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Bee-Friendly Ground Covers – 10 Native, Low-Growing Plants That Wild Bees Love

Bee Friendly Ground Cover Plants – Native, Flat-Growing Plants To Attract Pollinators

What are the best native, bee-friendly ground covers for the garden? If you're looking for a clear answer to this question, you've come to the right place! Above all, the plants decide whether a Garden good for bees and insects in general, or not. If you want to make a difference for the insect world, you should also take a closer look at your favorite ground cover plants.

Carefully selected, they can not only be a flowering ornament, keep unwanted weeds at bay, stabilize the soil on slopes and promote soil life, but can also attract an incredible number of bees, beetles and butterflies and improve the soil quality. Biodiversity promote.

In this article, I will therefore introduce you to ecologically valuable, native, flat-growing, carpet-like ground cover plants that combine all these benefits and, above all, provide pollen and nectar for endangered wild bees. Let's go!

Reasons: Why plant bee-friendly ground cover plants?

Of course, there are plenty of advantages! Before we get straight to the specific plants, I would like to an extra boost of motivation with the hand.

For hobby gardeners, carpet-like, flowering ground covers are of course a blessing because they promote the growth of Suppress weeds and every Making your garden easier to maintain. But they also promote the Soil healthas they prevent erosion and stabilize the soil structure.

For insectsFor bees in particular, the flowers of native ground cover plants are a valuable source of food. They provide Nectar and pollen and expand the habitat of the buzzing garden animals.

Introduced, alien ground cover plantswhich are unfortunately often sold in garden centers, have little or no value for the bee world.

We also need to endangered wild bees protect for good reasons! Among other things, because they are the most important Plant pollinators are and our Food Security is dependent on them.

10 Ground cover plants: Which ground cover plants are particularly bee-friendly?

Sand thyme spreads like a carpet

No more weeds, but more free time and more humming and buzzing in the garden! Motivated enough? Then we can now go one step further.

Here are the promised ground-covering plants that wild bees, butterflies and the like really love. I have added also the most important facts collected. Whether for shade, partial shade or sun, whether for poor or nutrient-rich soil, whether hardy, evergreen or edible - it's all there! 🙂

1. sand thyme (Thymus serpyllum)

One of the most only moderately common ground cover is the sand thyme. It is extremely undemanding and its pink to lilac-colored flowers are also attractive from June to October. Wild bees, caterpillars and also Butterflies an.

In our sunny, wild corner in garden the wintergreen plant looks particularly good. I have placed it directly at the top of the dry stone wall - a real eye-catcher!

Important facts:

  • Location: Sunny
  • Floor: Low in nutrients, sandy and permeable
  • Water: Drought tolerant
  • Growth: Creeping, about 10-20 cm high and 15-25 cm wide

2. oregano (Origanum vulgare)

An ideal ground cover for everyone bee friendly garden is oregano (also known as real dost or wild marjoram). This easy-care plant is not only a popular kitchen spice, but also a excellent, beautifully flowering and fragrant ground cover in the garden bed.

Its pink to purple flowers and aromatic leaves attract especially wild bees, butterflies, but also Hoverflies and some Caterpillars on. Another reason why perennial oregano is so well suited as a ground cover is that it can be Quickly seeded and spread - and thus suppresses emerging weeds.

Important facts:

  • Location: Sunny
  • Floor: Nutrient-rich and permeable
  • Water: Drought tolerant
  • Growth: Covering the entire surface, about 20-50 cm high and 20-40 cm wide

Tip: Many Incidentally, weeds are insect-friendly! So when the dandelion or the purple deadnettle do come through, the bees and many other insects are happy once again.

3. alpine lady's mantle (Alchemilla alpina)

An unfortunately Extremely rare but, in my opinion, the alpine lady's mantle is a really beautiful, creeping ground cover on dry stone walls. It is also known as Alpine silver mantle and loves sunny spots in the garden.

Around 37 wild bee species and some caterpillars and beetles also love the yellow flowers of this cushion-like plant, which blooms from April to June. If you're looking for bee-friendly ground cover, the alpine lady's mantle is perfect for your garden!

Important facts:

  • Location: Sunny to semi-shady
  • Floor: Normal to nutrient-rich, permeable and fresh
  • Water: Moderate water requirement
  • Growth: Creeping over the entire surface, about 5-15 cm high and 20-30 cm wide

4. wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca var. vesca)

Some garden perfectionists are bothered by the wild strawberry, but it doesn't just produce delicious fruit! The native wild fruit is also one of the ideal ones, natural, bee-friendly ground cover plantsand can even withstand damp shade.

I can recommend the wintergreen wild strawberry mainly because its white blossom attracts an incredible number of wild bees and because it can be like a beautiful carpet spreads out. If you ask me: an absolute MUST for everyone Natural garden!

Important facts:

  • Location: Sunny to semi-shady
  • Floor: Nutrient-rich, moist and permeable
  • Water: Moderate water requirement
  • Growth: Sprawling and spreading, about 10-20 cm high and 20-30 cm wide

5. creeping groundsel (Ajuga reptans)

Creeping groundsel as ground cover for wild bees

Wild bees love the creeping groundsel, whose name already suggests its suitability as a good ground cover. Butterflies also love its blue blossoms which adorn many beds in natural gardens from May to August and are a real source of nectar.

