Life After Lawn: Walk on this carpet bugle

This is one part in a weekly series featuring the UC Davis Arboretum’s “Life After Lawn” series – 45 can’t-fail, easy-care, low-water plants well adapted to our region and ideal for drought-tolerant landscapes.

Showy carpet bugle

Ajuga reptans ‘Catlin’s Giant’

Size: Foliage only 3 to 4 inches tall; spreads over time.

Bloom season: Spikes of dark blue flowers, up to 8 inches tall, in spring and summer.

Exposure: Prefers partial to full shade; needs shade from the afternoon sun or will burn.

Pruning needs: None; can remove old flower stems with a lawn mower (set blades high).

Water needs: Medium to low; once established, water deeply once a week or every two weeks.

Snapshot: Native to Europe, this popular ground-hugging perennial can blanket a shady garden with bronze-tinged foliage and dark blue blooms in spring and summer. A winner of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit, this cultivar produces uncommonly large and showy flower spikes. It makes a great choice for spring color under deciduous trees. Carpet bugle is tough, too; once established, it can be walked on and even mowed.

For more on “Life After Lawn,” click on arboretum.ucdavis.edu.

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Life After Lawn: Walk on this carpet bugle."