Groundcovers That Give Lift to Your Landscape

If you crave a bit of dimension, perspective, height and extra color in your groundcovers, consider wide-spreading shrubs.

By Marie HoferMore in Outdoors

Previous Previous
Next Next
Photo 4 of 8

Photo 4 of 8Shade or light shade is preferred although it can grow in full sun if temperatures stay moderate and soil remains moist.

- Bright and Wide
- Broadening a Juniper's Reach
- Golden-Yellow Tufts
- Sping Tassels

Sping Tassels(4 of 8)

In spring, the arching branches of drooping leucothoe offer creamy panicles above its evergreen foliage. Great for covering a shady bank, Leucothoe fontanesiana averages three to six feet tall and wide. Look for 'Girard's Rainbow,' a cultivar whose new growth is mottled copper, pink, white and green. Leucothoe needs moist, acid, well-drained soil; it doesn't tolerate drought. USDA Zone (4) 5 to 8. Coastal leucothoe (L. axillaris) grows two to four feet high and three to six feet wide. USDA Zones (5)6 to 9.

Next Photo: Rosy Hedges