Plant Wintergreen as an Evergreen Groundcover in Partial Shade (2024)

If you need a hardworking landscape problem solver for partially shaded locations, consider wintergreen. This perennial evergreen makes a colorful groundcover around shade-loving shrubs for a low-maintenance garden. Wintergreen overflows with interest year-round. The attractive leaves are paired with white flowers in summer and bright red berries and reddish-bronze foliage in fall. Standing just 4 to 8 inches tall, it hugs the ground, choking out weeds while creating a dense mat of glossy foliage. Wintergreen spreads slowly and moderately by underground rhizomes to form a dense mat. Plant breeders have introduced several wintergreen cultivars featuring larger berries, a more pronounced fall color, and a stronger spreading habit.

Wintergreen is also popular as a potted holiday gift plant.

Where to Plant Wintergreen

Choose a location in partial shade where the soil is acidic, moist, and well-drained.

In its native environment, wintergreen thrives in cool, damp woodland settings, especially under evergreen trees. It also works well as a groundcover around deciduous acid-loving native trees and shrubs such as mountain laurel, rhododendrons, and snowberry. Plant wintergreen in groups or drifts rather than as a specimen so it forms dense mats.

How and When to Plant Wintergreen

Plant wintergreen in the spring or fall. Dig a hole about twice the diameter of the nursery pot and about the same depth. Place the plant in the hole and fill in original soil to the top of the root ball. Gently tamp down the soil and water it well. Keep it well-watered for the first growing season to allow the plant to establish a strong root system.

Space plants 10 to 14 inches apart, or more depending on the spreading habit of the variety.

Wintergreen Care Tips

As is the case with many native plants, wintergreen is low-maintenance and care-free.

Light

Plant wintergreen in partial or dappled shade. It will grow in full shade but flowering will be reduced.

Soil and Water

Wintergreen is not demanding in terms of soil quality and even grows in nutrient-poor soil. Good drainage, on the other hand, is important, as is slightly acidic soil with a pH between 4.5 and 6.0. Wintergreen thrives in sandy, loose soil.

The plant only needs regular watering during the first growing season until it is established. After that, only water it in prolonged periods of drought. Blanketing the ground around the plants with a 2-inch-thick layer of shredded bark mulch slows down soil moisture loss.

Temperature and Humidity

Wintergreen is well adapted to the climate in the Northeastern and Central United States and Canada with moderate summers, subzero winters, and average to high humidity. It is not suitable to be grown in hot, arid climates.

Fertilizer

Wintergreen does not require the application of a commercial fertilizer. Instead, scatter a layer of decaying leaves around the base of the plants. Just like in its native habitat, the organic matter supplies wintergreen with nutrients over time.

Pruning

There is no need to prune wintergreen other than to remove unsightly, old, woody, or broken stems. This type of cleanup is best done in the early spring before the new growth starts.

Potting and Repotting Wintergreen

Especially during the holiday season, you’ll find potted wintergreen for sale. While the plant can be grown in a pot, leaving it in the pot long-term is not ideal if you want it to come back the next year.During the winter, the plant should be kept outdoors, not indoors. However, in areas with cold winters, the roots are insufficiently insulated against the winter cold, unlike in garden soil. Either place the pot in a larger container and fill it with sand or mulch to create a planting silo, or bury it in the ground. In the spring, dig it out and transplant it to the landscape.

If you leave the plant in the pot and it makes it through the winter, repotting becomes necessary when roots fill the container or grow out of the drainage holes. Repot the plant to a larger pot with fresh, well-draining potting mix or a specially formulated planting soil for acid-loving plants. Remember that potted plants need more frequent watering than plants in the landscape, especially during the summer.

Pests and Problems

Wintergreen Is not susceptible to serious pests or diseases. You might find aphids and thrips on the plants but usually, they are easily washed away with a hose. Potential diseases of wintergreen are powdery mildew and leaf spot. Overwatering or poor drainage can cause root rot.

How to Propagate Wintergreen

If you want to propagate wintergreen, make sure that it is not a cultivar that is protected by a plant patent and thus prohibited from propagation. To propagate wintergreen, in the late spring or early summer, locate a strong stem on a healthy wintergreen plant. Dig it up with all its roots. Dust the stem part with rooting hormone (if the stem has a lot of roots attached to it, this is not necessary). Plant the stem in a 4-inch pot filled with damp potting mix and keep the pot outdoors but away from direct sunlight, Water it regularly to keep it evenly moist.

When new growth appears, the stem has rooted. Delay transplanting it in the landscape and give the plant a few more weeks to grow stronger.

Types of Wintergreen

‘Cherry Berries’

This cultivar was named after its outstanding feature, the large size of its red berries. The plant grows 10 inches tall and spreads up to 3 feet, much wider than the species. Zone 3-8

‘Redwood’

Pink flowers in the spring, red berries in the fall, and deep red foliage in the winter provide color year-round. The cultivar has a low growth habit, reaching only 4 to 6 inches in height but spreading up to 3 feet. Zone 3-8

‘Winter Splash’

The variegated foliage on this wintergreen is a first and it looks especially attractive against the bright red berries that appear on the plant in the fall. The plant grows 12 inches high. Zone 3-8

‘Winter Fiesta'

The berries of this Japanese cultivar (‘Hokutotakaji-001) are bi-colored, starting out white and turning cotton-candy pink in the winter. The plant only grows 4 to 6 inches tall and spreads up to 3 feet.

Winter Green Companion Plants

Ostrich Fern

This grand fern, which is native to the Eastern American woodlands, has become a staple plant of woodland gardens. Ostrich fern has large upright fronds resembling their namesake bird's feathers. The plant creates a backdrop for other plants and spreads to quickly fill a garden space. Zone 3-7

Oregon Grape Holly

Native to western North America, Oregon grape holly is a broadleaf evergreen shrub that does best in shade or woodland gardens with moist but well-drained, acidic or neutral soil. Grape hollies provide many different colors throughout the growing season.Zone 5-9

Arrowwood Viburnum

For a native plant landscape, select Viburnum dentatum, a viburnum that is native to areas of North America. It offers a good show of orange-yellow fall color, clusters of white flowers in spring to late summer, and blue-black fruits in fall. It grows 10 feet tall and wide. Zones 3-8