Ground cover recommendations for a front garden without clear boundaries

[PedanticPrincess]

Can anyone please recommend a plant that gives good ground cover for a front garden? One issue is that there is no solid boundary between my neighbours and my front garden. Would this potentially cause invasion issues?

Is it sunny, shady? What sort of soil have you got? What is on the neighbour's side of the unmarked boundary?

It’s sunny in the morning and shady in the afternoon. Soil here is pretty much clay. Neighbours side is a very well kept garden with bulbs and other types of flowering plants. Ours is a cesspit of weeds (mainly dandelions) which is why I wanted something with good coverage to try and choke them out.

There is no ground cover plant that will choke out dandelions. They will just grow through.

Any ground cover plant that covers your ground will also grow into your neighbours garden.

I suggest getting the weeds out and putting a small brick border between yours and theirs and growing something like creeping thyme, and making sure it is removed close to the border. Whilst the thyme or whatever you grow is getting established, go out once a month and remove any weeds growing in between.

What ever ground cover you choose will naturally be invasive and not understand boundaries. Give a1 ago, it helped me when I was trying to redesign my garden .

You need to clear the weeds first. Put a picture up, it’ll help people. But geranium Roxanne would be a good start, not too thuggish, it dies back in winter though. Maybe plant a couple of bushes. Pittosporum is good and will look good in winter. Agapanthus are thuggish and won’t let weeds through.

I would also go for well behaved shrubs after clearing the weeds (dandelions are great for wildlife though, but I'm guessing neighbour isn't too keen on a field of dandelions!). Shrubs will look neat and tidy all year and form a natural border between your and neighbour's garden. Go for shrubs that are evergreen and won't get too huge, and add in some well behaved perennials. Geranium Rozanne is a good shout as it flowers non stop but can get huge and sprawling if it is happy (I can't see neighbour complaining though! Easy enough to trim it back if it goes nuts.). Roses should also do well in your clay soil.

If the space is big enough you could just grass it over. Cutting the grass is a pretty quick and easy way of keeping it looking good if you are not a keen gardener.

Ah funnily enough I was given some of these by a family member a few weeks ago! They’re currently in a tub so I can transplant them to the front garden.
Thankyou everyone for your help and ideas.

Agapanthus is what I was referring to!

I also think creeping thyme .... I had a small area of grass that could not be mowed because not accessible. Weeded out all the dandelions, laid some thick black membrane, then made holes and planted various creeping thymes and some blue star creeper which have spread and covered the area. They are evergreen, cover the ground and smell great.

I was going to suggest creeping thyme too. Or phlox.

If I had this situation I would plant Euonymus shrubs - green and gold or emerald gaiety. They spread and provide good ground cover and can be kept low and on your land only with some light pruning once or twice a year. They will never 'grow' into your neighbour's soil.

Evergreen, pretty bomb proof, any soil or levels of sun.

You can buy them almost anywhere for about a fiver. I bought several in B&Q last week.

Agapanthus are thuggish and won't let weeds through? Say what now?

Well mine are....

I've known Agapanthus smash a pot they were in to try to escape on more than one occasion. They definitely have attitude, even if they're not actively thugs.

Yes they are grown in pots to restrict the root ball to encourage flowering.

Planted in the ground, will not keep weeds at bay. Especially during the years between planting and getting thuggish.