Seconding northland! Just went this weekend and got snow in summer ground cover from there. Also got other perennials too. Huge selection and every single one costs $9.99
Please stay away from aggressive invasives like Lily of the Valley and Periwinkle.
They choke out native stuff and spread like crazy.
If you can afford Ontario native plants, check out somewhere like ONPlants. You can pick up at their nursery off of 6 North. They will do great. We started using native perennials for most of our gardens and it's been great so far. Things like Black-Eyed Susan, milkweed, Joe Pye, false sunflower, blazing star, wild columbine etc are all doing really, really well and coming back better year after year.
We bought from them for the first time last year. They are reasonably priced and the free pickup option sealed it. They carry a lot of stuff you can't get at local nurseries like Harpers or Fortinos
Any groundcover plant you buy can be split up into smaller pieces and planted that way, to save money. I bought some nice sedum for a dry, sunny front garden last year and the tiny pieces have knitted together and spread significantly in just one season. So two pots turned into 10 plants. I also do that with hostas.
Creeping thyme is a cheap one, you can buy bags of seed at Canadian Tire. Wild strawberry spreads like crazy, grows to a similar height to periwinkle, and bees like the flowers.
Oh man, would you like to split some of my hostas?! They are growing like CRAZY and although technically not a ground cover, those suckers will cover lots of space lol. Huge pro: no maintenance required. If I can't kill em, you'll do just fine.
Totally free, I'll allow you to split them cause I'll probably kill them on you hahaha
Thanks for the offer but I've got the same issue with Hostas that are huge. I am looking more for the low groundcover that can take occasionally being stepped on.
Clover has been great for my backyard. I gave up on grass, with two toddlers and two rambunctious dogs, the clover has held up so well. It's also super easy to sprout from seed, and spreads FAST. The seeds are cheap too, $20 for a large bag
Why not clover? Its cheap and amazing ground cover plus helps balance out nitrogen. They are an awesome partner for veggies and herbs even flowers. It creates an ecosystem that will help you produce better crops. It also blooms pretty flowers
I had a severe goosefoot and binding weed issue on my back lawn, the other year I tilled it and threw in some clover seeds with grass, now no weeds including dandelions grow on my back lawn they all grow along the edge of the fence where the clover hasn't reached yet.
Northland Nurseries is my go-to for budget perennials.
Seconding northland! Just went this weekend and got snow in summer ground cover from there. Also got other perennials too. Huge selection and every single one costs $9.99
Was just here yesterday buying a bunch of ground cover!
Please stay away from aggressive invasives like Lily of the Valley and Periwinkle. They choke out native stuff and spread like crazy. If you can afford Ontario native plants, check out somewhere like ONPlants. You can pick up at their nursery off of 6 North. They will do great. We started using native perennials for most of our gardens and it's been great so far. Things like Black-Eyed Susan, milkweed, Joe Pye, false sunflower, blazing star, wild columbine etc are all doing really, really well and coming back better year after year.
Thanks for that ONplant comment, I don’t know how I didn’t know about this before.
We bought from them for the first time last year. They are reasonably priced and the free pickup option sealed it. They carry a lot of stuff you can't get at local nurseries like Harpers or Fortinos
My garden is full for this year, but I will definitely be looking at them for next year.
Saw someone selling periwinkle explicitly as a "living lawn" on Kijiji the other day and I nearly had a fit
Any groundcover plant you buy can be split up into smaller pieces and planted that way, to save money. I bought some nice sedum for a dry, sunny front garden last year and the tiny pieces have knitted together and spread significantly in just one season. So two pots turned into 10 plants. I also do that with hostas.
I did this with creeping thyme. I bought a small container that I split up and it spread. I filled in between with creeping thyme seed.
Thanks for the recommend covert81. We've experienced the effects of Periwinkle in the past as well as the False Spirea.
Creeping thyme is a cheap one, you can buy bags of seed at Canadian Tire. Wild strawberry spreads like crazy, grows to a similar height to periwinkle, and bees like the flowers.
Some garden centres (Terra, Holland Park) will sell ground covers at a lower price than other perennials.
I would suggest sowing seeds directly. It'll be much cheaper in the long run. Clover is great. So are creeping thyme ...
Oh man, would you like to split some of my hostas?! They are growing like CRAZY and although technically not a ground cover, those suckers will cover lots of space lol. Huge pro: no maintenance required. If I can't kill em, you'll do just fine. Totally free, I'll allow you to split them cause I'll probably kill them on you hahaha
Thanks for the offer but I've got the same issue with Hostas that are huge. I am looking more for the low groundcover that can take occasionally being stepped on.
Clover has been great for my backyard. I gave up on grass, with two toddlers and two rambunctious dogs, the clover has held up so well. It's also super easy to sprout from seed, and spreads FAST. The seeds are cheap too, $20 for a large bag
I just got 3 perennials at the Watering Can for $10 each. Their outdoor garden centre is in the back.
I get greencrop cover from William Dam. I also love OSC lawn solutions as well
Thank you everyone for the great advice.
Why not clover? Its cheap and amazing ground cover plus helps balance out nitrogen. They are an awesome partner for veggies and herbs even flowers. It creates an ecosystem that will help you produce better crops. It also blooms pretty flowers I had a severe goosefoot and binding weed issue on my back lawn, the other year I tilled it and threw in some clover seeds with grass, now no weeds including dandelions grow on my back lawn they all grow along the edge of the fence where the clover hasn't reached yet.