Ground Cover Plants for Sale in NH, MA & ME
Cover the slope you hate mowing.
Twenty-four ground cover plants for banks, shade and dry sand, from $9.50 — delivered across NH, MA and ME.
Ground cover plants are what you reach for when a piece of your property has beaten the lawn mower — a bank too steep to cut safely, the bare dirt under a maple, a strip of sand along the driveway where grass has never held. The right plant knits across it, holds the soil, and stops asking you for anything. We hold 1,676 plants across 24 varieties at our yard in Newton, New Hampshire, starting at $9.50, with creeping juniper for slopes, sedge and pachysandra for shade, and native bearberry and fragrant sumac for the dry, poor spots. Delivery across New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine, pickup in Newton.
- $9.50lowest price
- 1,676plants in stock
- 24varieties in stock
- Zone 2–5hardy across New England
Start with your situation
Ground cover fails when it is chosen by looks instead of by site. Find the problem you actually have, then pick from that row.
| Situation | Plant this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full sun bank or slope | Blue Rug · Bar Harbor · Blue Chip Juniper | Creeping juniper is the standard ground cover for a hillside. The stems root as they run, so the mat pins the face of the bank down and gives you erosion control that is still there in February. |
| Dry, poor, sandy soil | Bearberry · Sweetfern · Angelina Stonecrop | All three tolerate thin, dry, sandy ground where lawn burns out by July. Bearberry and sweetfern are the two natives that actually prefer it. |
| Shade under trees | Pennsylvania Sedge · Pachysandra · Sweet Woodruff · Periwinkle | Ground cover for shade has to cope with root competition as well as darkness. These four are the ones that hold under a maple or an oak. |
| Road edge and salt | Bearberry · Bar Harbor Juniper · Blue Rug Juniper | Coastal and roadside plants. Bar Harbor came off the Maine shoreline and takes salt spray and wind better than anything else on this list. |
| Replacing lawn you don't want to mow | Pennsylvania Sedge · Ice Dance Sedge · Chocolate Chip Bugleweed | Ground cover instead of grass, for the parts of a yard nobody walks on. Sedge gives you the soft green look of turf without the weekly cut. |
| You want native | Bearberry · Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac · Sweetfern · Pennsylvania Sedge · Creeping Phlox | Native ground cover for New England, all tagged native in our catalog: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Rhus aromatica, Comptonia peregrina, Carex pensylvanica and Phlox subulata. |
Evergreen ground cover: creeping juniper and bearberry
The evergreen end of the list, and the one to buy if the spot is sunny, sloped and visible from the house in winter. If what you are after is a low growing juniper for a bank, this is the section — everything here except Old Gold finishes under two feet tall and runs several feet wide. Live prices and counts — every link opens the plant with the right size already selected.
Blue Chip Juniper$29.25$39#3, 12–18" spread · 205 in stockSilver-blue, ankle high, 9 ft across. Our deepest stock.Buy
Bar Harbor Juniper$37.00$3910" AGFB, 12–18" spread · 98 in stockThe coastal bank juniper. Full sun, salt, wind.Buy
Massachusetts Bearberry$18.00$19#1 · 60 in stockArctostaphylos uva-ursi. Native, evergreen, at home in sand.Buy
Blue Rug Juniper$29.25$39#3, 12–18" spread · 51 in stockThe flattest one here — 3 inches tall, 7 ft across.Buy
Green Sargent Juniper$46.00$4910" AGFB, 12–18" spread · 15 in stockGreen instead of blue, and taller at about 18 inches.Buy
Golden Carpet Creeping Juniper$46.00$49#3, 12–18" spread · 9 in stockGold-tipped creeping juniper for a sunny edge. Nine left.Buy
Old Gold Juniper$25.00$4910" AGFB, 12–18" spread · 3 in stockGold-tinted and knee high at 2½ ft, so more shrub than mat.Buy
Native ground cover for New England slopes
Three natives that earn their place on a rough bank: two suckering shrubs that will hold a slope nothing else wants, and the sedge that reads as lawn in dry shade.
Pennsylvania Sedge$18.00$19#1 · 130 in stockCarex pensylvanica. The native answer to lawn in dry shade.Buy
Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac$25.00$4910" AGFB, 12–18" spread · 86 in stockRhus aromatica. Native slope cover, scarlet in autumn. Half off.Buy
Sweetfern$27.00$291 Gallon · 79 in stockComptonia peregrina. Aromatic native for dry, poor, sandy banks.Buy
A word on the two shrubs. Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac and sweetfern are not tidy little mats — they are suckering shrubs that finish around 3–4 ft tall and 6–8 ft wide, and they spread sideways to make the cover. That is exactly what you want on a raw bank or a highway-style embankment, and exactly what you do not want in a 6 ft foundation bed.
