24 Beautiful Fast Growing Ground Cover Plants

Ralph Astley is a retired gardener from Philadelphia who specializes in outdoor plants and trees. With years of hands-on experience, Ralph not only cares for a diverse range of outdoor flora but also shares his extensive knowledge through well-written articles and social media posts. A trusted authority in arboriculture, he's committed to helping the community grow healthier, more robust gardens.
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Check out the list of the best Fast Growing Ground Cover Plants that provide quick coverage for your outdoor spaces.

If you’re looking to quickly fill in empty spaces and add vibrancy to your garden, these Fast Growing Ground Cover Plants are the perfect solution. These resilient plants spread rapidly, creating lush carpets of green in no time!

Check out the 48 Best Flowering Ground Cover Plants 


Fast Growing Ground Cover Plants

1. Mexican Daisy

Botanical Name: Erigeron karvinskianus

USDA Zones: 6-9

First on the list of fast-growing ground cover plants, Mexican fleabane effortlessly grows in crevices of rocks, walls, steps, and garden paths. It thrives in dry conditions.

2. Bugleweed

Botanical Name: Ajuga reptans

USDA Zones: 4-10

This creeping evergreen plant that stays green all the year is a great pick for shady spots in front of the flower beds. Its colorful, textured leaves in a deep purple color form a beautiful mat-like covering on the ground.

3. Sedum

Botanical Name: Sedum ‘stonecorp’

USDA Zones: 4-9

Sedum mats are excellent for green roofs, dry gravel gardens, and walls, as they create a lush foliage carpet while keeping weeds away and attracting wildlife.

4. Lamium Flowers

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Botanical Name: Lamium maculatum

USDA Zones: 3-8

The next on the list of fast growing ground cover plants is Lamium. It spreads quickly can cover a space of 40 square feet or more in just one year.

5. Asiatic Star Jasmine

Botanical Name: Trachelospermum jasminoides

USDA Zones: 7b-10

Ideal for warm climates, this fast-growing ground cover offers beautiful, dense evergreen foliage that fills the ground. It is an excellent choice to cover bare areas.

Check 18 Best Edible Ground Cover Plants

6. Herbaceous Clematis

Botanical Name: Clematis – Viticella Group

USDA Zones: 4-11

These vining clematis varieties spread quickly to fill empty areas with beautiful bright color in the landscape.

7. Rockcress

Botanical Name: Aubretia

USDA Zones: 6-8

Rockcress rapidly forms a colorful cascading ground cover. filled with colorful flowers. It is especially suited for sunny, well-drained areas.

8. Sweet Woodruff

Botanical Name: Gallium odoratum

USDA Zones: 4-9

As the sweet woodruff plant spreads quickly, it creates a lush green carpet over the ground that release a sweet fragrance from its foliage.

9. Blue Plumbago

Botanical Name: Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

USDA Zones: 5-9

This versatile plant is ideal for the seasonal transition, producing blue flowers at the end of summer and fiery-colored foliage in fall. Notably, it attracts butterflies and bees.

Check out the Best Walkable Ground Covers

10. Caraway Thyme

Botanical Name: Thymus herba-barona

USDA Zones: 4-9

In addition to its uses as an edible herb for cooking, caraway thyme also makes a great selection as a fast-growing ground cover that stays low to the ground.

11. Bunchberry

Botanical Name: Cornus canadensis

USDA Zones: 2-7

While the bunchberry ground cover reaches 8 inches in height, it is able to spread outward due to its underground stems.

12. Creeping Mazus

Botanical Name: Mazus reptans

USDA Zones: 5-8

Mazus reptans is a hardy perennial plant that thrives as a ground cover in USDA zones 5 to 8. It exhibits rapid growth, creating lush carpet-like foliage.

13. Ground Elder

Botanical Name: Aegopodium podagraria

USDA Zones: 3-8

Even in shady areas the ground elder plant is able to thrive and spread rapidly to create a dense mat of ground cover that blocks out other growth.

14. Trailing Periwinkle

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Botanical Name: Vinca minor

USDA Zones: 7-9

Though the trailing periwinkle has a tendency to spread quickly and can become invasive in some areas, it forms very thick lush blanket of glossy green leaves over the ground.

15. Fern Moss

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Botanical Name: Thuidium delicatulum

USDA Zones: 5-9

Fern moss is an evergreen ground cover variety that stays close to the ground. It has the remarkable ability to double its surface area in less than a year.

16. Japanese Spurge

Botanical Name: Pachysandra terminalis

USDA Zones: 4-8

These dwarf shrubs grows at an average to fats rate and do well in areas with partial shade, needing soil that are acidic.

Check the 22 Best Groundcovers With Purple Flowers

17. Wintercreeper

Botanical Name: Euonymus fortunei

USDA Zones: 5a-9a

This fast-growing ground cover can take various forms, serving as a shrub, vine, or ground cover, with its size being variable.

18. Creeping Wire Vine

Little Prince of Oregon Nursery

Botanical Name: Muehlenbeckia axillaris

USDA Zones: 7-10

The creeping wire vine is a tough plant that grows close to the ground and has abundant foliage. Perfect for ground coverage, it thrives in areas with full sun exposure.

19. Crown Vetch

Botanical Name: Securigera varia

USDA Zones: 3-9

The crown vetch, also known as the “crown vetch weed,” is a fast-spreading trailing plant. It is an ideal choice for covering extensive patches of uneven soil.

20. English Ivy

Botanical Name: Hedera helix

USDA Zones: 4-13

English ivy, a rapidly growing ground cover, is widely used on sloped areas due to its aggressive nature. It is commonly used to cover walls, fences, or expansive areas.

Check out 16 Ground Covers that Become Excellent Houseplants here

21. Creeping Jenny

Botanical Name: Lysimachia nummularia

USDA Zones: 4-9

Thanks to their speedy growth rate, these fast-spreading ground cover plants will quickly fill up any given space, reaching a mature height between 4 to 8 inches.

22. Irish Moss

Botanical Name: Sagina subulata

USDA Zones: 4-8

Last on the list of fast-growing ground cover is Irish moss. It is known for its rapid growth and impressive spreading capability, often extending several feet within a short time span.

23. Wedelia

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Botanical Name: Wedelia

USDA Zones: 7-11

Wedelia is a low-growing perennial plant that forms a dense mat of trailing stems. The leaves are typically bright green, but some varieties may have variegated foliage.

24. Lantana

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Botanical Name: Lantana camara

USDA Zones: 7-11

Lantana is a low-growing perennial plant with trailing or mounding growth habits. It produces clusters of small, tubular flowers that are highly attractive to butterflies and other pollinators.

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