – 08 ► Kinnikinnick, Bearberry

10:30 – 09 ► Arctic Raspberries, Nagoonberry

10:50 – 10 ► Leptinella, Brass Buttons

11:53 – Additional Tips

Read More at Albopepper.com:
► https://albopepper.com/long-term-weed-control-with-ground-cover-plants.php

My Favorite Resource on Ground Covers (non-endorsed):
★★★ https://stepables.com ★★★

#GroundCovers #NaturalGardening #LowMaintenance #CreepingPerennials #WeedControl #Permaculture #Albopepper

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43 Comments

  3. Cindy Ocasio

    New follower and also new homeowner here! I love your space and how you've organized it! I have a fairly large and weed-ridden lot in NJ. I am trying to get the weeds under control and was going to use the box and mulch method to suppress, but I am the Queen of Lolligagging and will convince myself that I need to outline a plan before doing anything. Did you create a plan first or did you just plant as you went along?

  4. Sarah99ruth

    Wow i was thinking of landscape fabric and gravel right over my ugly walkway! Now i know it can be done! Thanks

  8. Sarah Harris

    Are you in the Pittsburgh area?! I love all these suggestions. My husband and I would be happy to have a grass alternative but with five boys and neighbors in our yard everyday, we’ll stick with grass. ☺️

  9. Lisa V

    Thank you. I live in Northeast Ohio so zone 6. I have a stone border that surrounds my pretty brick patio. It gets covered by creeping Charlie. I pulled out one side. The creeping Charlie hasn't grown back yet, but crab grass has started to grow between the rocks so I'm looking for something that can actually grow in stone. Something pretty. I don't care for any thing of the yellow green color.

  15. Steven Paul Ploog

    Thanks for the great video! Totally unqualified to make this suggestion but… I'll throw it out there anyway. Your hand is a bit of a distraction and forces the camera to change focus between your hand and yard. Awesome lay out!

  16. RJSoftware2000

    I understand the purpose of living soil, symbiotic relationships of plants and the micro biome, the bacterial and fungal relationship, bacterial dominance and fungal, the desired ratio of 1 to 1. But what constitutes a weed seems strange. I learn how cover crop is the sacrificial food which also promotes air/water flow and the micorrhizae that directly feeds the roots and can even deliver needed nutrients from distance in exchange for sugars from plant roots. But what constitutes a weed?

  17. Ralph Mickey

    Is there any of those that can fight and win against the creeping charlie variety ??? just noticed a week ago how much of it we have.

  20. Angie

    Hi I’m zone 6a 🥶🥶🥶 Michigan! I so excited that you TEACH! By example. Beautiful garden layout 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Glad to meet you🙋🏽‍♀️👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

  21. Rebecca Wells

    Dude you need a bigger yard!!! You're too good a gardener not to! More space! I get the little jewel philosophy but you are a farmer! Berries, fruits, yep, sell this house and move to the country! Not trying to dish, just want you to be fulfilled! Like your channel! Very Helpful!

  22. Rebecca Wells

    I have wild strawberries all over the place that are just native plants to Arkansas! Maybe I'll augment with more from the Nursery.

  26. manny2fs

    Do you have any drainage problems with the plastic under your gravel? I'd like to do this as well. I live in southern California and don't get much rain but I'm curious about this.

  29. WP SN

    One great thing about sweet woodruff is it does GREAT in a semi-forested yard. So if you live in a wooded yard with tons of shade and lateral root structures AND tons of deer, sweet woodruff is one of the few plants I know of that thrive in that environment and deer don't like it very much. ALSO, in May and June, it erupts with tons of beautiful small white flowers, and it only gets about a foot high so it won't becoming annoyingly tall like some ground cover. It even seems to do well with acidic clay soil with rocks/roots/erosion issues. And has a really delicate graceful look on a landscape despite being super hearty. Great stuff!

  30. Deb H

    hi! new subscriber! great video, some suggestions i've never heard of before. Looks like you are in Pittsburgh, me too!!!! Go Steelers!

  31. Ruth Cline

    Nice garden, good info.
    Thanks!
    I’m in the northern panhandle of Wv so we’re nearly neighbors.
    I’ll check out your posts in the future.

  34. Ambil Aevus

    I didn't know the name of that sedum. Old last gave me some in 2006 and I've got it everywhere a mower can't reach. I've even got it going between some pavers for drainage/erosion control.
    A few lawn services have adamantly told me it's an invasive weed that I need to pay them to kill & put grass seed down . Glad to have a name for it now.

  35. MaCoeur

    1. Pachysandra/Japanese Spurge

    2. Bishops Weed/Ground Elder/Aegopodium podagraria

    I love both of these.

    The Pachysandra loves shady areas and chokes out weeds amazingly. Always looks great, and other plant and tree debrit that falls in the yard just settles down below the leaves where you don't see it and becomes compost. Spreads easily enough …not too fast…but not difficult to contain as the roots are relatively shallow. It's also very easy to dig up a clump and transplant to another location.

    The Ground elder (I have the variagated type) also grows great in the shade but supposedly also does well in the sun. Also chokes out weeds and hides garden/tree debrit until it breaks down into compost. This one is also not too difficult to control but requires a little more attention in this regard. If ignored for long periods of time, it will likely take over the yard. I only have to dig the border once a year to keep in in check…and I either transplant what I remove or give it to friends.

    Both of these can be mowed over or weed whacked if they ever get raggedy looking due to extreme temperatures (cold or heat) and will come right back looking beautiful in no time.

    Both also work great around trees where it's difficult to get other things to grow.

  36. 00BeesKnees00

    I planted red creeping thyme last year and this year it's giving me beautiful magenta blooms. But it's not good at blocking weeds. I still have to pull out them out. It also grow only 12 inches wide and 1 inch tall. Creeping phlox is much better at weed control. My one plant spread quickly up to 2 feet the first year. By next spring it was all covered with gorgeous pink flowers and has grown 3 feet wide. This year I'm trying Mother of Thyme (thymus serpyllum). It grows faster than the red thyme and much better at blocking out weeds. Creeping thymes are more drought tolerant than their edible counterparts.

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