In the world of organic gardening and permaculture, we often talk about plants within “the system” having multiple purposes to justify their place in our sustainable patch.
When it comes to growing a living mulch in the form of groundcover plants, the story remains the same: how many uses do the plants have that we’re choosing to grow?
The main reasons we mulch are the same whether we use living plants or traditional mulches such as lucerne, sugarcane, tea tree, pine bark and so forth.
Groundcover’s spreading prostrate growth can give us great green coverage and soil protection. This growth will stop light reaching the soil surface and help prevent weed growth.
It will also keep the soil cool and slow down rain penetration. In addition, the plant roots will help prevent erosion.
The added benefit of using living plants as mulch is their habitat potential. They will often, depending on
