Should You Underplant Your Featured Perennials?
Should you underplant your featured perennials? Purists may scoff at the idea, but surrounding the stars of your garden show with a great supporting cast ensures blockbuster planting features from spring through fall.
The fine art of garden design can be a truly fickle mistress. When it comes to designing your own garden, there should be no absolutes. There should be no rights or wrongs. No a priori truths should exist. Rules? Who needs ’em? Everything boils down to personal taste, right? Common sense tells you that what you want growing in your garden, and exactly where it’s growing in your garden, is up to you. It’s your garden, after all. The sad reality, however, is that there are actually a few unofficial faux pas which exist within the court of garden-designing-purist opinion. And there are indeed those experts who consider certain planting conventions verboten. The act of combining certain plants with certain other plants in certain situations is the garden designing equivalent of heresy. So, what are you not supposed to do? Wherein lies the rub?
“You’re not supposed to plant smaller plants (groundcovers, specifically) under or around your featured plants (a technique called underplanting).” So say certain feature/specialty plant growers and enthusiasts. I personally know, for example, several master gardeners who blanch at the thought of growing groundcover under their roses. They’d rather go to prison. I know a grower of oriental lilies who will not contaminate her lilies’ lair with any competing growth whatsoever, let alone lowly groundcover. And when it comes to peonies, I’ve got friends who won’t allow any ocular competition, in any form, with their Sarah Bernhardts or their Itohs (even though the flower show ends so early in the summer in peony territory). So yes, established convention often frowns on the use of groundcover in conjunction with the plantings of high-visibility, impactful featured plants.
Where do I stand on this globally critical issue? Do I think it’s okay to underplant perennial garden royalty, such as roses, with the likes of lowly groundcover “scrub?” Should you underplant your featured perennials?
Does Homer Simpson have a yellow ass?
Yeah, I think it’s okay to underplant fabulous featured plants with groundcover. I think it’s more than okay. I think it’s awesome. I think it’s the right thing to do, and not just from the standpoint of design and aesthetics. I do it, and I think you should do it, too. Here’s why.
1. Underplanting with groundcover plants often helps with weed control.
Groundcover plants spread very effectively. One little groundcover perennial plant can quickly become many groundcover perennial plants, or one extremely widespread and far-flung groundcover perennial plant. These plants do their thing and cover the surface of any planting beds in which they’re growing by utilizing one of three biological mechanisms: rhizomatous growth, stoloniferous growth, or self-sowing. And sometimes rhizomatous and stoloniferous plants will also self-sow. What this means is that groundcover plants shoot out networks of new, rooted growth in all directions, or they drop their seeds in massive profusion in the areas in which they’re planted. What all of this usually results in is a dense mat, cluster, clump, etc of groundcover, in a given planting bed, which doesn’t permit weeds to become established. The spreading mechanisims which make these plants groundcovers in the first place are what make them so generally effective as weed barriers – if they’re growing there, weeds are not.
For more about plants spreading via rhizomes, stolons, and self-sowing action, please refer to my article of last year entitled “Naturalizing Perennials in the Garden Scheme.”
2. Blooming groundcover perennials attract pollinators.
Many groundcover perennials bloom at various times throughout spring, summer, and even fall. And these blooms attract pollinators. Of course, the featured plants in my garden under/around which the groundcover plants grow definitely flower beautifully and attract droves of pollinators in their own right. Bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, and more visit my roses, dianthus, lilies, daylilies, peonies, buddleja, etc, etc, etc. But pollinators – sometimes the very same individuals who visit my featured flowers, and sometimes others – love the often beautiful and fragrant groundcover flowers, as well. As far as the pollinator populations go in my garden, I believe there can never be too many. And as a matter of fact, I’ve seen honey bees actually ignore some of the featured flowers in favor of the lower-growing blooms on a number of my groundcover plants. Blue star creeper, various sedum, plumbago, and creeping phlox all seem to be honey bee magnets. Pollinators definitely do not ignore the humble groundcover plants in my garden.
