Home - Garden
How Blue Plumbago Can Help Suppress Weeds In
Your Garden
By NICK POLISHCHUK
Plumbago is a perennial that thrives in USDA zones 5a to 9b. Since it’s a ground cover, it starves weed seedlings of light and nutrients so they die before establishing themselves.
Plumbago also releases chemical compounds that act as a natural herbicide in a process called allelopathy. Other plants can experience stunted growth and even die.
Apart from its ability to suppress weeds, plumbago’s beautiful blooms and rich verdant foliage that turns deep, dark red in the fall adds an aesthetic component to the landscape.
You can plant plumbago in rocky locations, along hillsides, or elsewhere in the yard where ground cover works as a feature. It requires full sun but likes shade in the afternoon.
This plant can tolerate many soil types — even clay — as long as there’s good drainage and pH levels are slightly acidic to a bit alkaline. It prefers loamy, sandy soils, though.
Rainfall should provide enough water, except in a drought. Deadheading isn’t necessary, as the flowers are self-cleaning and the plant will shed its leaves once the frost sets in.
If you're in a colder climate, mulch the plants before the cold sweeps in, as this will protect its roots. Pruning isn’t necessary, but you can cut the plant back as needed.