The benefits of growing native groundcovers in your Perth garden.
When choosing plants for your garden, it’s often easy to overlook groundcovers, with trees and shrubs taking prominence in the thought process. Groundcovers play a very versatile and integral part in your native garden. We have broken this down into our top five reasons that may help spread the groundcover love!
Groundcovers act as a living mulch.
Adding organic mulch is an integral part of maintaining a healthy garden, but did you know that groundcovers also act as mulch? Groundcovers protect the soil biomes from the harsh sun, keeping the soil cool and moist by reducing evaporation. Living mulches also reduce soil erosion, an extremely common and overlooked issue that prevents our gardens from thriving.
Continuously feeds nutrition to the soil.
The more roots in your garden bed, 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.
Suppresses weeds.
Why introduce herbicides or spend hours picking weeds when you can instead avoid having weeds in the first place? Groundcovers 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.
Helps 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. Groundcovers also provide habitats for many of our critters including invertebrates, mammals, birds and reptiles.
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 Kalbarri Carpet contrasts nicely against the dark green foliage of a Cockies Tongue. Introducing any 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!
