What Can You Plant in Pea Gravel?



Perennials, shrubs and culinary herbs make it effortless to cultivate the regions of your property covered with pea gravel. These small, round stones come in a variety of colors to match your landscape and pea gravel from local stones supplies a natural appearance and is usually less costly. As a general rule of successful planting in pea gravel, don’t pick plants that enjoy acidic soil.

Perennial Flowers for Complete Sun

It is possible to enjoy a blanket of evergreen leaves and deep pink flowers in late spring once you plant cushion soapwort (Saponaria × olivana). It grows 2 to 4 inches tall and 8 to 12 inches broad in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9. The double Spanish poppy (Papaver rupifragum “Double Tangerine Gem”) displays sherbet-orange blossoms with yellow eyes for many weeks between late spring and late summer. It grows 12 to 16 inches tall by 8 to 12 inches broad in USDA zones 6 through 9.

Perennial Flowers for Color

The Lewisa range “Small Plum” (Lewisia “Small Plum”) bears terminal clusters of deep pink rosettes atop stalks 4 to 6 inches high and spreads 6 to 8 inches wide. It prefers full sunlight to partial shade in USDA zones 3 through 9. The pocketbook blossom variety “Goldcap” (Calceolaria biflora “Goldcap” ) displays little lemon-yellow pouch flowers atop delicate stems 4 to 6 inches tall and spreads 6 to 8 inches broad, preferring partial shade in USDA zones 5 through 9. Both plants blossom in late spring through early summer.

Culinary Herbs

Rosmary (Rosmarinus) is native to Mediterranean climates and tolerates salt spray. The range “Blue Spires” grows 5 to 6 feet tall in USDA zones 8 through 10, making an outstanding hedge along with a delicious variety for cooking. You can scatter thyme (Thymus vulgaris) seeds directly onto the ground in spring and enjoy its small pink or bluish-purple flowers in the summer. It grows about 12 inches tall and broad in USDA zones 5 through 9.

Privacy Screen

It is possible to create a year-round solitude screen with evergreens grown in pea gravel. “Ray Hartman,” a variety of the California native Ceanothus, is a 20-foot-high shrub that thrives in dry soil. It bears fragrant blue flowers in spring, prefers no irrigation and also grows in USDA zones 9 and 10. The yucca plant (Yucca x schottii) is a 20-foot-high sand-loving succulent for USDA zones 10 through 13. It has quite large spiky foliage and features showy white flowers in summer that become edible fruit.

See related