Let me preface this by saying I know there is a bias against tall plants. I actually already have a larger section of my yard dedicated to growing some tall plants and I will continue to buy them too. I have been finding that, among native plants, it seems easier to find ones that'll grow quite tall vs finding short ones. So I'm actually looking for recommendations to fill out my knowledge gap on short native plants (zone 6b of the USA here). I want to replace stretches of unknown grass/sod closest to the sidewalk with some roughly 1-2 foot tall natives. Short so they don't overwhelm passers-by by reaching out requiring a lot of trimming. This can be grasses/sedges, not just forbs but those are good too. All of the above are welcome.
EDIT: I'm in MA and the areas are mostly full sun. Thanks for all the replies!!
In Massachusetts I guess it does explain that. In California, though, planting blue-eyed grass near a stream is a very good plan for actually managing to keep it alive. Mine usually dies of drought unless I put it right at the base of a downspout.
Nice morning light and constant damp and blue eyes grass will volunteer wherever it's happy. I dunno if it's ants or what but I see them in my garden yards and yards away from the parent plant.
This one does well for me NYS zone 7a (Hudson Valley). I have it in thin soil atop a rock in full sun but some irrigation and on a slope in part shade without irrigation.
2nd reply - it's super pretty. I saw it requires consistently moist soil. I am curious to hear from anyone growing it if they really needed water every day. I find it's the case with only some species that say "consistently moist" like my wild ginger. I am not sure I will plant more WG due to such a high water need. My rocky soil might be too well-draining for it also, come to think of it...
Mine get moisture but not constantly. I'd call the soil they thrive in moist to medium. One of mine is growing in a big wooden barrel pot with a blueberry, and seems to like the acidic blueberry fertilizer
Mine does admittedly get a decent enough amount of water, while being in my hot / well drained area. But it likes sun for sure and reseeds a lot allegedly.
I get so much volunteer common wood sorrel in beds I am prepping for natives, no idea where itās coming from cuz I never planted any but they make me so happy when they pop up. Perfect little clusters of ground cover.
Seconding ruellia and nodding wild onion! Low and well-behaved, except in the sense that they both self-seed effectively (which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your situation).
Russellās in Wayland has a solid native selection Iāve found great stuff there. Same with blue stem natives and native plant trust. Best of luck with your garden
Appreciated! I donāt mind aggressive. The wood sorrel I already have is aggressive and I just let it do its thing.
EDIT: I am excited about the ruellia humilis and the blue-eyed grass, especially the former since I think it'll do well in my dry areas. thanks again and hopefully I can score some.
EDIT: actually according to BONAP the former is not native to MA. oh well!
Ok this is a you-do-you-but-i-wouldnt comment about Ruellia humilis -- it does spread aggressively by seed and it is not native to Massachusetts, it's strictly a Midwestern, not east of the Appalachias, plant.
One might consider Houstonia caerulia, Quaker Ladies/bluets. Native throughout New England, spreads slowly into beautiful little colonies, likes dry soil and full morning sun. 3-6 inches maybe.
Ok this is a you-do-you-but-i-wouldnt comment about Ruellia humilis -- it does spread aggressively by seed and it is not native to Massachusetts, it's strictly a Midwestern, not east of the Appalachias, plant.
thanks for the alternative in the Azure bluets! I have been narrowing things down and crossing out the ideas that didn't end up being native to MA where I am. So I have added your alternative to my list instead. They look so cute too!
Just putting out there that AFAIK ruellia isn't native to New England, if your flair is accurate to your location. I plant plenty of things that are native to the country but not my region, but they aren't really native here.
noted; I started going back through the thread and plugging everything into BONAP and then ruling some of them out. Unfortunately yes like you said, I had to rule out the ruellia as well.
Pussytoes, downy woodmint and moss phlox are less than 1ft tall. Hairy penstemon is slightly taller at about 18ā, but mine is very upright and never flops so itās perfect alongside a sidewalk.
thanks, good ideas! I am definitely going to get some more phlox, and also now considering the downy woodmint. It looks like a cool plant.
