Every great garden needs a strong foundation, and that often comes in the form of reliable groundcovers and border plants. This often-overlooked category ties your landscape together, defines your spaces, provides year-round interest, and often solves tricky gardening problems like bare spots under trees or sloped areas. Here at Louisiana Nursery, we consistently recommend a few absolute superstars for our Louisiana climate: Liriope (including its popular variegated forms like Aztec Grass), the sleek Mondo Grass, the charming Ajuga, and the hardy Jasmine. They’re tough, attractive, and generally happy, making them fantastic choices for almost any garden!
Where to Use Groundcovers and Border Plants
These plants aren’t just for straight lines! Their diverse forms and textures make them incredibly adaptable:
- Edging and Borders: This is their classic and most popular role! They create a clean, crisp line along pathways, driveways, or flower beds, giving your garden a tidy, finished look that really makes other plants pop.
- Mass Plantings & Groundcover: Planting them in large drifts creates a beautiful, low-maintenance carpet that helps suppress weeds, stabilize soil on gentle slopes, and add consistent texture.
- Container Accents: Their fine texture and mounding habits make them excellent “spillers” or “fillers” in mixed container arrangements, adding softness around taller plants.
- Between Stepping stones: Especially Mondo Grass and Dwarf Mondo, they can be planted in the gaps between stepping stones, softening the hardscape and providing a walkable, green cushion.
- Under Trees: As we’ve discussed, they are perfect for filling in those challenging spots under mature trees where grass struggles due to shade and root competition.
Let’s dive into the specifics of each of these garden workhorses!
Meet the Family: Our Top Groundcover & Border Plant Picks!
Liriope (Lilyturf) - Your Reliable Evergreen Workhorse
Liriope (Liriope muscari) is probably one of the most common and beloved border grasses you’ll see in Louisiana, and for very good reason. It’s incredibly resilient and provides a clean, evergreen presence.
- Look and Feel: Liriope forms dense clumps of attractive, strap-like foliage that provides year-round green. While the most common form is a solid dark green, there are variegated types that offer extra intrigue.
- Size: Most Liriope varieties grow in neat clumps, typically ranging from 1 to 2 feet tall and wide, though some can spread more broadly.
- Flowers and Berries: In late summer to fall, it sends up spikes of small, bell-shaped flowers, usually in lavender-purple or white, followed by dark, almost black, berries that persist into winter. These add a nice, subtle touch.
- Why We Love It: Liriope is exceptionally tough, tolerating heat, humidity, drought (once established), and a wide range of light conditions from full sun to partial shade. It’s perfect for reliable borders, mass planting, or filling in those dry, shady spots under trees.
Special Mention: Aztec Grass (Liriope muscari 'Aztec Grass')
A standout variegated Liriope, ‘Aztec Grass’ offers a brighter, more eye-catching look. Its striking green leaves are boldly edged with creamy white or yellow, giving it a luminous appearance that really pops in a landscape. It shares all the toughness of other Liriope varieties but shines brightest in partial shade where its variegation can truly glow.
Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus) & Dwarf Mondo Grass ('Nana') - The Sleek Solution
If you’re aiming for a more refined, darker, and often more formal look, Mondo Grass is your plant! It’s a fantastic alternative to Liriope where a finer texture or deeper color is desired.
- Look and Feel: Mondo Grass has fine, almost blade-like, very dark green (some call it blackish) foliage that creates a dense, turf-like appearance. It grows slowly, forming tight clumps.
- Size: Standard Mondo Grass usually reaches about 6-8 inches tall, forming a thick mat.
- Flowers and Berries: It produces inconspicuous lilac-white flowers nestled within the foliage in summer, followed by small, shiny black berries, but these are generally hidden and not a prominent feature.
- Why We Love It: Mondo Grass is perfect for formal borders, Japanese-style gardens, or softening spaces between stepping stones. It thrives in partial to full shade and is incredibly tough and long-lived.
Special Mention: Dwarf Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus 'Nana')
This miniature version of Mondo Grass is simply adorable and incredibly useful for specific purposes! ‘Nana’ has the same dark green, fine blades as regular Mondo Grass, but it’s incredibly tiny, only reaching about 2-4 inches tall. It’s ideal for fairy gardens, miniature landscapes, very small borders, or tucked into crevices of rock walls where its small stature is a benefit.
Asian Jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum)
This is one of the toughest and most popular evergreen groundcovers in the South! While not a true jasmine, it’s an incredibly effective solution for large areas.
- Look and Feel A very low-growing, dense, woody groundcover that forms a thick mat of small, dark green, glossy leaves.
