There are also suitable plants for shady and semi-shady places in the garden. For example, if you want to plant ground cover there, you will find a large selection for shade or partial shade here.
Table of Contents
Definition of penumbra/shadow
There are ground covers that often prefer a sunny to partially shaded location. All ground covers for shady locations usually always get along with half-shady locations. Conversely, this is not always the case, which is why our list distinguishes between ground covers for “partial shade” and for “partial shade and shade”. These are the differences between the two light conditions:
penumbra | the shade |
---|---|
maximum four hours of sunlight per day | very little sunlight |
Direction: East, Northeast, Northwest, rarely West | Direction: North, Northeast, Northwest |
semi-shady places, especially under light trees and hedges | shady places, especially under densely growing plants and canopies |
Ground cover for partial shade
B to F
The following plants need at least a ray of sunshine from time to time. These ground covers feel most comfortable in partial shade.
Bearskin fescue (Festuca gautieri)
- Growth: cushion and lawn-like
- Growth height: 10 to 30 centimeters
- Flowers: yellow-green, in panicles
- Flowering period: July to August
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen
Ivy (Hedera helix)
- Growth: climbing, carpet-like, fast-growing
- Growth height: up to about 30 centimeters (without climbing aids)
- Flower: green, yellow
- Flowering time: September to October
- hardy
- Special features: flowers only after many years, evergreen, poisonous
Spring Alpine Violet (Cyclamen coum)
- Growth: flat, spreading
- Growth height 5 to 10 centimeters
- Flower: pink
- Flowering time: February to March
- wintergreen
- Special features: silvery-white spots on leaves
Spring Commemorative (Omphalodes verna)
- Growth: carpet-like
- Growth height: 8 to 12 centimeters
- Flower: sky blue, plate-shaped
- Flowering time: April to May
- hardy
- Special features: forms nuts
Funkie ‚Gold Standard‘ (Hosta x fortunei ‚Gold Standard‘)
- Growth: arching, covering the entire area, expansive
- Growth height: 30 to 80 centimeters
- Flower: violet, bell-shaped
- Flowering period: June to August
- hardy
- Special features: golden-yellow autumn colour, deciduous
G to K
Yellow anemone (Anemone ranunculoides)
- Growth: loosely bred, forming rhizomes
- Growth height: 15 to 20 centimeters
- Flower: golden-yellow, radiating
- Flowering time: April to May
- hardy
- Specialties: poisonous, deciduous
Goldtröpfchen (Chiastophyllum oppositifolium)
- Growth: like a rosette, in clumps to loose clumps
- Growth height: 15 to 20 centimeters
- Flower: yellow, grape-shaped
- Flowering period: June to July
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen
Large-leaved women’s coat (Alchemilla mollis)
- Growth: cushion-like, hemispherical
- Growth height: 30 to 40 centimeters
- Flower: greenish-yellow, single
- Flowering period: June to July
- deciduous and hardy
- Features: bee friendly, leaves with lotus effect
Common Hazel (Asarum europaeum)
- Growth: creeping
- Growth height: 3 to 15 centimeters
- Flower: reddish brown, single
- Flowering time: March to April
- wintergreen
- Special features: pepper scent, flowers under leaves
Little Snake Beard ‘Minor’ (Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Minor’)
- Growth: carpet-like
- Growth height: 5 to 10 centimeters
- Flowers: white to white-violet, bell-shaped
- Flowering period: July to August
- hardy
- Special features: poisonous berries, evergreen
Kriechender Günsel (Ajuga reptans)
- starkwüchsig
- Growth height: 10 to 15 centimeters
- Flower: violet, single
- Flowering period: May to June
- wintergreen
- Features: bee friendly
Hepatica nobilis
- Growth: rosette-like, clump-forming
- Growth height: 3 to 15 centimeters
- Flower: violet-blue, bowl-shaped
- Flowering time: March to April
- hardy
- Special features: bee-friendly, evergreen
L to T
Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis)
- Growth: carpet-like
- Growth height: 20 to 30 centimeters
- Flower: white, bell-shaped
- Flowering period: May to June
- deciduous
- Special features: poisonous
Whitsun Violet (Viola sororia)
- Growth: cushion-like, very flat
- Growth height: 10 to 15 centimeters
- Flowers: depending on the variety, white, violet, pink, bowl-shaped
- Flowering period: May to June
- hardy
- Specialities: deciduous
Stork’s beak (Geranium)
- Growth: prostrate to ascending
- Growth height: between 15 and 40 centimeters depending on the variety
- Flowers: violet, pink, bluish, bowl-shaped
- Flowering time: depending on the variety from May to October
- hardy
- Special features: bee-friendly, evergreen
Carpet phlox (Phlox subulata)
- Growth: cushion-like, very flat
- Growth height: 5 to 10 centimeters
- Flowers: depending on the variety, violet, pink, radiating
- Flowering time: April to June
- Hardy and evergreen
- Special features: easy to care for
Carpet Knot (Persicaria affinis)
- Growth: flat
- Growth height: 20 to 30 centimeters
- Flower: pink, white
- Flowering period: July to September
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen
Ground cover for shade and partial shade
There are also ground-level plants that can get by with very little sunlight. These groundcovers do well in shade and partial shade.
