5 Reasons to Plant Herbal Groundcovers

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• Scented Herbal Groundcovers 

• Drought Tolerant Groundcovers 

Every spring, nurseries and garden centers buzz with gardeners looking for that perfect mulch to spread in their yards. Gardeners want mulch with beneficial properties and curb appeal. Bag after bag is loaded into pickups, trunks and even backseats.

But did you know there also are living mulches? I’m talking about the soil-huggers, the low-growers of the plant world—the unheralded herbal groundcovers. Low-maintenance herbal groundcovers are mulches that eliminate weeding, prevent soil erosion, insulate in winter and retain water in summer. In this case, beauty, delightful fragrance and edible landscaping are just icing on the gardening cake. Nothing brings mulching benefits as nicely as agreeable herbs.

Herbs are masters at adapting to a variety of soils and reproduce all by themselves. As living mulches, they’re rivaled by none. There isn’t one good reason to consider herbs as groundcovers—there are five great ones.

1. Wise Watering

Living groundcovers can conserve water in your garden, which can save you money wherever you live. If you live in a drought-stricken area like California, it can be especially important. Under-planting with herbal groundcovers holds moisture in the soil by slowing water evaporation and allowing the water to remain available to the plant roots below. The groundcovers also protect the soil from drying in the sun’s rays. Most groundcovers do well without any supplemental watering.

Mediterranean herbs do well with less water. Some herbs need more than others, but generally they hold moisture in the soil, allowing for less-frequent watering than most plants. Whether your groundcovers need supplemental water will certainly depend upon your climate. If needed, most herbal groundcovers do well with once-a-week deep watering (instead of light watering a few times a week).

Do a little homework to be sure that you’re planting herbs that have close to the same water requirements, so that the water trapped in the soil can benefit all your herbs equally. It would be a shame to over-water a Mediterranean herb simply because it was close to a more water-hungry plant. Alternately, you can choose one type of herbal groundcover for one garden area and a different type for another.

2. Incorporate Insulation

As handy as herbal groundcovers are in the summer as water retainers, they’re equally impressive as insulators in the winter. The roots of the living mulch grow together, forming a blanket of protection that shields roots and bulbs from fluctuating air temperatures. Personally, when I drop my hundred bucks in the spring on exciting new plant finds, I’d like for them to last more than one season. My hardy under-plantings have been like small green superheroes, sans the capes.
There’s no need to worry about herbal groundcovers inhibiting bulb or perennial growth. Most bulbs have no trouble growing right through the groundcover in the spring.

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