What can I plant now that will be competition for the weeds?

marywb

Looking for some suggestions for cheap plants that I can plant now that are going to be able to provide ground cover and provide some competition for weeds.

Have tried planting some stock flower seeds but they failed to come up and seem to only be able to grow weeds which I am clearing every week or so but they keep coming back.

Is there such a thing as an easy to grow plant that will thrive?

It is quite a sunny spot.

Thanks for your advice.

Leif

Periwinkle is good in shady areas, as it will smother the weeds. Wild strawberries will spread like weeds, and tolerate semi-shade. Things like Crocosmia and Nigella also spread like weeds. I planted a hedge, and despite digging out and discarding hundreds of Crocosmia bulbs, the hedge is now competing with huge numbers of Crocosmia, Nigella, poppy, and others.

Aubretia is a lovely ground cover plant, simples to grow. Forget me not is a nice early season flower. Hardy Geranium is pretty and provides ground cover. A prostrate rosemary should be easy, will spread, and has loads of lovely flowers that attract bees. Oregano and marjoram will spread and provide ground cover. Nice delicate flowers too. There are some low growing Cotoneasters that will spread, provide nice flowers and berries, and are really easy to trim. I hacked mine back, and it just smiled, and carried on growing.

Ash_McCloud

Pachysandra

Sometimes known as Japanese spurge, pachysandra is a small genus of very dwarf shrubs, popular for over a century for their ability to spread into a dense evergreen carpet beneath other taller shrubs. They all need some degree of shade and acid soils, hence their popularity for underplanting rhododendrons. P. Terminalis is perhaps the best known, fully hardy and evergreen in shaded acid soils. It will tolerate full sun if the ground is consistently moist, but it is more valuable as a carpeting plant in dry shade, sheltered from cold winds.




Persicaria

This useful evergreen, ground-cover plant has glossy, lance-shaped leaves which turn reddish in dry conditions, and take on fine brown tints in autumn. From early summer into autumn, the foliage is studded with upright 10cm (4in) spikes of rose red flowers which turn an attractive pale pink as they fade. Use persicaria for the front of a border or in light, dappled shade beneath shrubs, and particularly for growing over areas of spring bulbs.

Blackjack_Davy

Scatter some turnip seeds. Let them grow thick, they won't give any useful roots but you can eat the leaves.