Plant Care Guides / Outdoor & Coastal / Groundcovers
Indigenous | Easy Care | Groundcovers
Aptenia is one of the fastest and toughest spreading groundcovers for sunny, dry banks and beds. It has small, glossy, heart-shaped, succulent leaves on trailing stems that root wherever they touch the ground, and it covers itself in tiny, bright, daisy-like flowers in red, pink or white through spring and summer.
It is virtually indestructible in a coastal garden: it handles drought, heat, wind, salt air, sandy soil and complete neglect. It is the plant you throw at a problem slope or a bare, sun-baked patch where nothing else will grow, and it just gets on with it.
5 to 15 cm tall. Spreads rapidly to a metre or more per plant.
Very fast. It covers ground quicker than almost any other groundcover on this list.
Bank cover, slope stabilisation, dry sunny beds, spillover from walls and raised beds, container trailing. Mass plant for quick cover.
Full sun. It flowers best in hot, sunny positions.
Any well-drained soil, including poor, sandy and rocky conditions. Not fussy at all.
Very drought-tolerant. Water once or twice while planting to settle it in, then leave it alone. It survives on rainfall.
None needed.
Trim if it spreads too far. It recovers instantly from even a hard cut-back.
Ask about availability. WhatsApp us to check what is currently in stock, or visit the nursery and we will help you choose the right plant for your spot.
