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Our 5 Favorite Groundcover Grasses

Written by: PBM Team

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Time to read 4 min

Few plants do it as gracefully as groundcover grasses when it comes to enhancing your garden’s aesthetics and functionality. This guide will explore our five favorite groundcover grasses that elevate your landscape. These versatile and low-maintenance selections offer various colors, textures, and growth habits to suit your landscaping needs. From lush evergreen carpets to vibrant foliage accents, these groundcover grasses add beauty and provide practical solutions for soil stabilization, erosion control, and weed suppression.

Check out our article on project ideas using groundcover grasses for great ideas for your landscape.

weeping carex grass with variegated green and white foliage planted at the base of a shrub along a gravel walking path

1. Dwarf Mondo Grass

Dwarf mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Nana’) stands as a garden favorite for numerous compelling reasons. This diminutive yet hardy grass offers a wealth of benefits for your landscape. Its dense, lush, evergreen foliage forms a striking ground cover, providing year-round greenery and visual interest. With a maximum height of only 2 to 4 inches, it remains compact and neat, making it ideal for edging pathways, framing garden beds, or covering vast expanses with its uniform carpet-like appearance.


Beyond its ornamental value, dwarf mondo grass is a low-maintenance champion. It thrives in various light conditions, from full shade to partial sun, and requires minimal water once established, making it drought-tolerant. This grass also proves invaluable for erosion control, as its extensive root system helps stabilize soil on slopes or embankments.


Its adaptability, durability, and aesthetic appeal make dwarf mondo grass an excellent choice to add a touch of elegance and practicality to your landscape design. Whether aiming for a manicured look or a naturalistic garden, this grass delivers a dependable and visually pleasing solution.

2. Evercolor Everillo Carex

Landscaping with Everillo Carex grass (Carex oshimensis ‘Everillo’) is an inspired choice for those seeking to infuse their outdoor spaces with vibrant, year-round color and texture. This ornamental grass, with its stunning chartreuse foliage, creates a striking contrast against the greenery of other plants, making it an excellent focal point or accent in your landscape. Its cascading, arching growth habit forms a graceful, cascading mound, adding an artistic flair to your garden design. Whether used in containers, as a border, or as a ground cover, Everillo Carex brings a refreshing burst of color and form to your outdoor setting.


One of the standout features of Everillo Carex is its adaptability to different light conditions. This grass thrives in both full sun and partial shade, making it a versatile choice for various garden areas. Its hardy, low-maintenance nature requires minimal upkeep once established, making it an ideal selection for busy gardeners. Furthermore, its year-round color ensures your landscape remains vibrant and captivating, even in the colder months. Whether designing a contemporary garden, a woodland retreat, or a vibrant mixed border,


Everillo Carex grass lends a touch of elegance and visual interest, transforming your landscape into a year-round masterpiece.

3. Variegated Liriope


Variegated Liriope (Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’) emerges as the perfect groundcover grass for your landscape due to its exceptional blend of beauty and practicality. This hardy and versatile plant offers a lush, evergreen carpet of variegated foliage adorned with striking cream and green stripes, adding an immediate burst of color and texture to your garden. Its arching grass-like leaves create an elegant and uniform ground cover, creating a polished, manicured appearance around trees, along pathways, or as an edging along garden beds. Variegated Liriope’s year-round appeal ensures that your landscape remains vibrant even in the colder months, making it an excellent choice for creating an evergreen backdrop or focal point.


What truly sets Variegated Liriope apart is its resilience and low-maintenance nature. This grass thrives in various light conditions, from partial shade to full sun, and can adapt to various soil types. Once established, it requires minimal watering and pruning, making it an excellent choice for those seeking a fuss-free yet visually stunning ground cover. Furthermore, its dense root system helps prevent weed growth, reducing the need for constant weeding and upkeep. Whether you’re aiming to create a picturesque border, control erosion on a slope, or infuse your garden with year-round beauty, Variegated Liriope proves itself as an indispensable addition to your landscape design.


4. Evercolor Everest Carex

The variegated foliage of Everest Carex grass (Carex oshimensis ‘Everest’) presents an exquisite and harmonious complement to other plants in your garden. With its gracefully striped green and white leaves, Everest Carex provides a refreshing contrast and visual interest amidst a sea of greenery. Its compact, clumping habit makes it an ideal companion for many plants, whether used as an edging plant, in mixed borders, or as a ground cover.


The variegated foliage brightens the landscape and serves as a versatile backdrop that enhances the beauty of neighboring plants, adding depth and dimension to your garden design. Whether paired with vibrant blooms or other foliage textures, Everest Carex brings an elegant and refreshing touch that effortlessly elevates the overall aesthetics of your garden.

5. Mondo Grass


The landscape versatility of mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus) is truly remarkable. This low-growing, evergreen grass is a design powerhouse that can adapt to various garden styles and functions. Whether used as a ground cover beneath trees, a border along pathways, or a lush carpet around garden beds, mondo grass creates polished, well-defined edges and transitions. Its slender, dark green leaves offer a subtle yet visually pleasing backdrop to other plants, allowing vibrant blooms or textured foliage to stand out.


Furthermore, mondo grass thrives in partial to full shade, making it an ideal choice for those challenging areas in your garden where other plants may struggle. Its adaptability, low maintenance, and year-round attractiveness make mondo grass a go-to option for designers and gardeners looking to infuse elegance and structure into their landscapes.

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