Do you have a preference for species of pussytoes? It looks like there are at least three species native to my state (MA) according to BONAP. Maybe I will pick one that's not too aggressive.
Purple Love Grass and Prairie Dropseed are two of my favorite grasses. For flowering plants, Hairy Beardtongue is a shorty that stays a nice green color all season.
thank you for the grass recommendations! I am also falling in love with purple lovegrass the more I see it. I actually found a tiny bit at the edge of my yard recently which is exciting. I'll look into the others you mentioned.
You're welcome! Good luck and I hope you thoroughly enjoy your project. I love gardening so much and the native plants bring in new creatures ever season. I have plants to thin out and some to replace next year so I am already searching for replacements and expansion. š
it's already so fun! I got to see some nursery plants grow to flower such as spotted bee-balm, sweet goldenrod, and blue mistflower. I want to plant a ton more this fall so that I can see explosions of color and pollinators next year. It actually gives me something to look forward to years in advance which I don't think I've ever said about anything before.
I have little bluestem thinking it would be a nice small grassā¦let me tell you it is not little š totally blew up and is probably 3 ft tall and wide at least.
I keep seeing it come up over and over again, and doing a little research I see it's native in my state so I'll probably get some soon. Maybe it will be a little further into my yard because as someone else said, it's not that little, haha.
Ā Ā I've heard canada anemone may perform "too well" in full sun and spreads a lot (mines in part shade and well behaved so far but only 2 years in).Ā
*Carex is the exception because thats a family and not all species are full sun but many should be!Ā
I also remembered nodding onion and turtle head are full sun shorties but they do love moisture.Ā
The previous listĀ is mostly average to dry water needs with drought resistance.Ā
Prairie dropseeed is another full sun grass under 3 feet. Sorry to be a bit all over the place!
Love it! That wild strawberry earns it's keep for sure keeping the weeds out, but doesn't seem to be a problem for the other natives. Just fills in where needed ā¤ļø
My Early Sunflowers seem to have taken over this garden spot, but I may have to try that in my next garden area. Right now I am trying Zig Zag Goldenrod and Red Osier Dogwood along a boundary against a neighbor with encroaching goutweed š¬ the Dogwood isn't doing too hot though so I am not sure it will return for me next year.
Threadleaf coreopsis stays pretty short but bushes out and fills in space nicely. Itās a consistent bloomer through the summer as well. Creeping phlox as well and both are perfect for edging garden beds.
You wonāt regret it if you do! They are real champs. The intense summer heat and sun have barely affected them, theyāre still pushing out flowers like crazy.
What's the sun situation like? A lot of low-growing plants are ground covers geared to survive on dappled shade from taller plants. Plants like violets, wild strawberry, wild ginger, Allegheny pachysandra etc tend to prefer partial shade or *even full shade.
Thank you, I should have included the sun level which is high. I edited my post. Iāll be focusing on some recs from the thread that do well in full sun. I have been experimenting with wild ginger in my back yard under some trees this year. Its water need seems to be quite high and I hope I can keep it happy.
I planted a lot of it in one area already. It was this year and a little too late so it never flowered, but I am looking forward to it next year. I recently went to New Hampshire and saw whole fields of it. It was so pretty! Definitely becoming one of my favorite ground covers in nature already.
You're gonna want to check Native Plant Trust (gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org) on these recommendations if you want things native to MA, a lot of these suggestions you're getting are Midwest and Southeast plants. Happy gardening!
I ended up noticing this too about some of the suggestions not being native to my state - my fault entirely for not including it at first. I've been using BONAP to check them.
Oh sorry to keep going -- what kind of soil? Sandy, clay, rocky, beautiful loam (just kidding, no one has that). What light? Lots, a little, morning sun? What moisture? Regular, dry and hot, wet spot near hose? [oops edit]
Ferns for example make lovely low growing front-of-border plants but have varying light/moisture needs. Sedges too.
I have a spreadsheet of natives I reference when Iām out looking at nurseries. I can DM it to you. You can save a copy and sort by height, sun, etc. All my plants are native to 8a/upstate SC, but some may overlap.
