Want the best of both worlds? Here are the Best Edible Ground Cover Plants that you can grow to add stunning appeal to your landscape with a fresh supply in your kitchen!
Here are the best Ground Covers that also make for amazing houseplants!
Best Edible Ground Cover Plants
1. Sweet Potato Vine
Botanical Name: Ipomoea batatas
Uses: Pan fry the leaves with jalapenos and onions
Plant sweet potatoes as ground cover and add a bright green look to your landscape! This vine sprawls fast so you have to prune it regularly.
2. Oregano
Botanical Name: Origanum vulgare
Uses: A must-have in Italian cuisines! Also goes well with tomato-centric recipes and olive oil-based dishes.
Oregano makes for fragrant, insect-deterring ground cover, hence it’s an ideal choice for the areas attacked by caterpillars, aphids, and leafhoppers.
Learn the best herb-growing secrets from experienced gardeners here!
3. Roman Chamomile
Botanical Name: Chamaemelum nobile
Uses: Use its leaves and flowers while preparing herbal tea
Apple scented chamomile is one more great option for edible ground cover for a refreshing feel. You can harvest plenty of blooms for an entire winter.
Fun fact: There is an English saying that the more you walk on chamomile, the more it will sprawl.
4. Purslane
Botanical Name: Portulaca oleracea
Uses: The leaves pair well with grilled bread and vegetables
This plant with succulent-like leaves grows like a weed that you can add to salads. Purslane feels cool and smooth underfoot with a woody scent.
5. Garden Thyme
Botanical Name: Thymus vulgaris
Uses: Saute leaves to add in pasta or rice. Use fresh leaves in meat or poultry
Garden thyme produces pink and purple blooms during early summer—this coiled woody vine gives a touch of soft springs under the feet.
6. Nasturtiums
Botanical Name: Tropaeolum spp.
Uses: The leaves add peppery and spicy flavor to dishes. You can also add them to salads.
Nasturtiums are useful plants from leaves to flowers—this easy-to-grow herb is rich in vitamins and minerals. It can be used as an excellent ground cover for pretty orange blooms!
7. Melon, Cucumbers, and Squash
8. Rock Cress
Botanical Name: Aubrieta deltoidea
Uses: The leaves can be tossed into salads. You can also cook them with other greens
Rockcress is one more excellent ground cover with lilac-colored flowers and makes a thick carpet of blooms and oval-shaped soft leaves—both of them are edible.
9. Sage
Botanical Name: Salvia officinalis
Uses: Pairs well with meat marinades, pastries, and breads
Sage is a good choice for cool climates—it grows up to 8-12 inches tall with a spread of 12-18 inches. The branches grow horizontally, which keeps the soil cool with shade.
10. French Sorrel
Botanical Name: Rumex scutatus
Uses: The leaves add an amazing flavor to Italian dishes like pasta and pizza
This low-growing, tasty, lemony plant makes for a hardy ground cover for areas with dappled sunlight. If you love Italian food, do grow it!
11. Mint
Botanical Name: Mentha
Uses: Be it soups, cocktails, or salads, it goes them with all!
Chocolate and apple mints are great low-growing varieties that spread fast and can tolerate foot traffic very well. This hard-to-kill ground cover looks great too!
12. Sweet Violets
Botanical Name: Viola odorata
Uses: Flowers can be eaten in salads. You can also add them to candies and jellies
Also known as heartsease, they sprawl fast and bush out in soft green bunches making a fabulous springtime ground cover.
13. Okinawa Spinach
Botanical Name: Gynura bicolor
Uses: Goes well in Japanese dishes and can be cooked like regular spinach
This medicinal plant from China and Japan comes in green-leaved to green-purple varieties. It gives a dark, enigmatic touch to any garden as ground cover.
14. Chickweed
Botanical Name: Stellaria media
Uses: Fresh flowers taste great in salads. Add leaves to stir-fries, stews, or pesto
This cheerful herb displays delicate blossoms and lush leaves that are used in Japanese cuisines. It can also be served as food to chickens.
15. Lemon Thyme
Botanical Name: Thymus citriodorus
Uses: The leaves taste great with vegetables, poultry, and seafood
Bring a lemony freshness to your yard with this thyme! You can add it to the traditional whiskey, lemon, and honey as a remedy to cure mucous cough.
16. Creeping Rosemary
Botanical Name: Salvia rosmarinus ‘prostratus’
Uses: Fresh or dry leaves can be used in a variety of meat dishes
This perennial herb is a good choice for cooler climates. The stunning blue flowers can offer a vivid display of colors to the entire yard.
17. American Wintergreen
Botanical Name: Gaultheria procumbens
Uses: Use fresh leaves while making herbal tea. Its berries are used to make pies
Also known as boxberry or eastern teaberry, it produces edible red berries. This slow-growing perennial produces white flowers and is a great choice for shady areas.
18. Ramps
Botanical Name: Allium tricoccum
Uses: Fresh leaves taste great in salads. Roast, grill, or sauté them to add in pesto
This wildflower and wild food have a distinct fragrance that resembles sweet spring onions and can also be used as them! It flourishes in a wet spring climate and grows up to 8-12 inches tall.
Here are the 9 signs that indicate your houseplants need more sunlight!
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