What do you know about ajuga?

Question

Someone gave me a full tray of ajuga reptans because they ran out of room in their garden. I would like to use it as groundcover to almost completely cover the area where my lawn is, but I don't know much about it. I live a PA which is zone 5.

1:Is it a perennial or evergreen? Some internet sources list it as both. I don't want to plant something that will go back into the ground in the winter.

2: What kind of egding would you use to contain it? I plan to plant Juniper on another part of the yard and I don't want it crowded out.

Answer 1

Ajugia is a nasty weed in New England!
It is Perennial and does die back in the winter.
But it will by seed and runner invade your whole yard, sun, shade acid or basic soil. Except a few new cultivars like Chocolate Chip. This is an adorable ground cover plant that is not as invasive as the original adjuga plants are.

Answer 2

I started out with Ajuga about 20 years ago. It escaped from the flower bed and has now taken over the lawn and the only way I'll ever get rid of it is to round up the whole lawn. I've even gotten a sod cutter and removed the Ajuga. It comes back. The roots are persistent.
In defense of the plant, in the right application it is beautiful. The leaves are a perennial reddish purple and the flowers striking. I would only plant it where I could contain it. No where near a lawn.
I am in NE PA in zone 4.

Answer 3

Ajuga is a low growing ground cover and it should grow OK in zone 5. I grew it in Mizoora. Ajuga is a small plant as I recall and you will want it for edging not for walking on. It will spread and have flowers which can be 6 to 9 inches tall. It can be evergreen or semi-evergreen and it will invade other plantings. Juniper will not crowd it out, Juniper is too slow growing, and ajuga is too small to crowd the Juniper. Use a physical edging material that will contain the spreading. I would go for it.

Answer 4

I have ajuga growing in my garden (zone 5b) and it does well in both the sunny and shady spots. It's a pretty tough plant that makes a great groundcover for hard to grow areas. As for any edging, I don't know what would contain it as it spreads by both seeds and roots. You could try a basic plastic edging or something fancier if you prefer. Just make sure you cut off the dead flowers to prevent it from going to seed. One good thing about ajuga is the fact that if it does spread to where you don't want it, it's easy to pull out.

Answer 5

It is a really pretty evergreen that gets small purplish blue flowers. The juniper is strong enough to hold its own but depending on where in your yard it is you could use a pretty stone or just one of those rubber edging buried in ground..
It is a low growing plant so easy to contain.
My ajuga runs down a creek bank & I love it.

Answer 6

We live in NE Ohio in zone 6 and this plant grows wild in our lawn. It has beautiful purple blossoms right now. Sorry, I've never tried to contain it, but I would imagine that some type of edging would help as it spreads by runners.