Carpeting the ground with minimal fuss, ground cover plants are useful for covering bare patches of soil beneath trees, stabilising soil on steep banks and slopes, adding structure and form to your borders and reducing the need for weeding. As dependable, low maintenance plants which solve many landscaping problems quickly and easily, they can also be tucked between stepping stones along a garden path or grown below centre-piece plants in troughs, tubs or containers.

Thyme is a great drought-tolerant groundcover which excels in beds, borders and containers. Sedums such as Sedum Purple Carpet are prized for use in green roofs and living walls because they are so adaptable. Lamb's Ears plants such as or Stachys Silver Carpet have silvery-green, fuzzy leaves with a sprawling habit and flower spikes in summer. Be sure to weed thoroughly before planting as any weeds that remain will be much more difficult to remove afterwards.