Lysimachia nummulariaCreeping Jenny

Lysimachia nummularia runs flat along the ground on thin stems set with small round leaves, rooting as it goes, and in a season it will knit into a continuous mat 50 millimetres deep. The golden-leaved form is the one usually specified, and it holds a strong lime-yellow all season.

It is a moisture plant, at its best at a pond edge, along a rill or spilling over the lip of a raised planter, and it will not carry a dry exposed site.

Specifications

• Height0.05 to 0.1 metres
• Width0.4 to 1 metre, spreading by rooting stems
• Native toEurope and western Asia
• FoliageSmall, rounded, coin-shaped leaves in bright green or golden yellow; evergreen to semi-evergreen
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilPrefers moist, humus-rich soils; tolerates heavy ground and pond margins
• LightFull sun to partial shade; the golden form holds best colour in dappled light
• WaterRegular; requires consistent moisture and will not tolerate drying out
• ClimateThrives in cool and warm temperate regions

Additional Features

• FlowersSmall bright yellow cup-shaped flowers along the stems in summer
• UsesPond and rill margins, planter edges, paving joints, shaded ground layers and green roof infill
• SpacingPlant 0.2 to 0.3 metres apart for cover within a season
• Low MaintenanceTrim back at the edges to hold it inside the bed; no other routine care
• Pest ResistanceGenerally trouble free; watch for slugs in wet shaded positions
• Erosion ControlRooting stems bind soil on damp banks and margins
• VersatilityWorks as a flat ground layer, a spilling planter edge and a shallow marginal

Creeping Jenny is the mat-forming ground cover to specify where the site is damp and the finished level needs to read as a single flat green plane.