Ground Cover: Best Plants and Ways to Use Them for a Healthier Garden

When you think of ground cover, low-growing plants that spread to form a dense layer over soil. Also known as living mulch, it’s not just about looking neat—it’s about protecting your soil, cutting down on watering, and stopping weeds before they start. Most gardeners in India still rely on plastic sheets or wood chips, but those don’t feed the soil or help roots breathe. Real ground cover does.

Soil erosion control, the process of preventing topsoil from washing or blowing away is a silent crisis in Indian gardens, especially on slopes or terraces. A good ground cover acts like a net for dirt, holding it in place during monsoon rains. Plants like creeping thyme, a drought-tolerant, fragrant herb that spreads quickly and thrives in partial sun or spider plant, a hardy, low-maintenance option that grows well in containers and shaded balconies don’t just cover ground—they improve it. Their roots bind the soil, their leaves shade it from harsh sun, and when they die back, they turn into natural compost.

And here’s the thing: weed suppression, the natural blocking of unwanted plants by dense vegetation doesn’t need chemicals. A thick carpet of ground cover blocks sunlight from reaching weed seeds. No herbicides. No hand-pulling every weekend. Just plants doing the work they were meant to. In places like Bangalore or Pune, where summers are long and dry, ground cover plants like ivy or Wedelia (a native Indian creeper) cut watering needs by up to 40%. That’s not a guess—it’s what gardeners are seeing in real plots.

You don’t need a big yard to use this. Even on a 10x10 terrace, you can plant ground cover along edges, between pots, or in gaps where soil is bare. It works with drip irrigation systems, too—no runoff, no wasted water. And unlike plastic mulch, it doesn’t break down into microplastics or need replacing every year.

Some people think ground cover is just for lawns or big gardens. But if you’ve ever struggled with hard, cracked soil after summer, or spent hours pulling weeds from your balcony planters, you already know what it’s for. The posts below show you exactly which plants work in Indian climates, how to plant them without overwatering, and how to pair them with compost and rainwater systems for a garden that grows itself.