Edible and Delicious Ground Cover Plants

Dan Specialty Crops, This Land of Ours

edible

Cathy Isom has a few suggestions for you about some edible and delicious ground cover plants. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

Edible and Delicious Ground Cover Plants

Ground covers can be cut for food as well as walked on gently by soft, bare feet.

Garden thyme is full of pink and purple flowers in early summer, and when you walk on it the pressure from your feet releases its beautiful scent. If you’d like brighter blossoms on your lawn, plant wild thyme. Flowers can range from red to purple, and the leaves are often golden or variegated green and gold.

Plantain leaves feel smooth and cool underfoot, even on sweltering summer days. Young leaves add a bit of crunch and a spinach-like flavor to early spring salads. In contrast, older leaves tend to be tough, so save them to make an anti-itch balm.

Heavily scented oregano makes a delicious, insect-deterrent ground cover. As a result, it’s perfect for areas of the garden often invaded by aphids, caterpillars, and leafhoppers. Oregano looks gorgeous climbing along rocky hillsides in your yard. Furthermore, it’ll help with erosion issues and perfume the neighborhood during rain storms.

You may not like the idea of intentionally encouraging any plant with “weed” in its name, but you’ll love this cheerful chickweed herb all the same. Call it chickenwort if you’d prefer, and let its delicate flowers and lush leaves take over your yard.

Other great delicious ground cover ideas should include:  sweet potato vines, Nasturtiums, Rock Cress, Okinawa Spinach, Mint, and Wood violets.

I’m Cathy Isom…