A variety of native plant species, including perennials, ferns, grasses, and even some woody plants, can function as ground covers in multiple landscape situations. Learn which native species may serve as excellent replacements for overused and invasive traditional ground covers such as English ivy, liriope, periwinkle, and creeping euonymus, while providing much-needed food and habitat for our local pollinators and birds.
Speaker: Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills, a creative force behind the resource Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic, will share her experience growing most of these plants in her own garden and at the Glencarlyn Library Community Garden, a Virginia Cooperative Extension Demonstration Garden in Arlington, Virginia, where she serves as a co-coordinator.
The 2020 version of this class is our most popular presentation ever (77,596 views and counting).
We are adding the latest version but keeping the original version – feel free to watch both!
Video of Presentations
Zoom session, recorded September 26, 2020
Zoom session, recorded September 8, 2023
Chapter Breaks
- 0:00:00 Introduction
- 0:00:49 Overview
- 0:08:59 Low-Growing Perennials for Sun
- 0:16:26 Taller Perennials for Sun
- 0:27:51 Questions
- 0:36:32 Grasses & Rushes for Sun
- 0:40:07 Woody Plants for Sun
- 0:46:30 Plants for Sun to Shade
- 0:52:12 Questions
- 0:56:37 Low-Growing Perennials for Shade
- 1:07:36 Taller Perennials for Shade
- 1:11:11 Questions
- 1:19:01 Ferns for Shade
- 1:21:27 Grasses & Sedges for Shade
- 1:24:19 Woody Plant for Shade
- 1:25:50 Resources
- 1:29:52 Questions
Chapter Breaks
- 0:00:00 Introduction & Overview
- 0:02:42 Problems with Invasive Ground Covers
- 0:04:07 Benefits of Native Ground Covers
- 0:04:55 Low-growing Perennials for Sun
- 0:13:00 Taller Perennials for Sun
- 0:22:28 Grasses & Rushes for Sun
- 0:25:56 Woody Plants for Sun
- 0:31:31 Ground Covers for Sun to Shade
- 0:37:10 Questions
- 0:37:43 Low-growing Perennials for Shade
- 0:47:51 Taller Perennials for Shade
- 0:51:24 Ferns for Shade
- 0:55:16 Grasses & Sedges for Shade
- 1:00:24 Woody Plant for Shade
- 1:01:42 Resources
- 1:03:45 Questions
Additional Resources
- Native Ground Covers for Sun & Shade Class Handout – updated 2023
- Native Ground Covers for Sun & Shade Addendum 2023
- Native Ground Covers for Sun & Shade Addendum 2020
- See fact sheets for many of these plants under Tried & True Native Plants for the Mid-Atlantic on the website for Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
- See the Plant NoVA Natives website’s list of native-only sellers for sources of native plants