Low native shrubs and groundcovers for sun, shade, sand and bog
Which low native shrubs spread into a groundcover in shade, sun, sand or bog, how each one spreads and how fast, and how far apart to plant them to close a gap.
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How low shrubs spread, and how fastWhich to plant whereIn shade or part shadeIn sun, on dry or average groundIn moist ground and bogsHow far apart to plant themIn place of lawn or English ivy under treesWhere to startCommon questionsSourcesA low shrub makes a groundcover when it spreads on its own, by stems that root where they touch the soil or by underground stems that raise a colony. Partridgeberry, eastern teaberry and box huckleberry carpet acid soil in shade, and Allegheny spurge, the native pachysandra, covers rich, less acid ground. Bearberry, creeping juniper and woolly beach heather cover dry, sunny sand. Large cranberry knits a mat over a sunny bog. Most grow slowly and go in 2 or 3 feet apart, with the ground between them weeded until they meet.
How low shrubs spread, and how fast
Low shrubs spread in three ways:
- Rooting stems. Runners or low branches lie along the ground and root where they touch it, as in bearberry, partridgeberry and creeping juniper.
- Underground stems. Stems that creep just below the surface send up new shoots, which build a colony, as in the huckleberries, eastern teaberry and Allegheny spurge.
- Suckers. Dwarf witch alder sends up new stems from its roots, called root suckers, and fills out a colony.
Most of them are slow. Box huckleberry’s underground stems push a patch outward about 6 inches a year, and bunchberry’s runners up to a foot. Karen Harper’s study of 40 clones on Nantucket Island found black huckleberry patches 6.9 feet wider on average after 15 years. Creeping juniper is slow growing too, yet its branches trail 10 feet or more and root as they go.
Many of the plants below are heaths, the family of blueberries and azaleas, and need acid soil. Native shrubs that need acidic soil covers the soil test and how to plant them.
Which to plant where
Each table runs from the coldest zones to the warmest.
In shade or part shade
All eleven take part shade, and the first nine take full shade too. Most want acid soil, but Allegheny spurge and running strawberry bush grow wild on limy ground:
| Plant | How it spreads | Spacing, feet | Zones | Height, feet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunchberry | Underground runners, up to a foot a year | 2 | 2–6 | 1 |
| Velvetleaf blueberry | Underground stems | 2 | 2–7 | 1–4 |
| Trailing arbutus | Trailing stems, slowly | 2 | 2–8 | 1 |
| Eastern teaberry | Underground runners | 1–2 | 3–8 | 1 |
| Partridgeberry | Stems root as they creep | 2 | 3–8 | 1 |
| Yellowroot | Underground stems | 3 | 3–9 | 1–3 |
| Running strawberry bush | Stems root as they creep | 2 | 5–7 | 1–2 |
| Box huckleberry | Underground stems, 6 inches a year | 2 | 5–8 | 1–2 |
| Allegheny spurge | Underground stems | ½–2 | 5–9 | 1 |
| Sand myrtle | Low branches root | 4 | 6–8 | 1–3 |
| Hairy blueberry | Underground runners | 2 | 7–8 | 1–3 |
Under pines and oaks, where the shade is dry, box huckleberry and eastern teaberry both make evergreen carpets on acid soil. Trailing arbutus wants a lightly shaded bank of sandy, acid soil where fallen leaves do not pile up, and it fails in drought or flood. It is hard to establish, and it is never one to dig from the woods:
“It is best not to try to transplant it from the wild as it will most likely die.” (NC State Extension, Epigaea repens)
In sun, on dry or average ground
All twelve take full sun on soil that drains:
| Plant | How it spreads | Spacing, feet | Zones | Height, feet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bearberry | Stems root as they creep | 1–2 | 2–7 | 1 |
| Woolly beach heather | Spreading patches | 2 | 2–8 | 1 |
| Creeping juniper | Branches root as they trail | 6 | 2–9 | 1–2 |
| Black huckleberry | Underground stems | 2–3 | 3–7 | 1–3 |
| Three-toothed cinquefoil | A mat 1 to 2 feet wide | 2 | 3–9 | 1 |
| Eastern prickly pear | Pads root where they touch | 3 | 4–9 | 1–2 |
| Blue Ridge St. John’s-wort | Stems root where they touch | 2 | 5–8 | 1–2 |
| Cumberland rosemary | Low branches root | 2 | 5–9 | 1–2 |
| Hillside blueberry | Underground stems | 3 | 5–9 | 1–3 |
| Creeping blueberry | Trailing stems root | 2 | 6–9 | 1–2 |
| Lloyd’s St. John’s-wort | Runners and rooting stems | 2 | 6–9 | 1–2 |
| Dwarf live oak | Underground stems | 3 | 7–10 | 1–3 |
Bearberry and woolly beach heather hold loose sand in place. Creeping juniper and black huckleberry hold the soil of a dry, open slope. On a slope, give each plant a level shelf of its own, as planting on a slope or a bank explains.
In moist ground and bogs
These want acid soil that stays moist, as at the edge of a bog, in sun or part shade:
| Plant | How it spreads | Spacing, feet | Zones | Height, feet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lingonberry | A clump widens slowly | 1–2 | 2–6 | 1 |
| Large cranberry | Runners | 2 | 2–7 | 1 |
| Rhodora | Underground stems, slowly | 3 | 3–6 | 1–3 |
| Dwarf witch alder | Suckers | 3 | 5–8 | 2–3 |
| Woolly huckleberry | Underground stems | 3 | 8–9 | 1–3 |
We do not grow Pennsylvania sedge, wild ginger or foamflower, three native groundcovers of shade. Nor do we grow twinflower, striped pipsissewa or pipsissewa, which are hard to raise from seed.
