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Question about ground cover and flowers (Zone 6) (self.gardening)

submitted 1 year ago by studly1241 to c/gardening

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I'm working on expanding a flower bed that is currently all mulch between the flowers/plants. If I was to replace most of the mulch with a ground-cover plant, would that impact any other flowers/plants from coming up as they grow?

I like the look of a flowering ground-cover over mulch but don't want it stifling any other growth.

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[–] echoclap 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We've done white clover in our 3 beds, between all the flowers, for the last 2 seasons. We do, still, apply a layer of mulch at first frost but that's because we're Zone 4b. I love my clover, I think it fills the empty spaces really well, it's a nitrogen fixer, so I feel like it's helping the other flowers, and as long as the other plants are already established, the clover hasn't snuffed out the "good" plants, just the "weedy" growth. The only 2 things to keep in mind are (1) I found if I plant small/really young plants while the clover is established, the clover will need to be plucked until the new flower has good growth. And (2) the clover itself can get a little wild, but again, we bring it right down and mulch in the winter. Good luck!

[–] studly1241 2 points 1 year ago

Thanks for the response! I’ve got a full clover/grass lawn so was thinking of another type (haven’t done a ton of research into it yet, figured first step was asking if it was even a good idea!) Seems like the consensus is that it aught to be okay, I just need to be smart about it and pay attention.