Close up gaps in the garden with ‘filler’ plants that add colour, texture and depth.
Filler plants not only add colour and texture, but they make life easy for the gardener. That’s because they tend to do their own thing, don’t need much care, spread easily, and cover the soil, reducing the awful chore of weeding.
They are especially useful for filling in around slow growing shrubs, in shady areas under trees, and for spreading throughout large beds which produces a coherent effect and reduces the need for other plants.
Fillers are not necessarily low growing groundcovers, although glossy-leaved ajuga are a perfect example of a quick growing, lush filler. Low maintenance plants like gaura, euphorbia, Perovskia and catmint (Nepeta mussinii) provide height as well as spread.
Fillers can be annuals, like coleus, impatiens, petunias, marigolds and nasturtiums that need replacing at the end of a season, or tougher longer lasting perennials like bidens, coreopsis, and gaillardia. All of them are planted for colour to enliven the garden and attract pollinators and other beneficial insects.
Flashy foliage
Ajuga is a widely grown groundcover for sun or semi shade. It is now available in a range of gorgeous foliage colours. Plants grow 10 to 15cm high with a spread of up to 90cm.
Coleus Trailblazer ‘Road Trip’ is a trailing variety that can be grown as a spreading groundcover in sun or shade. The green-edged red and burgundy-coloured leaves add colour to green tropical plantings of ferns and other tropical plants. Plant in well composted, fertile soil that drains well.
Silvery foliage plants brighten up a garden bed, while being softer on the eye than white. Darker leaved or flowering shrubs also show up better alongside silver plants. Centaurea Silver Swirl, also known as Snowflake Dusty Miller, has distinctive silvery-white foliage with wavy leaf edges. It needs very little care, is drought tolerant and doesn’t need fertilising and plant in full sun.
Low maintenance perennial fillers
Euphorbia’ Breathless’ (single flower) and ‘Flurry’ (double flower) are both fast growing fillers that cover as much ground, if not more, than traditional low growing groundcovers. They create a mist of white flowers that flow through the garden. They are long lasting plants that need very little water and no deadheading. A quick shear will neaten them when necessary.
Nepeta (catmint) ‘Purrsian Blue’ is both a filler and a feature plant. It produces upright spikes of densely packed blue flowers with dark purple calyces in summer and autumn. The aromatic leaves are greyish green. In its first year it grows up to 45cm, doubling its height and spread by its second year of growth. Plant in full sun, in soil that drains well. Once established it is drought tolerant and attracts bees. A lovely plant for wildlife gardens.
The yellow daisy like flowers of coreopsis, gaillardia and rudbeckia bring warmth and happiness into the garden. All are perennials that multiply and can be divided to fill spaces with new plants. All are hardy, sun loving plants that need very little care. Coreopsis and gaillardia are lower growing, with gaillardia ‘Mesa’ being slightly taller with a wider spread of 55cm while rudbeckia ‘Denver Daisy’ grows up to 65cm with a 50cm spread.
Coreopsis Uptick ‘Gold and Bronze’ has a bronze-red eye that stands out in vivid golden-yellow flowers. Being easy growing, not fussy about soil and with mildew-resistant foliage, it is a good plant for beginner gardeners. Its flowers attract pollinators.
Easy-spreading annuals
Petunias, especially Easy Wave petunias, disease resistant Impatiens ‘Beacon,’ and continuous flowering verbena ‘Firehouse’ are quick growing, spreading summer annuals that fill beds with overflowing colour.
The advantage of Easy Wave petunias is that you need fewer plants bonus to fill a large space as they have a spread of 80 cm up to 1m per plant. These easy to flower, high impact petunias need only the basic care to remain full and lush throughout summer.
Impatiens ‘Beacon’ is highly disease resistant and mimics the traditional Super Elfin impatiens as a fast-filling compact bedding impatiens, with similar flower size, and flowering season from early summer until the first frost. Grow it in shade to semi-shade in well-composted soil. Besides the basic care of regular watering and feeding once a month with a liquid fertiliser, plants do not require any special care.
Content by www.ballstraathof.co.za
Article and images by Alice Coetzee.
