Native Ground Cover Plants

For slopes, shade or simply mass planting, Australian Native plant species include some excellent Native Ground Cover Plants

Why Choose Native Ground Cover Plants?

Native ground covers excel in Australian conditions, handling drought, poor soils, and frost better than exotics. They support local wildlife, including birds and pollinators, while reducing maintenance. Select varieties based on your site: full sun for Grevilleas, shade-tolerant options like Viola hederacea

Low spreading or prostrate plants with dense growth are what we need for ground-covers. They help control erosion, keep weeds at bay and are attractive in their own right. For many Australian conditions, native plants are the answer for many landscaping uses including rockeries and weed supression.

When you are looking for Native Ground Cover Plants, choose those that create a thick matt and prevent weeds from poking through are high on the list.

Native Ground Cover Plants By Height,Sun and Moisture

Height	Typical Uses
Low	Between paving, edges, foreground
Medium	Mass planting, infill, slopes
Tall	Banks, erosion control, structure

Important Notes

• Many Banksias, Grevilleas, and Acacias respond well to pruning to maintain groundcover form.
• Moisture ratings assume free-draining soils (critical for Proteaceae).
• Several plants (e.g. Grevillea, Hardenbergia) tolerate light shade, but flower best in sun.

1. LOW GROUND COVERS

Height: up to ~30 cm
Mostly spreading, mat-forming

Sun – Dry

• Banksia blechnifolia
• Banksia petiolaris
• Banksia repens
• Carpobrotus glaucescens
• Hemiandra pungens
• Persoonia chamaepitys
• Scaevola albiba

Sun – Average Moisture

• Actinotus helanthii
• Goodenia macmillanii
• Hibbertia stellaris
• Kennedia beckxiana
• Myoporum parvifolium ‘Yareena’

Sun / Part Shade – Dry to Average

• Chorizema cordata
• Gastrolobium sericeum
• Hibbertia aspera

2. MEDIUM GROUND COVERS

Height: ~30–80 cm
Mounding or spreading shrubs, excellent infill plants

Sun – Dry

• Acacia Honey Bun
• Acacia glaucoptera
• Acacia myrtifolia
• Banksia gardneri
• Banksia leptophylla
• Banksia meissneri
• Banksia pilostylis
• Banksia spinulosa ‘Coastal Cushion’ – One of our favourite Native Ground Cover Plants
• Bossiaea cinerea
• Brachysema praemorsum ‘Bronze Butterfly’
• Dryandra calophylla
• Dryandra (Banksia) drummondii
• Eremophila glabra
• Goodenia ovata ‘Gold Cover’
• Grevillea ‘Bronze Rambler’
• Grevillea ‘Poorinda Royal Mantle’
• Grevillea juniperina
• Grevillea juniperina ‘Gold Cluster’
• Grevillea lanigera ‘Mt Tamboritha’
• Grevillea obtusifolia ‘Gin Gin Gem’
• Hardenbergia violaceae
• Homoranthus flavescens
• Kunzea pomifera
• Leptospermum ‘Horizontalis’
• Leptospermum rupestre
• Melaleuca pulchella
• Prostanthera denticulata
• Rhagodia spinescens
• Rulingia hermanniifolia
• Templetonia retusa prostrate ‘Cockies Tongue’
• Westringia fruticosa

Sun / Part Shade – Average Moisture

• Boronia ‘Shark Bay’
• Correa alba var. pannosa ‘Western Pink Star’
• Correa pulchella
• Correa reflexa ‘Dusky Bells’
• Crowea ‘Pink Star’
• Grevillea “Gold Cluster”
• Isopogon anemonifolius
• Lomatia tinctoria

3. TALL GROUND COVERS / PROSTRATE SHRUBS

Height: ~80 cm – 1.5 m (often wide-spreading)
Used for banks, erosion control, background massing

Sun – Dry

• Acacia cognata – Selected Forms make good native ground cover plants
• Acacia hilliana
• Banksia media
• Banksia integrifolia × B. paludosa
• Beaufortia schaueri
• Hakea ceratophylla
• Hakea flabellifolia
• Hakea incrassata

Sun – Average to Moist

• Austromyrtus dulcis
• Callistemon citrinus ‘Firebrand’
• Casuarina glauca prostrata
• Hakea conchifolia
• Melaleuca densa

Quick Design Tip

If you want to use Native Ground Cover Plants to maximum wildlife value:

• Combine Banksia / Grevillea / Correa (nectar)
• Add Hibbertia / Goodenia / Westringia (insects)
• Include dense prostrate plants for shelter (Kennedia, Myoporum)

Our Top Native Ground Cover Plants

• Creeping Boobialla (Myoporum parvifolium), however this one comes in two forms, a thin leafed form and a thick leaf form. 
  Both are great ground covers however it is the thick leaf form, that is the better of the two. Both have white flowers from late spring through summer.
  
• Grevilleas are another, and here we are looking for the low growing prostrate forms. Look for Grevillea ‘Poorinda Royal Mantle’ and Grevillea lanigera ‘Mt Tamboritha’ 
  Grevillea nudiflora is another to consider for well drained soils and full sun, low growing, good green foliage with red flowers to add to the attraction.
  
• Casuarina glauca also known as Cousin it is another one with really dense foliage, it looks great hanging over the edge of a garden wall and also makes an excellent ground cover plant for slopes and embankments.
  Great for erosion control, and as it spreads to around 3m, its good coverage means less plants per metre. And this species will reach between 30 and 60 cm. A great ground cover for embankments.
  
• Westringia Fruticosa has a few prostrate forms, ‘Mundi’is one ‘Flat and Fruity’ is another.
  
• Scaevola albida and its cultivars such as ‘Mauve Carpet’ are a low growing shrub, dense and a good little flowering ground cover.
  
• Melaleuca ‘Ulladulla Beacon’ is a prostrate form of Melaleuca hypericifolia, a tough ground cover excellent for coastal situations.
  
• Adenanthos cuneatus Coral Carpet is a prostate form from the Sterling Ranges, tough and easy care.
  
• Hardenbergia violacea is best known as a climbing plant, however it can also be used as a ground cover, not as dense as some others, but easy to control and it does have great flowers. new cultivars have a denser and more compact habit.
  
• Rhagodia spinescens is another to look for and its the prostrate forms that make good ground covers. So look for ‘Aussie Flat Bush’.
  
• Carpobrotus glaucescens, call it pigface or iceplant, it is a creeping succulent and grows well in coastal conditions. ‘Aussie Rambler’ is a named variety to look for.
  
• Eremophila glabra is the emu bush and it has a number of prostate forms including ”Burgundy’ and ‘Kalbarri Carpet’ 
  
• Acacia cognata in is dwarf forms can spread for over a metre, covering a large area with dense foliage, great for filling in an area with a low maintenance ground cover.
  
• Callistemon ‘Candle Glow’ will only reach 50 – 60 cm high, spreading to nearly 3m and with good yellow flowers as well as soft green foliage.
• Chrysocephalum aplicatum – The Common Everlasting

One to be wary of.

Viola hederacea which is now Viola banksii, is one that is often recommended. however we find a little invasive for smaller gardens. If you have the right position, and can allow it to spread, its great. If you want to contain it, it can be a problem and is very difficult to remove.

That being said, they do make a good lawn for shaded areas they can work well, however in a drought, they do not perform that well.

A – Z List of Australian Native Ground Cover Plants

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