10 award-winning (AGM) easy plants for driveways

There are plenty of great reasons to green up your front garden – and lots of small, low-maintenance plants that can do the job beautifully. Not only will they bring in bees and butterflies, but adding plants also helps prevent flooding and looks pretty too.

Many plants love growing in gravel, and you can even add greenery to paved areas by taking out an occasional paving stone to instantly create a planting spot. Some plants will self-seed and spread, finding places where they’re happy and essentially creating a garden for themselves. Here is a selection of 10 easy-to-grow plants for driveways, all winners of the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Glossy purple leaves

Ajuga reptans ‘Catlin’s Giant’ is a driveway plant that rewards both gardeners and bees 

Bugle (Ajuga reptans ‘Catlin’s Giant’) is ideal for shady corners of the driveway. It spreads happily in cooler spots and is naturally restrained as it moves into sunnier areas. This plant recovers well from occasional trampling, and its large purple-bronze leaves look well against all types of gravel. Height 20cm. Hardiness rating H7.

Wide mat

With its wiry, branching stems, Erigeron karvinskianus is a durable choice

Erigeron karvinskianus, commonly known as Mexican fleabane, forms a wide mat of ground-hugging growth that roots easily into gravel. This semi-evergreen

Perennials are plants that live for multiple years. They come in all shapes and sizes and fill our gardens with colourful flowers and ornamental foliage. Many are hardy and can survive outdoors all year round, while less hardy types need protection over winter. The term herbaceous perennial is used to describe long-lived plants without a permanent woody structure (they die back to ground level each autumn), distinguishing them from trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs.

Creeping colour

Erodium ‘Roseum’ is useful for softening hard landscaping

A close cousin of hardy geraniums, Erodium × variabile ‘Roseum’ is a true gravel lover. Thriving in good drainage and plenty of sun, it has neat evergreen foliage and bright pink flowers in spring and summer. It’s also an ideal plant to squeeze into a wide crack between slabs, where its stems will radiate outward. An added bonus is that bees love it. Height 8cm. Hardiness rating H5.

None so pretty

Saxifraga × urbium forms wide mats of rosettes that are sure to catch your eye

None is so pretty as Saxifraga × urbium, commonly known as London pride. This evergreen perennial is low-maintenance and thrives in gravel. It forms wide mats of

Rosettes are the circular arrangement of flower petals; or a cluster of leaves radiating from approximately the same point usually around a stem. Examples include aeonium and most succulent plants, African violets, primula, sempervivums.

Golden trails

Creeping Jenny makes effective ground cover, brightening lightly-shaded spots

An old cottage garden favourite, creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’) is another great option for damp, shady corners of the driveway or for running over slabs. Its neat yellow leaves are just lovely. Like bugle, it tends to sneak into spots that suit it, but I find there’s a balance to be struck – too much shade, and the leaves lose their brightness. It snakes along, rooting as it goes, and buttercup-yellow flowers line the shoots in summer. Height 5cm. Hardiness rating H5.

Remember this one

Choose forget-me-not Myosotis sylvatica ‘Bluesylva’ for sunny or shady areas of your driveway

Forget-me-nots bring carefree spring colour to gardens. They grow happily in gravel and paving cracks, and are well known as dependable self sowing plants. Myosotis sylvatica ‘Bluesylva’ is exceptionally prolific, with large flowers. Though some forget-me-nots become spindly over time, this selection stays large and bold for longer. Height 20cm. Hardiness rating H6.

Intense colour

Grey cranesbill rewards gardeners with flowers that appear right into autumn

A diminutive, hardy cranesbill, Geranium subcaulescens, makes an attractive, dense mound. The finely divided foliage is nicely silvered and the flowers are truly vivid. Deep pink in colour, with dark veins and an almost black eye, this selection is at its peak in May and June, but its flowers keep coming until autumn. Height 10cm. Hardiness rating H4.

Jet black leaves

Plant Ophiopogon ‘Kokuryu’ into light-coloured gravel for a very effective contrast

Black mondo grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Kokuryu’, has two features going for it. Its long, slender black foliage looks wonderful against gravel, and it also has the knack of extending itself under the gravel and then popping new shoots through. The result is a steadily spreading plant that recovers easily from trampling and binds the gravel together. Height 15cm. Hardiness rating H5.

Star-flowered succulent

The leaves of Sedum spathulifolium ‘Purpureum’ are covered with an attractive white bloom

A lovely little succulent plant, Sedum spathulifolium ‘Purpureum’, is happy anywhere that’s sunny and well-drained. Its reddish leaves have a white bloom and form a low, spreading mat. The stems, though a little fragile, produce new shoots that root through the gravel. Its starry yellow summer flowers add to the appeal. Height 10cm. Hardiness rating H5.

Fragrant thyme

Thyme makes a scented carpet to soften gravel and paving in sunny areas

Perfect for a sunny spot, Thymus Coccineus Group has deep pink flowers that are a huge attraction to pollinating bees. It is an excellent plant for driveways; firstly, it spreads over stones and gravel, taking root as it goes. Secondly, it tolerates light footfall every day. Additionally, when you step on it, it gives off a fine fragrance. Height 8cm. Hardiness rating H5.