The best non-grass ground cover depends on your climate and how much you plan to walk on it. Excellent choices for high foot traffic include Microclover, Creeping Thyme, and Blue Star Creeper. For shady areas or non-walkable decorative zones, Pachysandra and Sweet Woodruff are fantastic.
If you don't need a tough playing surface for kids and dogs, grass can be replaced with just about anything—trees, shrubs, perennials, edibles, patios, gazebos—but I chose to simply copy the look of a lawn using plants more to my liking.
Material Grass Alternatives in Landscape Design
In addition to planting alternatives, landscape designers can also use materials like gravel, decomposed granite, or bark mulch as part of a lawn-replacement design.
Thymus serpyllum is the ultimate low-maintenance ground cover. It doesn't require mowing, is loaded with delightful flowers, is nicely drought-tolerant, and is resistant to many pests and diseases. It's even happy in soil conditions where other plants might not thrive.
Yes, several dense, fast-spreading ground covers can outcompete and choke out grass. However, because turfgrasses have deep, aggressive root systems, no ground cover will magically overtake an established lawn without initial intervention.
Some of the absolute fastest-spreading ground covers include Creeping Jenny (which can cover up to 3 square feet per plant in a single season), Creeping Thyme (spreading up to 18 inches per season), and Bugleweed (Ajuga). These plants can quickly fill in bare patches, choke out weeds, and create lush, living carpets.
While creeping phlox is a beautiful, low-maintenance ground cover, its main downsides are a short, 3-to-4 week bloom time, vulnerability to fungal diseases like powdery mildew in damp conditions, and a susceptibility to spider mites in hot, dry weather. It also does not handle heavy foot traffic well.
Excellent ground covers to replace grass include low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, and foot-traffic-friendly options such as creeping thyme (sunny, fragrant), clover (green, no-mow), blue star creeper (durable, flowering), and dichondra (lush, soft). These alternatives reduce mowing and watering, providing sustainable, lush landscapes.
The "rule of 3" in landscaping is a design principle stating that grouping elements in odd numbers—specifically threes—creates a more natural, balanced, and visually appealing space than pairs or even-numbered arrangements.
Top alternatives to artificial grass include living ground covers, modern hardscaping, and natural organic materials. These options provide sustainable, eco-friendly surfaces that bypass the heat retention and microplastic concerns of synthetic turf.
Our 12 Favorite Walkable Ground Covers For Beautiful Pathways
Transforming a grassless yard into an inviting space relies on creating "hardscapes" (patios and paths) and "softscapes" (low-maintenance groundcovers or mulch beds). To make it beautiful, focus on layering textures, defining clear walkways, and grouping plants in elevated garden beds or containers for visual variety.
Some types of no-mow grass alternatives include clover, wildflowers and native plants, moss, groundcovers, succulents, and xeriscaping. Many of these options are also low-maintenance when it comes to things like fertilization and watering.
Replacing grass in your yard involves either a total renovation (killing the old lawn and seeding/sodding anew) or smothering. The most successful approach is to kill the existing grass with a non-selective herbicide, remove the debris, prep the soil with compost, and lay new sod or scatter fresh seed.
The 1/3 rule states you should never remove more than one-third of the grass blade's height in a single mowing. For example, if your grass is 3 inches tall, you should only cut off 1 inch. Following this prevents plant shock, promotes deep root growth, and helps your lawn stay resilient.
The classic plant that universally says "I love you" is the Red Rose. However, if you are looking for long-lasting houseplants or specific symbolic meanings in the Victorian language of flowers, there are several wonderful alternatives to express your deepest affections.
Common landscaping mistakes often stem from skipping the planning phase or prioritizing aesthetics over long-term maintenance. The biggest pitfalls to avoid include ignoring your yard's drainage patterns, planting without accounting for mature plant sizes, and choosing the wrong plants for your specific climate and light conditions.
50/50 Lawn Mix consists of a half-and-half mix of compost and screened sand. It is meant for lawns that need extra drainage as it contains a higher sand content than our 70/30 mix. Many landscaping companies will also use this for sod application. Lawn mixes are best for a minimum depth of 2-3 inches. Calculations.
Replacing grass with alternatives like clover, creeping thyme, moss, or gravel reduces maintenance and water usage while enhancing, or creating, a sustainable, textured landscape. Popular options include low-growing groundcovers for color, mulch or hardscaping for modern, zero-maintenance areas, or native plants to support local ecosystems.
If you're looking for an eco-friendly, low-maintenance alternative to turf grass in a shady area, creeping Charlie is an option. It grows in thick mats you won't need to mow. There are noninvasive groundcovers that are better choices for turf substitute, though. It's good for erosion control.
The best ground cover plant to stop weeds depends on your specific growing conditions, as these act as "living mulch" by blocking sunlight and outcompeting weed seeds. The most effective options vary by their sunlight requirements:
The fastest-growing ground covers depend on your climate and lighting conditions, but top choices include Creeping Phlox for sunny areas, Ajuga (Bugleweed) for shade, and Clover. These plants rapidly spread via runners or creeping roots, helping naturally suppress weeds and prevent soil erosion.
In winter, creeping phlox generally appears as a low, dense, moss-like mat of foliage. Its needle-like leaves may stay green in milder climates, but in colder areas, the foliage often turns brownish, dry, or grayish as it goes dormant until spring.