Creeping Thyme is hugely popular as a cascading plant for retaining walls, with good reason!

This low-growing perennial will create a dense mat of tiny leaves, which spreads quickly over and down retaining walls. It is easy to grow and will thrive in most conditions.

There are many different varieties of creeping thyme available, so you can use a variety of leaf colors and textures to create a visual masterpiece.

And when they flower, you will be amazed at the stunning display of hundreds of tiny flowers!

Seed Needs, Creeping Thyme Two Packs – 20,000 Seeds Each

These creeping thyme seeds quickly transform your yard into a deep sea of purple! They reach heights of only 12-inches max, so they’re perfect groundcover. Each branch produces thick clusters of up to 30 beautiful flowers.

Get More Info

We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Many gardening fans will already be familiar with lobelias, as they are popular all around the world! In fact, there are over 415 different types of lobelia, with options available to suit most growing zones.

Trailing lobelias will create a stunning visual display of tiny star-shaped flowers as they cascade down your retaining wall.

These plants love warmth, so situate them in full sun for best results. In some zones, they can be treated as a perennial, but in cooler climates, they are grown as annuals.

Coral Drift Rose grows low and is perfect for hugging your cascading wall. It also looks lovely as a small border for your flower garden, walkway, or flower beds.

Groundcover roses usually flower during the spring and summer. However, the flowers won’t survive the freezing winter. (This is a shame because their orange-to-pink flowers are a sight to behold!)

Coral Drift Rose is also famously easy to grow. However, we’ve read that deer love eating them – and they may damage the plants.

Creeping Phlox is a semi-evergreen perennial which will thrive in zones 3 to 9. This beautiful plant can be a stunning addition to your cascading floral display, as it flowers earlier than most of our other suggestions.

The joy of Creeping Phlox is that you can buy a range of different colors, from blue and purple through to pink, red, and even white.

The soft needle-like leaves are retained for the majority of the year, giving you the perfect cover for your retaining wall.

Who said that your retaining wall cover plants should just be ornamental?

These great climbing strawberry plants are a fun and easy way to create cover, as well as provide you with delicious and nutritious fruits from the garden.

If you choose a range of different varieties, you should be able to harvest strawberries for many months of the year.

Strawberry plants have shallow roots and thrive in most soil conditions. Plant a row along the top of a retaining wall, mulch them well, and you should see good results in no time.

Your strawberry plants will spread by sending out runners to propagate new plants – if you are lucky, these will take root in gaps in your wall and create a vertical fruit garden!

Rock Cress, also known as Aubretia, is one of those plants that can be grown by anyone!

This herbaceous perennial thrives in tough conditions and will hug the surface of rocks and walls. Over the years, this low-maintenance plant will give you an enormous mat of greenery and flowers with a lovely scent!

Purple Pixie (also called Weeping Loropetalum) is a lovely weeping dwarf shrub. It delivers tons of knockout power (and color) in a tiny package.

It has breathtaking purple-to-pink flowers and deep-red foliage. Purple Pixie only reaches one foot tall by four feet wide – but it grows surprisingly fast.

If you decide to grow Purple Pixie, remember that it loves full sun. We’ve also read that it’s somewhat susceptible to root rot. So, make sure that it gets well-drained soil.

A tumbling tomato won’t give you year-round cover for your retaining wall, but they are worth growing just for the delicious fruits!

A row of cascading tomatoes planted along the top of your wall will give you a beautiful display of vibrant green leaves, delightful yellow flowers and, of course, succulent and sweet red tomatoes.

If you want to cover a retaining wall fast, then nothing can quite beat the speed of a petunia!

These colorful and low-maintenance annuals will spread up to 4 feet, providing a vibrant splash of color.

Petunias love a sunny spot with good drainage, so will be very happy at the top of a retaining wall. And best of all, they will carry on flowering without any need for tedious deadheading!

Trailing Rosemary is one of our favorite plants for a cascading wall if you want an adaptable and robust groundcover crop.

Trailing Rosemary has famously woody stems and light blue or violet flowers. It has arching branches perfect for climbing over cascading walls, slopes, or garden beds.

Trailing Rosemary also has more nicknames than any other Rosemary cultivar! Nicknames include Lockwood de Forest, Protstratus, Prostrate Rosemary, and Santa Barbara.

Clovers Garden Trailing Creeping Rosemary – Two Live Plants – Non-GMO

Trailing Rosemary is a low-growing, trailing plant that makes an ideal ground cover. Trailing Rosemary can be planted in rock gardens, retaining walls, or containers.

Like other varieties of Rosemary, it has dark green pointy leaves that are rich in aromatic oils and the foliage has a pine-like fragrance. Small, pale blue to white flowers appear along its branches from March to May. It looks equally beautiful draping over a rock wall or cascading from hanging baskets or raised containers.

Though the plant seldom grows over 8 inches tall, it can trail and drape 1-2 feet with the plant spreading out over 12-18 inches. Its fragrant foliage is a welcome addition to any garden!

Get More Info

We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Here’s a beautiful succulent for cascading walls. String of Pearls! We love the String of Pearl foliage. It resembles a big green marble. (Or a giant pea.)

String of Pearls hails from Africa and gets its name from Gordon Rowley, a British botanist. (Gordon was an expert regarding all things cacti and succulents.)

If you decide to grow String of Pearls outdoors, ensure it gets plenty of shade and adequate drainage! It’s also a popular plant for growing indoors. (We know. Growing it indoors won’t help your retaining wall. But they also look beautiful on a windowsill. For sure!)

String of Pearls (Senecio Rowleyanus) – Live Trailing Plants (Fully Rooted)

This succulent rocks unusual foliage! Small, pea-sized balls drape down on trailing stems that can grow up to 4 feet long. It blooms during the summer with a gorgeous display of trumpet-shaped, white flower clusters. Native to the drier parts of southwest Africa. In its natural environment, its stems trail on the ground, rooting where they touch and forming dense mats.

It often avoids direct sunlight by growing in the shade of other plants and rocks.

Get More Info

We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

We love Morning Glory flowers! They’re broadleaf perennials with showy flowers – and pollinators love visiting them.

They’re surprisingly easy to cultivate in various soil and sunlight conditions. Their flowers are also breathtaking! They have lovely pink, violet, purple, or blue blooms.

And while these gorgeous flowers will light up your cascading wall, deck, patio, or garden, they’re not perfect. We’ve read from multiple reliable sources that many Morning Glory cultivars are toxic for humans, dogs, cats, and horses.