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hebe ground cover

Searching for a vibrant, hardy solution to fill your garden beds or tackle unsightly gaps? Hebe ground cover is an outstanding choice for New Zealand gardeners, offering year-round interest, impressive resilience, and evergreen beauty. With their compact habit, glossy foliage, and a delightful flush of flowers, hebes make a stylish alternative to traditional ground covers. Perfect for banks, borders, coastal gardens, or even container displays, these easy-care shrubs deliver both colour and structure wherever they're planted.

Muehlenbeckia complexa (Pohuehue) growing as a topiary hedge.

Muehlenbeckia complexa (Pohuehue)

5 from 3 customers

Muehlenbeckia complexa (Pohuehue) is a vigorous, hardy NZ native climber or groundcover. It features wiry, twining stems and small, glossy green leaves that create dense coverage. Growing up to 4 m wide and 2 m high, it’s perfect for fences, banks, or walls. Pohuehue tolerates wind, salt spray, and dry conditions once established. Small, white flowers are followed by black berries, attracting birds and making it an excellent choice for both erosion control and biodiversity.

Suited to regions: All regions
Plant type: Groundcover Plants
Height: 30 cm
Spread: 2.00 m
Flowering time: Summer
Tolerances: Coastal, Extended dry periods, Hardy, Wind
Garden uses: Arches, Banks, Borders, Containers, Ground covering, Living areas, Paths & Steps, Patios, Pool areas, Topiary, Walls
Garden styles: Backyard, City & Courtyard, Coastal, Frontyard, Japanese, Modern, Native
hebe-orphan-annie-

Hebe Orphan Annie

Hebe Orphan Annie is grown for its variegated foliage and prolific flowering through summer and autumn. Short flower spikes carrying purple flowers are borne amidst the lush and glossy, cream and green leaves. This NZ native typically grows with a rounded shape to about 50 cm tall and the same wide. Hebe Orphan Annie is ideal for including in a mixed planting, mass planting either as a groundcover or on a bank, adding to borders, including in cottage gardens, or planting around outdoor living areas.

Suited to regions: Subtropical, Temperate
Plant type: Shrubs
Height: 50 cm
Spread: 50 cm
Flowering time: Summer, Autumn
Garden uses: Borders, Containers, Living areas, Paths & Steps, Patios, Pool areas
Garden styles: Architectural, Backyard, City & Courtyard, Frontyard, Japanese, Modern, Native, Rock, Tropical
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Muehlenbeckia complexa (Pohuehue)

Did you find what you are looking for?

You might be interested in exploring related Latin Names - Ajuga, Bergenia, Chamaemelum, Coprosma, Geranium, Hebe, Hedera, Isotoma, Juniperus, Muehlenbeckia, Ophiopogon, Pimelea, Pratia, Pyrethropsis Vinca and Westringia, or related Categories - Evergreen Climbers, Mondo Grass, Groundcover Plants Perennials and Evergreen Shrubs.

Search hebe ground cover

Why Choose Hebe as a Ground Cover?

The appeal of hebe ground cover lies in its versatility and toughness. Hebes are native to New Zealand, making them well-adapted to local conditions, from coastal winds to frost-prone inland gardens. With varieties that hug the ground and others that form neat, low mounds, hebes provide excellent weed suppression while creating a lush, green carpet that looks fantastic all year.

Best Hebe Varieties for Ground Cover

Some outstanding hebe varieties display a compact and spreading habit ideal for ground cover purposes:

Planting and Care Tips for Hebe Ground Cover

Hebes thrive in well-drained soil with plenty of sunshine, but they will tolerate light shade. For best results, enrich the soil with compost prior to planting and ensure regular watering during the initial establishment period. Once settled, hebes require minimal care—just a light trim after flowering to encourage bushy growth and maximise flowering next season.

Spacing is key when creating a continuous hebe ground cover. Plant individual shrubs about 40 to 60 centimetres apart, depending on the variety's mature size, allowing them to fill out naturally over time.

Where to Use Hebe Ground Cover

Hebe ground cover is ideal for a range of garden styles and situations. Use it to:

For more inspiration on incorporating hebes into your landscape, explore the wide variety at our nursery, including Hebe Inspiration, Hebe Black Satin, Hebe Margret, Hebe Wairua Beauty, and Hebe Orphan Annie. Whether you need a bold border or a subtle sweep of foliage, hebe ground cover promises impact, longevity, and true Kiwi garden style.


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Whether you need assistance finding the plant you’re looking for or you simply want to know more about who we are and what we do, we invite you to get in touch with us today. A member of The Plant Company team will get back in touch as soon as possible.

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