Ground cover for shade and under trees
Eight options for the north side of the house, the strip under a maple, and the woodland edge where turf has given up.
Ice Dance Sedge$9.50$19#1 · 196 in stockWhite-edged sedge that runs rather than clumps. Half price.Buy
Sweet Woodruff$18.00$19#1 · 96 in stockWhorled leaves, white spring flowers, happiest in real shade.Buy
Chocolate Chip Bugleweed$18.00$19#1 · 74 in stockAjuga, 3 inches tall. The lowest thing on this page.Buy
Big Blue Liriope$18.00$19#1 · 73 in stockGrassy evergreen clumps with violet spikes in late summer.Buy
Green Carpet Pachysandra$18.00$19#1 · 38 in stockEvergreen shade carpet. Not native, but hard to beat under maples.Buy
Common Periwinkle$9.50$19#1 · 20 in stockVinca minor. Evergreen and tough — it will run if you let it.Buy
Bowles Periwinkle$9.50$19#1 · 20 in stockBigger blue flowers than common vinca, same evergreen mat.Buy
Ground cover for sun and colour
Creeping phlox and sedum, for a sunny slope, a retaining wall or a hot strip along the drive where you want something to look at.
Emerald Blue Creeping Phlox$18.00$19#1 · 119 in stockNative Phlox subulata. Sheets of blue in May over an evergreen mat.Buy
Autumn Fire Sedum$14.25$19#1 · 106 in stockUpright, not flat — rust-red heads that stand into winter.Buy
Drummond's Pink Creeping Phlox$18.00$19#1 · 50 in stockBright pink spring carpet for a bank in full sun.Buy
Red Wings Creeping Phlox$18.00$19#1 · 45 in stockCrimson-eyed magenta. The strongest colour of the three phlox.Buy
Vera Jameson Stonecrop$9.50$19#1 · 35 in stockPurple foliage, dusty pink heads. Cheapest sedum here.Buy
Angelina Stonecrop$14.25$19#1 · 3 in stockChartreuse needles that turn orange in the cold. Three left.Buy
How many ground cover plants do you need?
Ground cover is bought by area, not by the row, so the arithmetic is area ÷ (spacing × spacing), rounded up. Plants at 18 inches each occupy 2.25 sq ft; at 2 ft, 4 sq ft; at 3 ft, 9 sq ft. Measure the bed, pick the spacing your plant wants, and read across.
| Area to cover | 18" apart | 2 ft apart | 3 ft apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft (10 × 10) | 45 plants | 25 plants | 12 plants |
| 250 sq ft (10 × 25) | 112 plants | 63 plants | 28 plants |
| 500 sq ft (20 × 25) | 223 plants | 125 plants | 56 plants |
Which plants take which spacing. The 18-inch column is the one most of this page uses — Chocolate Chip Bugleweed and pachysandra go tighter still at 6–9 inches, and Pennsylvania Sedge, sweet woodruff, both periwinkles, both liriopes, Drummond's Pink, Red Wings and Vera Jameson all sit at 12 inches, so at those spacings you need more plants than the table shows, not fewer. Bearberry, Ice Dance Sedge, Emerald Blue Phlox and Autumn Fire Sedum are true 18-inch plants. Angelina Stonecrop wants about 30 inches, between the 2 ft and 3 ft columns.
The junipers and the two native shrubs are a different scale. Their tagged spacings run well past the table: Golden Carpet and sweetfern at 4½ ft, Green Sargent, Old Gold and Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac at 5 ft, Blue Rug at 5½ ft, Bar Harbor at 7 ft and Blue Chip at 9 ft. Same formula, bigger squares — 500 sq ft at 5 ft spacing is 500 ÷ 25 = 20 plants, and at 7 ft it is 500 ÷ 49 = 11 plants. That is why a big bank of creeping juniper costs less than people expect.
Every variety on this page is also sold in multi-packs, and the per-plant price steps down as the pack gets bigger. A 24 pack of Ice Dance Sedge is $171.00 — about $7.13 a plant against $9.50 for singles. A 20 pack of Blue Chip Juniper is $497.25, or about $24.86 a plant against $29.25.
Delivery, planting and pickup
- Delivery — up to 100 miles from Newton, NH, covering most of New Hampshire, northeastern Massachusetts and southern Maine.