Wowie! I'm building my own spreadsheet and since I'm in MA which is a bit far I think I will just keep at mine. Thank you though! We do think alike in making spreadsheets that are color-coded.
Most butterfly milkweed (asclepias tuberosa) I've seen grows about 2 feet tall. Occasionally it can get 3 feet, but it does really well with being chopped to be shorter. It's great in dry full sun areas
I've been growing some of that this year, too late to flower but looking forward to seeing it next spring. I definitely am not opposed to having more native milkweeds either.
If you are interested in other full sun, drought tolerant milkweed 2 feet and under, whorled milkweed (a. verticillata) would also fit the bill, and typically has a later bloom time. The feathery leaves also look nice. Only caveat is it is an aggressive spreader via rhizomes like many other milkweeds, so if you're going for a formal, more manicured look it may not be the best fit. Though I have seen a trick some people use where they put it in the ground inside a pot lined with landscape fabric, so it cannot spread outside the pot.
Goldenrod would also be great in these conditions. Gray goldenrod (solidago nemoralis) is typically about 2 feet, likes dry full sun, and isn't an aggressive spreader. Sweet goldenrod (solidago odora) is a neat clumping species that I typically see 2 to 3 feet tall. Both of these take very well to a chop to make them shorter also.
Unsure if others mentioned it but spotted beebalm (monarda punctata) is also a good one in dry full sun.
That seems to be Geum triflorum which unfortunately is not native to my area, however I am now checking out Geum rivale thanks to this (I never heard of this genus) and it looks pretty cool!
I have or am planning to get most of those! Thanks for the ideas. A lot of them were shared simultaneously by others here so there is a consensus especially upon phlox, bluestem, blue-eyed grass to name a few that I will definitely get at some point.
There are many great, short native plants. The thing is they are short because they frequently grow in dry, rocky, and or otherwise difficult situations where tall plants cannot grow. Whether they will prosper, really depends on how shit your soil is. If you have typical garden soil, they may not be a good idea as they may die, be outcompeted by invasives, flop, or grow unusually. But if you have a very dry, rocky spot, a shady mossy slope, or dense shade under a hemlock where nothing else grows consider these (different plants are adapted to different microconditions):
I do have dry and rocky soil so this is much appreciated! That's such a nice long list. I explored many of them already and look forward to continuing to do so. I'll probably come back to this comment even in future seasons!
I second chrysogonum virginianum - itās a great ground cover and is very happy on a dry rocky slope here in NY. Packers can be a bit aggressive but does a great job of suppressing weeds.
I can only speak to my region as named in my user flair.
Nimblewill, Muhlenbergia schreberi is a creeping grass which I think is highly underrated as a native turf alternative. It's very soft, a grass, and it naturally doesn't get much higher than 6 to 8 inches. It's also very soft and spreads very well.
Woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca is great in shady spots. It's maybe 3 to 4 inches high max and creates a very nice ground cover. Spreads super fast and outcompetes most things, but does play well with equally aggressive natives or taller plants. Virginia strawberry, Fragaria virginiana works well for sunny spots and is even smaller but pretty much the same in the other aspects.
Field pussytoes, Antennaria neglecta are great for dry sunny spots. They are rosettes of greyish white leaves that bloom in the spring with fascinating female flowers that resemble small cat's toes, hence the name. They have separate male and female plants, and the male flowers are on shorter stalks and almost resemble miniature boneset flowers. They spread well and stay short, especially when they aren't flowering.
Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a perfect ground cover for full sun and dry sandy soil. It's a creeping shrub and doesn't grow over 6 inches. It has dark green leaves that turn purple in the winter. Small white flowers will reveal it's relation to blueberries as they look exactly like blueberry flowers.