- Size: Can spread far from its original planting location. Still, we recommend planting in similar spacing to other plants on this list to create the fullest groundcover in a faster timeframe.
- Flowers: It produces tiny, inconspicuous, lightly fragrant cream-colored flowers in spring.
- Why We Love It: Perfect for beds, slopes, and under trees where grass won’t grow. Asian jasmine is something that – once you become familiar – you see it everywhere! These green vining carpets are popular in residential and commercial settings for good reason.
Important Caution: The Spreading Nature
While Asian Jasmine is tough and effective, it’s crucial to understand its vigorous spreading habit. This plant can be quite aggressive and will readily climb and smother smaller, less vigorous plants if not contained. It can also climb fences or other structures if allowed. We recommend using it in large, clearly defined areas where its spreading is desired, or with proper edging to keep it in bounds. Regular monitoring and occasional trimming are key to managing its enthusiastic growth!
Ajuga (Bugleweed) - A Colorful Groundcover Carpet
For a groundcover that offers spreading coverage, dynamic foliage color, and a cheerful pop of spring blooms, Ajuga (Ajuga reptans), often called Bugleweed, is a winner!
- Look and Feel: Ajuga forms a dense, low-growing mat of leaves. While some varieties have green foliage, many popular ones boast stunning burgundy, bronze, or variegated (green and white/pink) leaves, which provide year-round interest.
- Size: It typically stays very low, usually only 4-6 inches tall, but it spreads readily by runners to form a carpet.
- Flowers: In mid to late spring, Ajuga sends up charming spikes of vibrant blue (sometimes pink or white) flowers that stand a few inches above the foliage, creating a lovely “indigo” splash of color.
- Why We Love It: Ajuga is fantastic for filling in large areas as a groundcover, softening edges, controlling erosion on gentle slopes, or providing a colorful accent in shady spots. It tolerates dry shade well once established and is generally low-maintenance.
Keeping Your Groundcovers Happy: Essential Care Tips
One of the biggest advantages of this plant category is their relatively low-maintenance nature, making them perfect for busy Louisiana gardeners.
Sunlight
- Liriope (including Aztec Grass): Prefers partial shade, but can tolerate full sun with consistent moisture. It will brighten up shady spots beautifully.
- Mondo Grass (and Dwarf Mondo): Thrives in partial to full shade. While it can handle some morning sun, intense afternoon sun, especially in summer, can cause scorching. The deeper the shade, the darker its foliage will appear.
- Asian Jasmine: Very adaptable, full sun to full shade.
- Ajuga: Prefers partial to full shade for best foliage color and spread. Full sun can scorch the leaves in hot climates, especially for variegated varieties.
Soil
All of our selections prefer well-draining soil. They aren’t too fussy about soil type but dislike constantly soggy conditions, which can lead to root rot. If you have heavy clay, amending it with some compost will be beneficial.
Watering
- New Plantings: Water all of these regularly to help them get established – usually 1-2 times a week for the first few months, especially during dry spells.
- Established Plants: All are quite drought-tolerant once established. They’ll appreciate supplemental watering during extended dry periods, but generally, they don’t need much fuss. Avoid overwatering.
Fertilizing
They are not heavy feeders. A light application of a balanced, slow-release granular fertilizer in early spring is usually sufficient. Over-fertilizing can lead to excessive, sometimes leggy growth.
Pruning/Maintenance
- Liriope & Aztec Grass: Very little pruning is needed. You can trim back any yellowed or brown leaves as needed, usually in late winter or early spring before new growth starts, by cutting the entire clump down to a few inches.
- Mondo Grass: Requires almost no pruning! Its slow growth and compact habit mean you can plant it and largely forget it.
- Ajuga: Generally low maintenance. You can mow or shear it back after flowering if you want to tidy it up. It spreads by runners, so occasionally you might need to pull up errant runners if it tries to spread beyond its designated area.
- Asian Jasmine: Low-maintenance post-establishment. You can mow or shear it back to tidy up, and we do suggest keeping watch to reduce the chance of spreading.
- Division: All can be divided every few years if clumps become too crowded or you want to propagate more plants. This is best done in spring.
Pests and Diseases
Thankfully, these border grasses and groundcovers are generally very pest and disease resistant, making them incredibly reliable plants for our region.
Whether you’re looking to define a pathway, soften a garden edge, fill in a bare spot under a tree, or add a burst of color and texture to your landscape, groundcovers and border plants are excellent choices for your Louisiana garden. Their low-maintenance nature, toughness, and beautiful foliage make them invaluable additions to any design. Come on down to Louisiana Nursery and explore our wide selection – our team will be happy to help you pick the perfect groundcovers and border plants to bring your garden vision to life! Happy gardening!