3. Many species of garden wildlife enjoy the shelter and protection of groundcover perennials.
I’ve got several species of frog and and a whole herd of American toads living in my garden. All of these guys can be found at any given time, hanging out among the foliage of my garden’s various groundcover plants. This foliage offers them protection and excellent hunting grounds. Here, they remain hidden from predators and simultaneously stalk their prey. There’s virtually nothing more enjoyable for me than finding these little guys hopping around in the groundcover during an early morning watering. I believe this is one of gardening’s purest joys.
4. Underplanting featured plants with groundcover perennials makes for a beautiful planting bed.
In my opinion, few things can make a gorgeous planting bed filled with incredible blooming featured perennials even more gorgeous than underplanting those shining garden stars with an appropriate groundcover. “Appropriate” is the operative word here. It’s critical to use the right groundcover for the right featured plant. And although a number of factors can help you determine whether or not a certain groundcover choice is right for a given featured plant, I’m going to discuss the criterion which I believe is the most relevant and important: relative size.
In my lexicon, I define groundcover perennials as those which grow no taller than 12 inches. That’s the top limit for the plants used as groundcover in my garden. Many of my groundcover plants, in fact, grow no taller than an inch or two. In order for your underplanted feature to look good, the height of the groundcover you choose has got to be in reasonable proportion to the height of your featured plants. For example, in my rose garden feature, I’ve got some pretty good-sized floribunda bushes and a large Knock Out bush (which are all a few feet high) growing right along with some miniature bushes which don’t get much taller than 18″. The minis are the benchmark for determining the maximum height of my intended groundcover for this planting feature. Anything more than six or eight inches in height would have compromised the viewability of my miniature bushes. So for my rose garden planting feature, I chose as a groundcover a really attractive low-growing and densely-spreading sedum, which gets no taller than about 4″. In this case, the groundcover does not compete with the shortest rose bushes for visual prominence, and it adds a beautiful, verdant texture to the “floor” of the planting bed. It’s really a lovely sight to see this hardy little sedum going about the business of twining around the bases of my majestic rose bushes, covering the ground in this bed with life, color, and texture, and ultimately making my rose garden planting feature much more beautiful for it.
No article here on The Renaissance Garden Guy would be complete without a few product recommendations to help you get your gardening tasks accomplished as effectively as possible. Again, every recommendation that you’ll find here is one in which I believe wholeheartedly. You can conveniently order any one of these products right here from Amazon.
Roses are massively heavy feeders. You’ve got to fertilize them. For my full-sized Knockout and Floribunda roses, I use Espoma Organic Rose-tone. It’s a granular with an N-P-K ratio (nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium) of 4-3-2 and it’s an organic product containing a bunch of different beneficial active microbe cultures. Great rose food. Espoma recommends a monthly application, so I start the first feeding at the beginning of April and feed them for the last time no later than the first day or two of September. Order it here, from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link..
For my miniature roses, which benefit from a faster uptake liquid fertilizer, I actually use an inorganic product – Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Rose Plant Food. This product has got an N-P-K ratio of 18-24-16 and comes in a granular form which is dissolved in water and applied either from a hose feeder or a watering can. Because it is in liquid form (after mixing the granules with water) when applied to the plant’s roots, it’s assimilated quickly. I feed my minis every two weeks with this product, starting late March or early April. The use of this product has resulted in wildly huge miniature rose bushes covered in blooms (no suckers – just the plants themselves growing huge and healthy). As I do with the Espoma Rose-tone product, I make sure that the last feeding of Miracle-Gro happens in very early September. Click the #advertisement link to order this product here, from Amazon.
I love Espoma’s organic fertilizers. Plant-tone is the one I use for the majority of the flowering plants in my garden. It’s got an N-P-K ratio of 5-3-3 and is a great all-purpose organic fertilizer. It works perfectly for plants like corydalis, viola, dianthus, shasta daisies, and primroses, to name a few. I’ve already completed a garden-wide application and I’m already seeing results. Espoma Plant-tone works beautifully for all of my groundcover plants. Order this product here, from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link.