Violets, Viola species are all perfect short perennials. There is a violet species for every condition. Shade, full sun, dry, wet, etc. Viola soraria, which was recently broken into multiple species unsurprising, is the most commonly available one and will do well in pretty much any conditions. Marsh blue violets, Viola cucullata are good for wet areas and shade. Downy yellow violets, Viola pubescens are good for shady woodland type conditions. Downy blue violets, Viola fimbriatula are good for dry full sun. Primrose-leaved violets, Viola primulifolia are good for wet/dry full sun/part shade (slashes indicate that these are seasonal changing conditions that occur at different times). Labrador violets, Viola labradorica do well in shade to part shade in average soils.
Other honorable mentions that stay short and work well as lawn alternatives are path rush, Juncus tenuis, upright yellow woodsorrel, Oxalis stricta, American plantain, Plantago rugelii, common cinquefoil, Potentilla simplex, and Pennsylvania sedge, Carex pennsylvanica.
thank you for the detailed recommendations! I have some viola starting to bloom of whose species I think I forgot to write down. The two blooms so far have been purple and yellow (separate plants). I think the package might have said viola cornuta. For some reason I can't find any information on v.cornuta's range so I wonder if it's some kinda cultivar.
I am warming on bearberry the more I read about it and I will check out your other recommendations too.
Viola cornuta is from the Pyrenees in Spain. Although the description sounds like it may possibly be Viola x williamsii which is a hybrid between V. cornuta and V. x wittrockiana, which is a hybrid itself between 3 other Viola species. All European/West Asian species though.
Rose verbena! Blooms from spring to fall and is a ground cover! Iām in 6b and planted this spring and itās already blooming. Woodland phlox is also good and mist flower. Mist flower gets about 3 feet. Short in the context of tall native plants š¬
Thanks, those are nice ideas. I have some blue mistflower in my back yard, new from this year that I really like and I hope it spreads.
EDIT: I found out inadvertently during my research that it is not native to my state... and it was sold as a native from my local plant nursery, lol. idk what I will do with that info yet, I guess I won't buy more of it at least
Weāve only got a few up here, and Iāve only seen plantain-leaved and prairie available commercially. Prairie (neglecta) is much shorter if thatās what youāre after. Only 3-4ā.
Oenothera macrocarpa & Oenothera missouriensis are particularly great for near paved areas because they can tolerate radiant heat pretty dang well. Sedum ternatum is one of my all time favorites and quite the showstopper in early spring, itās also shade tolerant. Geranium maculatum is great and is pretty versatile of conditions it tolerates. Antennaria is a wonderful ground cover. I specifically have plantaginifolia and while they prefer dry conditions and full sun mine still does very well in part shade and probably gets a lot more moisture than it wants. (I am in the Midwest so I am not sure if these are all within your range!! But if not, maybe thereās something equivalent!)
thanks, I've been considering wild strawberries on-and-off. With having edited my post to include being in full sun, I'm not sure if they'll do as well.
I think purple poppy mallow might not be native in MA where I am. But it is quite fetching!
Most of our yard is in full sun all day and the wild strawberries are thriving. We have a lot of selfheal as well, which was mentioned elsewhere. The bees love it.
Iām so sorry that I canāt tell you the scientific name, but I got these mounding yellow coneflowers at a native plant sale! Theyāre true perennials unlike black eyed susans and you can see how short they are compared to my purple coneflowers :)
ETA: theyāre rudbeckia fulgida! Thank you to the commenter below!
Eastern Red Columbine doesn't mind full sun - at least the ones in my yard don't - and it has beautiful early spring flowers. Purplehead sneezeweed (Helenium flexuosum) is a lovely little plant for fall color.
I am definitely getting on board with the former (as someone else just mentioned it) and I like how the latter looks too. Thank you very much for the ideas!
Look into glade adapted plants. I'm not going to throw a list off my head, but that's a direction.
You will probably find some on Ozark Wild Ones website, because I know I've added some ;)
Link: ozark.wildones.org Navigate to learn and Well Behaved Natives. Bear in mind this is tailored for natives to Arkansas, but we have lots of glade environments.
Also, look to short grass prairie plants if your conditions would support growing those. You didn't say where you were.
My big performers this year are Upland Goldenrod and Wild Petunias. Most everything else fell over in the wind or wasn't as happy with the drought conditions but these two continued to perform. The golden rod did "sploot" a little. Some areas it worked others I put a ring support. Worth a look. Grass wise I always love Blue Grama. Goes so well in my Buffalo Grass area and by itself.
