Bugleweed
Bugleweed
Bugleweed
Bugleweed
Bugleweed
Bugleweed
Bugleweed

Multi Buy

Size Guide
3.5
3.5" Perennial
3 or more $6.00 ea
Regularly: $6.99 ea

Bugleweed

Scott's Nursery Ltd.

$3.50
Title
Drape your garden floor in a luxurious, high-definition coat of armour that defies the toughest growing conditions. Ajuga reptans creates a breathtakingly dense, glossy carpet of rich, overlapping foliage that smothers weeds with effortless ease. In late spring, this deep-toned tapestry explodes into life, sending up hundreds of rigid, electric-blue flower spires that look like miniature neon towers, turning shaded slopes and bare spots into an unforgettable sea of colour.

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Plant Details

Mature Size:

3" - 6" H x 12" - 18" W

Zone:

3-9

Watering:

Medium

Type:

Herbaceous Perennial

Growth Rate:

Fast

Light:

Full Sun/Full Shade

Plant Profile

Common Names:

Bugleweed, Carpet Bugle, Blue Bugle, and Carpetweed

Scientific Name:

Ajuga reptans

Type:

Evergreen Groundcover / Spiller / Erosion Control Accent

Growth Details:

  • Mature Size: 3" - 6" H x 12" - 18" W
  • Growth Habit: Creeping, spreading, and stoloniferous.
  • Form: Low, dense, flat, ground-hugging mat.
  • Growth Rate: Fast.
  • Flowering Time: Late spring to early summer (typically May to June).
  • Flower Colour: Deep violet-blue, lavender, or occasionally soft pink, depending on the specific cultivar.

Environmental Needs:

Exposure: Full Sun, Partial Shade, to Full Shade.

Soil Preferences: Thrives best in moist, organically rich, well-draining loams.

Soil Tolerance: Exceptional adaptability; easily conquers heavy clay, rocky soils, and thin, poor soils.

Watering: Provide steady, average weekly moisture; can handle short periods of drought once its dense root system is locked into place.

Container Role: Acts as an elite, weeping Spiller or ground-hugging base filler in large seasonal patio combinations and window boxes.

Special Features:

  • Black Walnut Tolerant: Securely resists toxic juglone soils; thrives directly against or beneath Black Walnut trees.
  • Weed Suppressor: Forms a mattress-thick network of runners that physically chokes out germinating weed seeds naturally.
  • Deer & Rabbit Resistance: Highly unpalatable to foraging wildlife; deer and rabbits will bypass it entirely for other food sources.
  • Attracts: A vital, early-season nectar station for local honeybees, bumblebees, and passing butterflies.
Care Guide

Ornamental & Landscape Value

Seasonal Interest:

Bloom Information: Exceptionally showy, 4" to 6" tall spikes packed with small, two-lipped tubular flowers that blanket the ground for weeks.

Perennial and Annual Interest: Outstanding year-round value; its dense foliage mats stay beautifully colored, glossy, and evergreen through mild winters, providing immediate structure as soon as the snow melts before erupting into its massive spring blue bloom.

Garden Value:

Ornamental Interest: Provides a solid, year-round glossy metallic canopy topped by intense, vertical structural flower spikes in spring.

Landscaping Uses: The ultimate choice for steep erosion-prone banks, planting under dense tree canopies, filling spaces between stepping stones, and edging woodland pathways.

Wildlife & Human Value:

Wildlife Value: Supplies a high-volume, easily accessible spring food source for emerging native bees and early pollinators.

Human Value: Serves as an excellent, zero-mow turf alternative for tricky shady slopes, eliminates seasonal mulching costs, and handles occasional light foot traffic along stone paths.

Planting & Care Guide

Planting Considerations:

Best Time To Plant: Plant early in the spring or in the early autumn to take advantage of cool, moist seasonal weather.

Spacing: Space individual plugs 10" to 12" apart to achieve rapid, seamless, weed-suppressing coverage within a single season.

Location Tips: Provide areas with decent air circulation; avoid low, unventilated, ultra-humid pockets where stagnant air can trap moisture on the leaves.

Companion Plants: Pairs exquisitely with fine-textured gold Carex, bright yellow Corydalis, and bold, broad-leaved Hostas.

Care:

  • Light Requirements: Highly versatile; performs beautifully in full sun through to full shade, though afternoon shade preserves the richest leaf colors.
  • Moisture Requirements: Prefers moist, well-drained soil; water regularly until established, but avoid planting in permanently stagnant, swampy zones.
  • Maintenance: Mow or shear the entire planting on a high setting immediately after spring flowering ceases to remove spent spikes and clean up the carpet.
  • Fertilization: Requires virtually no feeding; a very light top-dressing of compost in early spring is more than enough to fuel its spreading habit.

Tolerances:

Tolerates full shade, heavy clay, foot traffic, road salt, black walnut toxicity, deer, and rabbits.

Tips For Success:

Preventing Rot: Ensure the soil drains well; planting it in boggy, waterlogged muck can induce crown rot (Sclerotium rolfsii) during hot, humid summers.

Easy Thinning: If it begins to creep into the lawn or adjacent plant beds, simply spade along the border line; the shallow runners lift up cleanly with minimal effort.

Post-Bloom Cleanup: Running a lawnmower on its highest setting over a large patch after the flowers fade is a quick, professional way to refresh the foliage.
Fruit Profile