Opinions on this will vary widely here on this forum. Some prefer no ground covers, others prefer conifer ground covers, while others prefer perennial evergreen ground covers. I posted a thread about this about a month ago and got some very good responces.

This spring I have used a combination of the three:

Around my smaller conifers I use sedum, Theme, phlox, Ajuga Black Scallop.

In the more open larger areas I use stuff such as Juniperus horizontalis 'Mother Lode', Juniperus horizontalis 'Gold Strike', etc.

Around my larger conifers such as Picea pungens 'Hoopsii' I use nothing since these plants hug the ground and require no face plants.

Have you ever seen a yellow erica? What about the lamium aruea?
Of all the pictures of conifers I have seen, the ones with some ground covers always appeal most to me.

I use all four types of ground covers in my gardens, none, vegatative, wood chips and ground hugging conifers. Like to think there's a use for all of them. My favorite is moss phlox, but can be a real rabbitt food. The other ones are various sedums and others I've since forgot the names of. But over the years I've propigated and they spread and just start to pop up every where. Been experimenting with a ground hugging geranium that shows promise as a ground cover

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Amazing Photos!!! Great inspiration.... job well done! That's right up there with Dave's garden.

Great photos!

Personally I like sedums, lithodora and heaths/heathers. Gives you some strong colors to contrast with the plants.
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-Will

Thanks for posting all the pictures guys! Wow!

I like the variety too, especially mixed with rockwork.

Where do you get your heaths and heathers? Do you have any erica or is that the same thing?

Where is the best place to buy the best assortments of groundcovers. I thought I found a place but when I call I never get an answer and email I got one over a week later. I don't like when communication is bad. Where can I look online? Thanks.

Erica and Calluna are the two I have I think, heaths and heathers. Bright colors, year-round, some may not like very very cold weather, so please do the proper research. I buy almost all of mine in little pots from the company below, out of Washington state.

Here is a link that might be useful: Great source of Winter color and conifer ground covers

Thanks.

What are the bright orange plants in your picture?

Attached link 'Robert Chapman'. Beautiful in cool Springs.

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Robert Chapman'

Where do you get your heaths and heathers? Do you have any erica or is that the same thing?

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none of them will live in z5 ...

well.. to be totally correct.. they will live until a z5 winter ...

unless you just want to play the zone pushing thing ....

though i would not be surprised for someone to roll in here and claim there is ONE that will ...

you better learn quickly .. to read a responders ZONE .. before you go off.. half cocked on their recommendations ..

let me suggest that Will FFB has thousands of things in his zone 7/8 garden .. that you can dream and drool over.. that will never be good for you in z5 ...

just like i have lots of things in my z5.. that dave cant grow in his z5 st louis .. or kansas city.. or wherever he is today .. lol ... [how in the heck can you have a town in two different states .... with the same name .. WHAT .. the peeps on the other side of the river could not come up with a different name.. what.. was sobriety an issue back then ... well dduuhhh.. i cant think of anything original .. lets just use the same name .. whats that all about.. but i digress]

ken

Zone 5 is a wide term. I am considered a zone 5 for some reason. I have lived here 31 years and it has never gone below 9 below and that was for a one hour period. The last bunch of winters have not gone below 0 and this last winter did not get below I think 15. I am really a zone 6 or with the microclimate I have created in my yard even maybe higher. I have been growing zone 6 and even some zone 7 things for many, many years now with great success. I don't read zone maps, just my thermometer and look at my zone 6 and 7 plants growing.

Will, thanks for the link to the heather etc. Do you know of any other places that sell other ground covers. I did not find any sedums etc. at that sight, unless I am blind and missed it.

Did you look at Bluestone perennials? They usually have a wide selection.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bluestone perennials

I found some great looking sedum when I was in San Francisco last week. It was in many of their troughs along the streets. It was yellowish in color. Anyone that has been to San Fran and knows what it is? Thanks.

'Angelina'? I have a yellow Sedum, but I'm not too fond of it because it seems to clash with everything around it.
I use all sorts of groundcovers. It's a matter of scale. The smaller the conifers, the smaller the groundcover. The larger the trees and shrubs, the larger and more vigorous the groundcover.

I use Sedum, Creeping Phlox, Vinca Minor, Hardy Geranium, Verbena, Pachysandra, Alpine Strawberries, Hardy Cyclamen, and Armeria. The trick is to match the groundcover to the trees and shrubs and make sure one doesn't over run the other. Again, it's a matter of scale.
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Oh, and woodchips.
Mike

I guess everyone has their own eye for things. I have
Arabiscaucasia Compinkie
Aubrieta Cascade Purple
Delosperma Table Mountain Delosperma 'John Proffitt'
Delosperma Yellow Ice Plant
Herniaria glabra 'Rupturewort' Green Carpet
Lamium maculatum Aureum
IsotomaFluviatillis Laurentia BlueStar
Lithodora Heavenly Blue
Muehlenbeckia Creeping Wire Vine
Phlox Subulata Scarlet Flame
Pratia County Park
Sedum acre 'Gold Moss' Utah Sedum
Sedum Fuldaglow
Sedum Golden Japanese
Pink Chintz Thyme
To me I like the contrast of the yellow in many of the darker areas. I like the pop it brings.
Thanks for the info on the sedum. I will look it up to see if that is what it is.

I maybe did not look close enough at the sedum at San Fran. I just does not appear to have the same leaf structure but I may be wrong.