- Pickup — at the nursery in Newton, New Hampshire, Fridays and Saturdays.
- Planting — we do not install ground cover. It is sold for pickup or delivery only.
- Quantity — pallet-sized orders of the small pots are normal for this category, and delivery is the sensible route once you are past a couple of dozen plants.
Common questions about ground cover plants
What is the best ground cover for a slope?
For a sunny bank, creeping juniper — Blue Rug, Bar Harbor or Blue Chip. The stems root where they touch, so the mat physically pins the face of the slope and gives you erosion control that keeps working through winter, when a deciduous cover has gone to bare stems. For a rougher, larger embankment, Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac and sweetfern are the two natives that will take it on. For a shaded slope, Pennsylvania Sedge.
What is the best low growing juniper for a slope?
Blue Rug is the lowest of them at about 3 inches tall and 7 ft across, so it reads as a flat mat once it has knitted over a bank. Blue Chip and Bar Harbor sit a little higher at around 9 inches, and those two carry the deepest stock on this page. Green Sargent is the tallest of the true creepers at about 18 inches. Old Gold is the odd one out — at 2½ ft it behaves as a spreading shrub rather than a low growing juniper, so skip it if you want the flat look.
Is there a fast growing ground cover?
Tagged fast in our catalog: Pennsylvania Sedge, Ice Dance Sedge, sweet woodruff, pachysandra, both periwinkles, Big Blue Liriope, Emerald Blue Phlox, Autumn Fire Sedum, Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac and, among the junipers, Blue Rug. Most of the other junipers and bearberry are moderate, and sweetfern is the one genuinely slow plant here. A fast growing ground cover closes the gaps sooner, which is mostly what decides how long you spend weeding between the plants.
How far apart should I plant ground cover?
By the plant, not by the category. Bugleweed and pachysandra go at 6–9 inches, most of the perennials and sedges at 12–18 inches, Angelina Stonecrop at about 30 inches, and the creeping junipers anywhere from 4½ ft to 9 ft depending on variety. Use area ÷ (spacing × spacing) and round up — the table above does the common cases.
What is the best ground cover for shade or under trees?
Pennsylvania Sedge if you want native and a lawn-like look, pachysandra if you want evergreen and dense, sweet woodruff for a woodland feel, and liriope or periwinkle for something with flowers. Ground cover under trees is competing with tree roots as much as it is coping with shade, which is why these tough, shallow-rooted plants are the ones that hold there.
Is there a deer resistant ground cover?
Yes — the junipers, pachysandra, periwinkle, liriope, bugleweed, creeping phlox and the sedums are all tagged deer resistant in our catalog, and deer generally walk past them. But no plant is deer proof. A hungry herd in a hard February will taste anything.
What native ground cover works in New England?
Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) for dry sand and roadside exposure, fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) and sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) for rough banks, Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) for shade, and creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) for a sunny slope. The creeping junipers are Juniperus horizontalis, also native to North America.
Should I choose evergreen or deciduous ground cover?
Evergreen if you will look at it from November to April — the junipers, bearberry, pachysandra, periwinkle, liriope, bugleweed and creeping phlox all hold their leaves. Deciduous if the job is purely holding a bank out of sight: Gro-Low sumac, sweetfern, Ice Dance Sedge, Pennsylvania Sedge and the taller sedums go to bare stems or brown foliage over winter and come back in spring.
Will ground cover stop weeds?
Once it has closed over, yes — a knitted mat of juniper or pachysandra shades the soil and very little germinates in it. Getting there is the honest part: a new planting is mostly open dirt, and you will be weeding between the plants for the first season or two while they fill in. Planting at the tighter end of the spacing range shortens that gap.
Can I plant ground cover instead of grass?
For the parts of a yard nobody walks on, absolutely — the slope, the shady strip, the sliver between the drive and the fence. Sedge is the closest thing here to the look of turf without the weekly cut. What ground cover will not do is take foot traffic; it is a replacement for mowing, not a replacement for a lawn you use.
What ground cover handles road salt and a driveway edge?
Bearberry and Bar Harbor Juniper are the two to reach for, with Blue Rug close behind. All three are coastal or roadside plants by nature and cope with salt spray, wind and the thin, sandy soil you usually find along an edge like that.
Where can I buy ground cover plants near me?
From our yard in Newton, New Hampshire. We deliver up to 100 miles — most of New Hampshire, northeastern Massachusetts and southern Maine — and pickup is available Fridays and Saturdays. There are 1,676 ground cover plants across 24 varieties available right now, from $9.50.