D to H
Dickmännchen (Pachysandra terminalis)
- Growth: carpet-like
- Growth height: 20 to 30 centimeters
- Flowers: white, spike-shaped
- Flowering time: April to May
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen
Dreiblättrige Waldsteinie (Waldsteinia ternata)
- Growth: very flat
- Growth height: 10 to 15 centimeters
- Flower: golden yellow, bowl-shaped
- Flowering time: April to May
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen
Elf Flowers (Epimedium)
- Growth: pillow-like
- Growth height: up to 40 centimeters
- Flowers: sulphur-yellow, whitish-yellow, grape-shaped
- Flowering time: April to May
- wintergreen
- Special features: brownish-green foliage color
Spotted deadnettle (Lamium maculatum)
- Growth: prostrate to upright, clumpy
- Growth height: 15 to 20 centimeters
- Flowers: purple-pink, in panicles
- Flowering period: May to July
- hardy
- Special features: pleasantly fragrant, evergreen, white-silver foliage color, insect-friendly
Heartleaf Bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia)
- Growth: sprawling, broadly bushy, flat
- Growth height: 20 to 40 centimeters
- Flowers: pink, umbel-shaped
- Flowering time: April to May
- wintergreen
- Special features: very undemanding
Heartleaf foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia)
- Growth: carpet-like
- Growth height: 10 to 20 centimeters
- Flowers: yellowish-white, in panicles
- Flowering time: April to May
- hardy and semi-evergreen
- Special features: fast growing
J to P
Japanese sedge (Carex morrowii)
- Growth: arching, covering the ground
- Growth height: 30 to 40 centimeters
- Flowers: brown, yellow, spike-shaped
- Flowering time: March to May
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen
Lesser Caucasian Comfrey (Symphytum grandiflorum)
- Growth: carpet-like
- Growth height: 20 to 30 centimeters
- Flowers: yellowish-white, red buds, bell-shaped
- Flowering time: April to May
- Hardy and deciduous
- Special features: insect-friendly
Lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor)
- Growth: carpet-like
- Growth height: 20 to 30 centimeters
- Flower: light blue
- Flowering time: April to May
- hardy
- Special features: white-edged foliage, evergreen
Perlfarn (Onoclea sensiblei)
- Growth: wide, arching
- Growth height: 30 to 60 centimeters
- Flower: none
- hardy
- Special features: Spur fronds in summer, yellow-red autumn colour, deciduous
Porcelain Flower (Saxifraga urbium)
Source: Marc Ryckaert , Saxifraga x urbium R03 , Edited by Gartendialog, CC BY 3.0
- Habit: Perennial, flat-growing
- Growth height: 10 to 30 centimeters
- Flowers: red, pink, white, in panicles
- Flowering period: May to June
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen
Splendid muscles (Astilbe)
- Growth: cushion-like with erect stems, clumps
- Growth height: 30 to 100 centimeters depending on the variety
- Flower: red, beige, pink, salmon
- Flowering period: June to August
- deciduous
- Special features: very floriferous
R to W
Red carpet berry (Gaultheria procumbens)
- Growth: creeping, carpet-like, dense
- Growth height: 10 to 20 centimeters
- Flower: light pink
- Flowering period: July to August
- deciduous
- Special features: fragrant fruits, evergreen, reddish winter foliage
Snowflake (Luzula nivea)
- Growth: grassy, overhanging
- Growth height: 30 to 60 centimeters
- Flower: white
- Flowering period: June to August
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen
Table egg (Taxus baccata ‘Repandens’)
- also called cushion or ground cover grater
- Growth: flat, spread
- Growth height: 40 to 60 centimeters
- Flower: none
- hardy
- Special features: evergreen, poisonous berries
Waldmeister (Galium odoratum)
- Growth: flat, upright, forming runners
- Growth height: 10 to 30 centimeters
- Flowers: white, umbel-shaped
- Flowering time: April to May
- hardy
- Specialties: fragrant, deciduous
frequently asked Questions
Usually not. The opposite is usually the case, because if they are in the shade with little sunlight, less moisture evaporates and the ground cover therefore needs to be watered less often. Dried up and burnt foliage is also less common. Some plants usually grow more slowly in partial shade and shade, so that pruning or topiary cuts need to be done less frequently.
Conditional when it comes to plants listed in the guide under “For Partial Shade and Shade”. In the total absence of sun, at least some daylight should be able to reach some of the ground cover. If this were not the case, the darkness would be too intense for any plant to survive in the long term.