Benefits of Growing Native Ground covers.
When planning your garden it’s often easy to overlook ground covers as trees and shrubs take prominence in the thought process. Ground covers play a very versatile and important part in your native garden. We're spreading the ground cover love by breaking this down into our top five reasons to grow ground covers, ensuring you more success in your garden.
Ground Covers act as a living mulch.
Adding organic mulch is an integral part of maintaining a healthy garden but did you know that ground cover plants also act as mulch? Ground covers protect the soil biomes from the harsh sun, keeping the soil cool and moist by reducing evaporation. Living mulches also reduce soil erosion, a common and overlooked issue that prevents our gardens from thriving.
Ground covers provide nutrition to the soil
The more roots you have in your soil, the more nutrients you are providing to the soil. Living roots provide soil biology with its food source; carbon. Well-fed soil equals well fed plants.
Ground covers suppress weeds
Why introduce herbicides or spend hours picking weeds when you can instead avoid having weeds in the first place? Ground covers do a great job of suppressing weed growth by blocking young seedlings access to the sun, preventing the weed from photosynthesis. Without this process, the weed will die.
Ground covers help our local critters thrive!
Having a cover on the soil creates a safe place for beneficial insects to thrive. These insects are important for the health of your garden as they aerate and provide nutrients to the soil. Ground covers also provide habitats for many of our critters including invertebrates, mammals, birds and reptiles.
Dichondra repens
Because they are easy on the eye!
Aesthetically speaking, native groundcovers add another level of dimension and beauty to your garden. For example, the silvery foliage of an Eremophila glabra contrasts nicely against the dark green foliage of a Cockies Tongue. Introducing new textures and diversity into your garden will leave your neighbours gawking!
Groundcovers provide many practical and aesthetic reasons to belong in your garden, so give them a go and watch your garden oasis thrive!