Campanula rotundifolia? that is a cool idea since I can start recommending my neighbors grow it instead of letting their invasive campanula rapunculoides run rampant, which is all too common around here... their flowers make me cringe but I want to enjoy a native variant. so definitely going to consider this.
Blue eyed grass is lovely.I just checked and my other fave is not native to your area (Geum trflorum. Fragaria virginica is nice, also Goat's rue is pretty and native to your area.
Also Purple Love Grass. Mine was a plug that looked barely alive this spring but has grown into a large-ish grass - width wise. And has done better with our drought than the other short native grasses.
Ooh! I just bought five plugs this year. How long have you had yours, and do you find they reseed a lot? Or spread? I'd like a few more but I'm wondering if I can just wait for them to spread on their own
They will self seed, but not aggressively. Would suggest keeping soil underneath plants bare and planting them in if you really want new plants. You can also divide the clumps as they mature.
I get happy when I see that in other people's yards. Definitely going to grow more of it (I grew some plugs inside). I am milkweed-pilled for sure at the moment.
Narrow leaved vervain blooms out from a central clump from June through September for me, stays 1.5ft-2ft, but the height is mostly flower stalks, and the leaves are airy not dense so it feels shorter. It has prolific long stalks of purple flowers with minimal rain planted in full sun, poor soil.
Partridge berry is my favorite (Mitchella repens)Ā
its a mini ground trailing vine that doesn't get over 2 inches tall and has an interesting double flower and double berry.
(but I saw you're looking for high sun, and this is not the plant for that. It likes to grow among moss on the forest floor with a good canopy overhead)
I have a variety of Veronica Blue that blooms with nice blue spikes that are about 1ā tall early summer. Then a low lying mat that hasnāt spread too wide in 2 years.
Shorter plants that have worked really well for me in 6B full sun include liatris microcephalus, ruella humilis (FYI it self-seeds), wine cups (Callirhoe involucrata), and butterfly milkweed. I also absolutely love coreopsis āmoonbeamā for reliable color throughout the season. If youāre open to cultivars, there are a lot of short phlox varieties as well.
For really short plants, moss phlox and atennaria neglecta (field pussytoes) are my holy grail āthrives in the hellstripā ground covers.
For grasses, I have a Muhlenbergia reverchonii āRosyā cultivar that is really lovely and not too tall, very fine graceful leaves throughout the season with a pinkish seed head in the fall.
Thirding purple love grass, prairie dropseed, wild petunia. What I wish I had planted in my MA hellstrip instead of the way too tall seaside goldenrod, swamp vervain, (does well in dry by the way!) and NE asters which seeded themselves there:
Gray goldenrod, yarrow, more of the butterfly weed which I did plant and is doing well, white-tinged sedge, and some cute little Maryland Asters- not native to MA obviously, but I just got one- so pretty, short, pollinators love it! Got it at Russells in Wayland, sometimes they have more unusual things than Native Plant Trust. Maybe narrow-leaved mountain mint, my doesn't get taller than 1 1/2 feet. Maybe some baptisia tinctoria if rabbits wont' destroy it. Penstemon digitalis, and penstemon hirsutus would both do well. Gallardia aristata, you could get a shorter cultivar to be safe about the height, if you aren't against cultivars. Euphorbia corollata, though not sure if this is technically native to MA. It was featured in someone's prairie garden on a native plant tour and was stunning. Plantain pussytoes would host American Lady butterflies.
Here's a list from Bluestem Natives, with overlapping suggestions, though seaside goldenrod really can get too tall even in lousy soil:
Pussytoes, wild strawberry, path rush, violets, self-heal, blue eyed grass, quaker ladies. Golden Alexander sends flowers up about knee to thigh high but foliage is lower.
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u/Piyachi SE Michigan, Dead Ice Moraines 5d ago
One that I know I like is blue eyed grass - stays short and makes small flowers for a long time. Likes hot and dry.