How far apart to plant them
Most of these go 2 feet apart and the rest 3 or 4, but creeping juniper needs 6. Spacing follows a plant’s size, its rate of growth and how soon the cover is wanted. The usual aim is a bed that closes in three seasons:
“Usually, it is best to space the plants so the groundcover areas will, for the most part, be completely covered by the end of the third growing season.” (Clemson Cooperative Extension, Groundcovers)
Closer spacing covers the ground sooner and leaves weeds and erosion less room. Yet crowded plants risk disease where the air is still or the soil stays wet, and some decline as they compete. Bearberry, eastern teaberry and lingonberry close into a carpet sooner set a foot apart, and Allegheny spurge at 6 to 12 inches.
Set the plants in staggered rows, which usually cover a bed fastest. Weed until they meet, and keep about 2 inches of mulch between the runners so they can root down as they spread. The planting-distance tool gives the spacing of any plant we grow, opened here on box huckleberry.
In place of lawn or English ivy under trees
Under trees, shade and roots near the surface thin the grass. A groundcover that needs less light and water than grass competes less with the tree and keeps the mower off its trunk. Take up the sod before planting, as turning lawn into a native planting sets out.
The traditional groundcovers, English ivy and periwinkle, escape into natural areas, and Japanese pachysandra is another to avoid. Ivy also climbs the trunk, where it loosens the bark and holds moisture against it. Clear it before planting, as invasive vines and shrubs explains.
In place of Japanese pachysandra, plant Allegheny spurge, the native one, which spreads slowly instead of taking over. On acid soil, box huckleberry, partridgeberry or eastern teaberry takes the ivy’s place. Set small plants by hand in pockets between the roots, a foot or more from the trunk, as what to plant under a big tree explains. Where fallen leaves pile up deep, rake some off the young plants so they do not smother.
Where to start
Blue Whale Trees grows every plant in the tables from seed. To plan a bed:
- Space: the planting-distance tool gives each plant’s spacing, with its distance from a house, a walk or the wires.
- Shade: the shop’s shade list holds the trees and shrubs we grow that take shade.
- Dry, sunny sand: the Dry Sandy Site Pack sets black huckleberry with five other shrubs of dry sand, for zones 4 to 7.
Common questions
What is the best native groundcover for shade?
Box huckleberry, an evergreen about a foot tall, spreads by underground stems over acid soil in part shade or shade, dry shade under pines and oaks included. Partridgeberry and eastern teaberry make lower evergreen carpets on acid soil, and Allegheny spurge suits richer ground.
What native groundcover grows in full sun?
Bearberry, creeping juniper and woolly beach heather spread into low mats on dry, sunny ground. Black huckleberry and hillside blueberry make colonies there on acid soil, and large cranberry covers a sunny bog.
How far apart should groundcover plants be?
Most of the low native shrubs we grow go 2 or 3 feet apart, and creeping juniper 6 feet. Set them in staggered rows, closer for a quicker cover, and weed between them until they meet.
What can I plant instead of English ivy under trees?
Box huckleberry, partridgeberry or eastern teaberry on acid soil in shade, or Allegheny spurge on richer ground, set out small between the roots once the ivy is cleared. All spread slowly, so weed and mulch around them until they close over.
Sources
(6 references)
- Groundcovers: University of Maryland Extension, Home and Garden Information Center (Miri Talabac, updated 2026), with its page English Ivy: groundcovers that spread by runners, underground stems and suckers, close spacing for a quicker cover against crowding and disease, sod taken up before planting, young plants beneath trees, English ivy and Japanese pachysandra among the groundcovers to avoid, ivy loosening the bark of the trees it climbs, Pennsylvania sedge, wild ginger and foamflower among the native groundcovers of shade, and Allegheny spurge as semi-evergreen.
- Groundcovers: Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, HGIC 1100 (Marjan Kluepfel, updated 2019): the quotation on a bed covered by the third growing season, spacing by size, growth and the effect wanted, staggered rows, weeding and 2 inches of mulch until the cover is established, ivy and periwinkle escaping into natural areas, groundcovers under trees, where shade and surface roots thin the grass, and pachysandras spreading by underground runners.
- Gaylussacia baccata: USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System (Corey L. Gucker, 2006), with its review of creeping juniper, Juniperus horizontalis, by the same author: black huckleberry’s rhizomes with a new stem every 10 to 20 inches, Karen Harper’s 1995 study of 40 clones on Nantucket Island that widened an average of 6.9 feet in 15 years, and creeping juniper’s slow growth, branches of 10 to 20 feet or more and rooting by layering.
- Box Huckleberry (PDF): Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, fact sheet: new stems spreading from the rhizomes about 6 inches a year.
- Epigaea repens: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: trailing arbutus as an evergreen mat that grows best in part shade on acid, sandy to rocky soil, very difficult to establish and slow even in good conditions, and the quotation on plants dug from the wild.
- Underplanting Trees - Respect the Roots: Penn State Extension (Elise Ford, Master Gardener, updated 2025): small plants set into small holes between tree roots, starting about a foot from the trunk, and deep leaves raked off so they do not smother small plants.