The evergreen plant has beautifully glossy leaves, Spreads very quicklyloves to grow in moist shade and is an important food source for an incredible number of insect species.

Important facts:

  • Location: Semi-shady to shady
  • Floor: Nutrient-rich and permeable to humus
  • Water: Moisture-loving
  • Growth: Ground-covering, about 15-30 cm high and 20-25 cm wide

6. little burnet (Prunella vulgaris)

If you are looking for native, ground-covering plants, you will quickly come across the little brown lily. This is because it also forms a flat carpet and covers the floor Increasingly via foothills.

Personally, I particularly like the lip-shaped, purple flowers that bloom from June to September. can be seen. Countless wild bees and some species of butterfly have a similar view, enjoying the nectar and pollen of the easy-care, insect-friendly ground cover.

Important facts:

  • Location: Sunny
  • Floor: Nutrient-rich, permeable and rather loamy
  • Water: Moderate water requirement, quite drought tolerant,
  • Growth: Covering the entire surface, about 10-30 cm high and 50-80 cm wide

7. wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa)

The beautiful wood anemone, which you have probably already seen here and there in the wild, is also an important ground cover for bees. From March to April, this deciduous, flat-growing perennial forms a white carpet of flowers with a high pollen value, which wild bees, hoverflies and also some caterpillars really like.

It is best to place the wood anemone in a shady spot in your garden with nutrient-rich soil. sustainable gardenso that it spreads as quickly as possible.

Important facts:

  • LocationSemi-shady to shady
  • Floor: Nutrient-rich, moist and permeable
  • Water: Moderate water requirement
  • Growth: Carpet-forming and ground-covering, about 10-25 cm high and 10-20 cm wide

8. lady's mantle (Alchemilla erythropoda)

A less sprawling, but still cushion-like and insect-friendly ground cover is the lady's mantle. This native perennial attracts wild bees in particular, which feast on its greenish flowers.

It looks very good, for example in the first row of a wildflower bed.

Important facts:

  • Location: Sunny to semi-shady
  • Floor: Normal garden soil, well-drained and loamy-sandy
  • Water: Moderate water requirement, but tolerates drought
  • Growth: Cushion-forming and spreading, about 10-30 cm high and 10-20 cm wide

9. yellow sunflower (Helianthemum nummularium)

Would you like another flat-growing bee magnet for sunny garden areas? Then I can recommend the yellow or common sunflower with a clear conscience. The plant forms a dense, winter-green cushion and blooms from May to September with beautiful bright yellow flowers.

As they relatively rare in nature you should definitely consider using them as ground cover in your garden. Around 23 species of wild bees and numerous other insects would definitely be very grateful!

Important facts:

  • Location: Sunny
  • Floor: Low in nutrients, sandy and permeable
  • Water: Drought tolerant
  • Growth: Carpet-like and cushion-forming, about 10-30 cm high and 20-25 cm wide

10. broom heather (Calluna vulgaris)

Heather is an ideal ground cover for bees

I grew up in the Lüneburg Heath and therefore particularly enjoy the sight of native heather plants in the garden. But above all, I think it's great that they are also Ideal, bee-friendly ground cover which bloom pink from July to November.

They thus offer Wild beesand numerous Butterflies, caterpillars and Hoverflies provide a habitat. Many of them even specialize in heather.

Important facts:

  • Location: Sunny to semi-shady
  • FloorNormal to lean, acidic, moist and permeable
  • Water: Moderate water requirement, not too drought resistant
  • GrowthGround-covering, carpet-forming, about 15-25 cm high and 30-50 cm wide

Bee-friendly ground cover for a lively garden

Whether you place them at the edge of your garden paths, under a fruit tree, against a wild shrub hedge or in the first row of a flower bed: flowering, bee-friendly ground covers are Always a real eye-catcher - Especially for the insects! 😉

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

Albert Einstein (more under Species protection quotes)

You have met many of them here today. But there are still a few Other ground cover plants that wild bees and other insects love. Finally, I have put together a few more examples to inspire you:

  • Catmint (Nepeta cataria, not to be confused with Nepeta x faassenii)
  • Long-haired thyme (Thymus polytrichus)
  • Ivy (Hedera helix)
  • Pungent stonecrop (Sedum acre)
  • Liverwort (Hepatica nobilis)
  • Blood red cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum)

I hope that this article has inspired you to do more for wild bees and against global warming. species extinction to do. Do you have any questions, suggestions or do you know any other insect-friendly ground cover plants? Then please write me a comment!

Stay close to nature,

Christoph from CareElite - Plastic-free living

PS: Of course, you can also make a real difference in the garden with larger plants in the fight against the declining wild bee population. Next, just take a look at my posts about Bee-friendly wild roses or Insect-friendly trees an.

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Christoph Schulz

Christoph Schulz

I am Christoph, an environmental scientist, activist and author, and here at CareElite I am committed to tackling the environmental problems of our time and to promoting the most conscious and sustainable way of life possible in our society.