I’ve said it time and again: You’ve gotta take care of your hands. The Gloveworks HD Orange Nitrile Disposable Gloves are my own paws’ salvation. They’re comfortable, versatile, and remarkably durable. I rarely ever rip a pair. Seriously. And I’ve put them through some pretty brutal paces. I can literally use the same pair several times. A box of these lasts forever. And they’re touchscreen-capable. I always use my phone and camera while I’m wearing them. I give these gloves five stars out of five. I’ve used other disposable latex and nitrile gloves in the past, and none of them even came close to these Gloveworks HD Orange Nitriles. Try ’em, you’ll love ’em! Order them here, from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link.
The Fiskars Softgrip Bypass Pruner is perfect for pruning/deadheading/cutting back every one of the perennials I’ve referenced in this article, plus virtually every other perennial I’ve got in my garden. It’s got more than enough power, and it’s incredibly sharp and beautifully machined. It’s absolutely perfect for making precise and delicate deadheading cuts and removing compromised foliage with surgical precision. I’ve got several different Fiskars garden cutting implements, including this one, in my arsenal. I love these tools. To learn more about Fiskars products, or to order yours here, from Amazon, please click the #advertisement link.
So, should you underplant your featured perennials?
You better believe it.
And you’ve just now read all about what I believe are four terrific benefits to underplanting your featured garden perennials with groundcover plants. I do hope you’ll consider trying this technique and incorporating groundcover plantings in your own garden’s design. The effects are literally all positive. And there are no downsides, except possibly one: the good folks who think that roses are too good to share space with groundcover might disapprove.
Hey, there’s no accounting for taste, right?
Cheers, and Happy Gardening!
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I love all ground covers and under-planting. I wish I had better luck with mosses, et al.
I agree with you, Everly. I love them, too. And I agree with you about the mosses. Although Scotch moss isn’t a true moss, I’ve tried it and it just seemed to tire out. I know it’s not long-lived, but it should’ve self-sowed and hung tough. But it didn’t. Thank you for your comments and for your interest, Everly. I really appreciate it.
I am amazed at your knowledge. You have stated you are relatively new to gardening. Very impressive
Thank you, Rick. I appreciate your wonderful compliment. I enjoy gardening and I love the plants I grow in my garden. It’s really great fun to research and observe these remarkable organisms. Thanks again!
I always enjoy learning new things about gardening. Even though I won’t ever have a big garden. I will enjoy yours. And try to remember to buy some blue star creeper or one of the others. Because I need all the help I can get to get rid of weeds. Thank you for all your knowledge!! And I love your frogs. I have a couple of frogs show up during summer.
Thank you, Sharon. My next article will have a list of some really terrific groundcover suggestions along with pretty good info about each one. I believe that these little plants contribute so much to a garden. And they really do go a long way toward reducing weed issues. And I believe that your visiting frogs will love having groundcover plantings around. They may decide to become permanent residents! Thanks again, Sharon!
I love the ground cover under the beautiful plants!
It completes the creation!
Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad you appreciate the look of the combination of groundcover and featured plants. I love this type of planting scheme. And I agree, it really is something of an artistic creation. Thanks again!
You make great arguments for underplanting your featured plants with groundcover perennials.The blue star creeper and voodoo sedum look spectacular under your roses and lilies ! Thanks for the great advice.
Thank you, Kevin! I’m glad you like my groundcover choices. And thanks for the kind compliment regarding my lily and rose features. I thought the combinations of the featured plants and their corresponding groundcovers worked out pretty well. Thanks again!
Another awesomely written and so well explained article. You are so knowledgeable, it really shows in your articles but also in those lovely images, yes and in all your every day work and posts.
THOSE PLANTS DO GET LOTS OF LOVE
Totally LOVE your work !!!!❤️🌸
Thank you, Roxxy! You are so kind – I’m at a loss for words… I’m so glad you’re enjoying my work. I do love my plants and my garden, and I’m positively thrilled that you appreciate them! Thank you so very much!