At Le Grand Potager, we use ground cover plants, which we appreciate for their rapid growth and frugality in water.
Also called carpet plants, these are plants that take up little height and spread over the ground. They constitutes an alternative to the lawn, because these vigorous plants are able to quickly dress the bare soil of the garden, while creating a natural vegetal carpet. They limit erosion, promote life in the soil, and pollination, thanks to the flowers attracting pollinating insects.By combining different varieties, we get interesting shades of green. The mixture of foliage and flowers creates varied textures and colors. We can for example match the vigorous carpet of the gray-green leaves of the Achillea with the small round leaves of the Lippia nodiflora as well as with the green, fine and very tight leaves of the Mascarene Grass.
Ground cover plants offer several advantages:
- Save time. They require less maintenance because there is no need to mow or weed.
- They compete with weeds such as quackgrass, and severely limit their spread.
- Save water. They require watering much less frequently than lawn because these plants are adapted to our climate (Lawn is a practice that comes to us from Great Britain)
- Saving on fertilizers. They are as sober as they are frugal in fertilizers.