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Ajuga Ground Cover

Rujuta Borkar
The ajuga ground cover is one of the most beautiful choices that one can make for their gardens. The Ajuga reptans are beautiful flowers that make for excellent ground cover in gardens. Read ahead to know how to go about growing these.
Ajuga reptans, also known as bugleweed or carpetweed, make for an excellent choice for garden cover due to their ability to spread and create a foliage. The flowers that bloom on plants are usually dark blue or purple in color and look extremely beautiful as they spread in the space that they occupy. 
The ground cover is used by gardeners in their gardens to create varied looks that range from an accompaniment to a rock garden, landscaping a huge space, as the base of varied trees and plants, or as a lawn by itself.
Along with that, this flowering plant blooms in several colors and there are varied ways in which the ground cover can be thus used. In the sections that follow, we will look into this plant in more detail and understand the planting techniques of the same.

About the Plant
The ajuga plant is an evergreen tree that forms a dense mat of flowers. The flowers bloom from spring to summer. The plant usually forms a dense mat cover very close to the ground, but when there are flowers, it takes to a height of 6-8 inches above the ground. The flowers are formed in clusters on a spiked stalk.
The unique feature of the ajuga ground cover is that, depending on the kind of plant that it is, the color of the leaves change and thereby give it a distinct shade. The different types of these plants are categorized as ajuga burgundy glow and ajuga bronze beauty, among others.

Growing the Plants
There are certain techniques of growing an ajuga plant. These need to be followed in order for the plants to become healthy and create a great foliage.

Sun and Soil

The ajuga plants are not very difficult to grow and do not require very specialized conditions to thrive in. These plants grow best in a growing zone of 6-8 and do well with either partial sun or full shade. 1-2 hours of light morning sun's rays are ideal for the plant to grow well and create great foliage.
The specialty of this plant is that it can thrive in the shade as well and can therefore be grown as a dense mat under any of the larger trees as evergreen shrubs for shade.
One of the ideal conditions for the plant is that it does not require a specialized soil kind and generally adapts to any soil type. However, it has to be ascertained that the soil has the capacity for drainage and does not block water in one place, or else it introduces the danger of rotting roots.

Planting Technique

Look for an area where the morning sun shines through. Clear the area of any weed or other plant growth. Then, using a spade, loosen the soil out and mix it with compost, mulch or manure, and water lightly. These conditions need to be duly fulfilled before you plant the ajuga garden cover.
Dig a hole that is about 3-4 inches deep and place at least a 6-10 inch space between each individual plant. Since these plants are runners, they require space to spread out. If they are planted too close to one another then there are chances that they will get entangled and create a shabby appearance.

Ajuga Plant Care
• Add a fertilizer from time to time so that there is continued nutrition provided.

• It is also important to add mulch so that moisture is retained.

• Make sure that the soil is always moist and do not allow it to dry out at any point of time or the leaves and flowers will shrivel and wilt.
• Water 2-3 times in a day during the summer and reduce the frequency as the temperatures drop.

• Along with that it is extremely important to have a well draining soil so that rotting is prevented.
• Regular trimming and pruning of the plants becomes necessary because they are runners and can therefore spread rather fast and invade other areas of the garden.
Of all the different types of plants, the ajuga ground cover makes for an excellent choice to have in the garden. Not only does it add to the beauty of the landscape but is also easy to care for.