The Best Ground Cover Plants for Nebraska

Shady Sites

• Choose shade-tolerant plants for sites that receive less than six hours of direct sunlight each day. For partially shaded sites, the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum recommends creeping mahonia (Mahonia repens) or ajuga (Ajuga reptans). Mahonia is an evergreen ground cover that grows from 10 to 12 inches tall with a 5-foot spread. It's hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9 and has spiny, holly-like foliage that takes on a bronze-purple tone in winter. Hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9, ajuga is an evergreen that spreads quickly and forms mats of lustrous foliage. It blooms with purple spring blossoms and reaches a height of 4 inches.

Sunny Sites

• The Nebraska Statewide Arboretum dubbed 2004 the "Year of the Dianthus," noting that this versatile plant can be grown as an attractive ground cover. Hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9, this evergreen thrives in sunny, well-drained sites. Dianthus (Dianthus barbatus) has gray-green foliage that resembles grass, but it's prized for the aromatic pink, purple and white flowers it produces in late spring and early summer.

Moist Sites

• The Plant Native organization includes sweet flag (Acorus calmus) on its list of desirable native plants for Nebraska. Sweet flag thrives in moist or wet soils and grows in clumps of bright green, grass-like foliage. It is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 10 and blooms with yellow flowers in summer. Plant Native also recommends wild ginger (Asarum canadensis), a slow growing deciduous ground cover that thrives in rich, moist sites. Wild ginger produces purple-red flowers and is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8.

Dry Sites

• For dry planting sites, the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum recommends growing nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) as ground cover. This annual grows up to 8 feet tall, but its vining nature allows it to grow prostrate. It thrives in sunny to partially shaded sites and blooms with fragrant red, orange, yellow and multicolored blossoms from summer through fall. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), a drought-tolerant evergreen hardy in USDA zones 3 to 7. Bearberry forms a dense mat of leathery, dark foliage and blooms with white-pink spring flowers, which are followed by red berries.