Mini Hostas Make Excellent Groundcovers
Part of my mini hosta rock garden in June of 2015. Be sure to see it when you visit Carolyn’s Shade Gardens—it is one of the highlights of the garden right now!
When it begins to warm up (finally!), the weeds are not far behind, and customers start asking for groundcovers. If garden beds are filled with plants, there is no bare soil on which weeds can germinate, and garden maintenance is greatly reduced. Covering bare ground can be accomplished economically by choosing plants that spread rather than form clumps. Spreading mini (and small) hostas are perfect for this task, but which ones work? Here is your answer:
Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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‘Kiwi Golden Thimble’ rapidly produces an adorable mound of golden leaves.
You can read more about mini hostas in these posts:
The Mice Have Multiplied Again
New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 2
New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 1
2013 New Miniature and Small Hostas
Hostas Containers and Companions
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‘Twist of Lime’ with its blue-green edge is a very fast grower and a favorite of my customers.
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‘Little Wonder’ has colorful leaves and a very dense growth habit.
‘Blue Mouse Ears’ is the only mouse ears hosta that I would use as a groundcover because it is so vigorous.
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‘Green with Envy’ is practically jumping out of my strawberry pot as it tries to expand.
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‘Rock Prince’ filled in this whole area between the stones very quickly.
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‘Baby Bunting’s’ tiny leaves make a very fine-textured groundcover.
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‘Lemon Delight’ makes an excellent dense cover, and the wavy leaf edges provide a feeling of movement.
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Of course any mini, if planted en mass, provides groundcover, here ‘Dragon Tails’.
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Carolyn
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Nursery Happenings: You can sign up to receive catalogues and emails about nursery events by sending your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.
Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 6b/7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.
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CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS 
May 13, 2016 at 8:29 am
It makes me feel wonderful inside to read your posts! Thank you! Susan Jennifer Johnson
May 13, 2016 at 8:53 am
Thanks, Jennifer, that is quite an endorsement of my blog! It’s a lot of work so it’s nice to get feedback. Carolyn
May 13, 2016 at 8:39 am
Hi Carolyn. Are these available now, and if not, when? What size pot, and average cost?
I need to get everything in the ground by the 21st.
Thanks!
May 13, 2016 at 8:52 am
Bonnie, all the groundcover minis that I mentioned are available at my lowest mini price of $12 and some are also available in a bigger size for $15. Will I see you soon? Carolyn
May 13, 2016 at 1:31 pm
What a great idea… I’d never thought of mini-hostas as groundcover plants but I certainly will after this!
May 13, 2016 at 1:48 pm
I have large patches of some of them in my garden. I wish you could see them in person.
May 13, 2016 at 11:02 pm
I like those mini-hostas. Still thinking about maybe growing some in pots.
May 14, 2016 at 7:12 am
You should, they make great container plants.
May 15, 2016 at 1:12 pm
The several I have bought from you Carolyn are growing in containers still…but I hope to create a small area where they can grow as ground cover….but boy I have loads of work to get rid of weeds and groundcover that is too aggressive.
May 15, 2016 at 4:28 pm
The planting is always the fun and easy part!
May 20, 2016 at 9:25 am
I am going to add a link to this post to my collectable hosta post. They do make nice groundcovers!
I am gearing up to doing a post on white gardens. I’d like to cover sun and shade with the white theme. Would you be interested in being my expert opinion on some shade options?
May 20, 2016 at 8:04 pm
Thanks for the link. How do I find that post? Or is it the one I just read. I would be happy to be your expert on white plants for shade. I can already think of some great ones.
May 21, 2016 at 1:21 pm
I put the link to this post at the end of my listing for mini host as.
May 23, 2016 at 1:41 pm
Thanks!
May 20, 2016 at 6:18 pm
Very pretty en mass. My Mouse Ears have finally started to spread. It took them a while, but now they are claiming new territory. I think Spring has finally sprung. The weather is warming. I did want to see Chanticleer this spring. Maybe I will drive down soon.
May 20, 2016 at 8:02 pm
I am sure that Chanticleer is gorgeous right now. Hopefully, I will actually have time to see it this spring.
May 30, 2016 at 10:48 pm
I also saved this post. Very helpful information as I slowly add groundcovers in my garden. Thanks!
May 31, 2016 at 8:56 am
Glad you found it helpful, Jean. Any hosta planted close together makes a good ground cover as the leaves tend to make total shade. I was just highlighting the hostas that creep instead of mound.
May 29, 2020 at 7:19 am
Love the hostas used as groundcovers! In the photo of the Rock Prince, what is that on the left? It looks like a mini hosta, but has brown margins!
May 29, 2020 at 8:29 pm
It is ‘Bandit’ epimedium.
January 31, 2021 at 8:03 am
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