How to Use Herbs as Ground Cover

Herbs can be used as an attractive, fragrant ground cover that you can walk on. They look beautiful and are easy to plant in beds, between stepping stones or anywhere you'd like a fast-growing alternative to grass. They'll add color, texture and interest to any spot in your yard, and you can pick them for culinary use as well.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Herb plants suitable for use as ground cover
• Organic matter
• Liquid fertilizer

1. Purchase enough low-growing, spreading herb plants to accommodate the area you wish to cover. Consult the labels on the plants for spacing recommendations to determine how many plants to purchase.

2. Prepare the soil where you wish to plant the ground cover by removing all grass from the area. Grass seedlings will continue to emerge, so you'll have to weed your ground cover bed regularly until the plants are well established.

3. Mix generous quantities of organic matter such as peat moss, manure or compost into the soil until it's about half soil, half organic matter. The soil should be worked 6 to 12 inches deep.

4. Plant the herbs as specified on the labels, paying attention to the depth and spacing needs. For a casual look, don't plant them in straight rows.

5. Apply a general purpose liquid fertilizer once after planting to encourage rapid spreading.

6. Water the plants as needed, gently showering them with water when the soil is dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Creeping thyme and chamomile are the most popular choices for herb ground covers, since they're very attractive, hardy and can be walked on. Other choices include Corsican mint, Persian catmint, woolly yarrow, St. John's Wort and lavender cotton.
• Creeping thyme flowers in late spring and early summer, erupting into lavender, red or white blooms. It will grow in full sun, part sun, part shade and even full shade.
• The best time to plant ground covers is early fall, though you can also do it in late winter or early spring.
• Don't over-water; herbs need good soil drainage.

Resources

• If you've got gardening-related questions, Forums.Gardenweb.com is a great place to get them answered by hundreds of fellow gardening enthusiasts.