Shrub · Apocynaceae
Asiatic Jasmine
Trachelospermum asiaticum
Tough, glossy, and happy in sun or deep shade, Asiatic jasmine carpets the ground and asks for next to nothing.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 7–11
6–24 in · 15–61 cm
Overview
Asiatic jasmine is a low, evergreen groundcover that people grow for its thick mat of small, glossy leaves rather than for flowers. It's part of the dogbane family and, name aside, isn't a true jasmine at all. New growth tends to flush a coppery bronze or red before easing into deep green, which gives the planting a soft change of color over the year.
So what wins folks over? Mostly how little it needs. It'll take full sun to deep shade, brushes off drought once it's settled in, and grows happily in clay, loam, or sand. Hardy from zones 7 to 11, it pulls through down to about 10°F (-12°C) and copes with heat up to 100°F (38°C), which is exactly why you'll find it under trees and along curbs where almost nothing else hangs on.
The catch? All that vigor. Those trailing stems root as they run, so the very plant that blankets a bare slope will happily climb a trunk or cross a sidewalk if you let it. Give it a clear edge to push against and one shearing a year, and it'll stay a clean, even carpet for decades.
Care
The short version: stick it just about anywhere from full sun to full shade, keep it watered through that first season, then mostly leave it be and shear it once a year in early spring to keep the mat thick and where you want it.
Light
Not many groundcovers are this easygoing about light. Asiatic jasmine grows in full sun all the way to full shade, though it stays thickest and colors up best with at least a bit of sun. Heavy shade slows it down and thins the mat a touch, but it still holds together.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist through the first season while it roots in. After that it's truly drought tolerant and hardly ever wants extra water. Go light on it, since too much water is one of the things that tips it into aggressive, unruly growth.
Soil
It'll take nearly any well-drained soil, whether that's clay, loam, or sand, across a wide pH range of 6.0 to 8.0. The only snag? Strongly alkaline ground locks up iron and yellows the leaves, so shoot for neutral to slightly acidic wherever you can.
Temperature
Hardy in zones 7 to 11, it takes a wide swing from about 10°F to 100°F (-12°C to 38°C). That mix of cold hardiness and heat tolerance is what lets it carpet ground in climates that'd flatten softer plants.
Humidity
Plain outdoor humidity suits it just fine and there's no number to fuss over. It rolls with muggy Southern summers and drier stretches alike.
Feeding
Feed it lightly, or not at all. A bit of balanced slow-release fertilizer in spring is plenty, and most settled plantings need none. Load it up with fertilizer and all you get is faster, more unruly growth to cut back down.
Pruning
The main job here is a once-a-year mow or shear in early spring to refresh the planting and keep it dense. Tidy the edges now and then through the season so it doesn't slip into lawns, beds, and walkways.
Repotting
In the ground it hardly ever needs repotting. In a pot, only size it up when roots circle the container, poke out the drainage holes, or water starts running straight through.
Size & spacing
It keeps low, just 6 to 24 inches (15 to 61 cm) tall, but each plant reaches out wide, anywhere from 3 to 12 feet (91 cm to 3.7 m) across. Space plants 1.5 to 3 feet apart for groundcover and leave it room away from any trunks and structures it might try to climb.
When to plant
Asiatic jasmine goes in the ground in spring, once the last frost is behind you and the soil is warming up. Plant it then and water it through that opening season so it roots in, and it'll spend the next two years weaving into one solid evergreen carpet.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: spring after last frost
- Harvest: late spring to early summer (blooms sparsely)
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 7–11
Temperature: down to -18°C
Troubleshooting
This is a pretty low-fuss plant, and most of what goes sideways is either a spreading habit you need to rein in or a soil snag you can fix. Find what matches what you're seeing below, then act before a small issue creeps across the whole planting.
Stems wandering into the lawn and creeping up your trees
This one moves quickly and trails as it travels, putting down roots anywhere a stem lands on damp soil. Give it too much water, sun, or fertilizer and it kicks into high gear, climbing trunks and spilling over walkways. So edge the bed, peel the stems off your shrubs and trees, and shear the whole patch once a year in early spring to bring it back to a neat mat.
Fix:
- Trim and edge the perimeter regularly to keep it in bounds
- Pull or cut stems climbing trees and shrubs
- Mow or shear the whole planting once a year in early spring to renew it
- Reduce supplemental water and fertilizer to slow aggressive growth
Yellow leaves but the veins are still green
See a leaf go yellow while the veins hang onto their green? That's iron chlorosis, and nine times out of ten the culprit is alkaline soil tying up the iron. You'll spot it on the freshest growth first. A chelated iron supplement sorts it out quickly, and nudging the soil pH down keeps it from returning.
Fix:
- Apply a chelated iron supplement
- Acidify or amend the soil to lower pH
Open patches between plants for that first year
If a fresh planting looks thin and gappy through its opening season, don't worry, that's just what it does. The first year goes into root building, and it takes about two growing seasons to knit together all the way. So keep the soil evenly moist, space the plants 1.5 to 3 feet apart if you want quicker cover, and let that second season carry it.
Fix:
- Keep soil evenly moist while establishing
- Space plants closer (about 1.5 to 3 feet apart) for faster coverage
- Be patient; growth accelerates in the second season
Tiny bumps on the stems and a sticky feel
Every so often scale insects move onto the stems and the undersides of leaves, leaving small bumps and a sticky honeydew that invites sooty mold. Real pest headaches are uncommon here, though. Knock them back with horticultural oil and snip off any stems that are heavily covered.
Fix:
- Treat with horticultural oil
- Prune out heavily infested stems
Toxicity
Good news if you've got pets or kids: Asiatic jasmine is treated as non-toxic, and its relative star jasmine sits on the ASPCA non-toxic list. The one thing worth knowing? Cut stems weep a milky latex that can bother sensitive skin, so wear gloves when you prune.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
Fine to grow where cats roam. Its cousin the star jasmine is on the ASPCA non-toxic list, and a curious nibble shouldn't cause anything beyond a mild, short-lived stomach upset.
Dogs None
Dogs are welcome to share the garden with it, no worries. There's no known toxin for them, so a chewed stem might lead to a brief tummy grumble at most.
Horses Safe
Counts as safe around horses. Nothing toxic to worry about, though like any lush new foliage it's wise not to let a horse make a meal of it.
Rabbits Safe
It won't poison rabbits. The leaves are tough and milky rather than a treat, so most rabbits just pass it by.
Livestock Safe
Safe for cattle, goats, and sheep, with no poisoning cases on record. The bitter latex in the stems usually keeps grazers away anyway.
Birds Safe
No toxic risk to birds at all. They can tuck into the dense mat for shelter and the foliage won't do them any harm.
People Safe
Fine to have around kids and adults. Cut stems do weep a milky latex that can bother sensitive skin, so slip on gloves before a big pruning session.
It is a member of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae) and exudes a milky latex sap when cut that may cause mild skin irritation in sensitive people; wear gloves when pruning. Despite the name it is not a true jasmine.
Varieties
Past the plain green type, a few selections bring color through variegated or brightly tinted new growth. Here are the ones you're most likely to come across.
'Snow-N-Summer' ('HOSNS')
A variegated pick whose new growth opens in pink and white, then mellows to green and white as it matures.
'Variegatum'
Green leaves rimmed and marbled in creamy white give it that bright, two-tone look.
'Bronze Beauty'
Picked for new leaves that come in a warm bronze to reddish shade before turning green.
'Goshiki' / 'Ogon Nishiki'
New growth arrives in a blend of yellow, orange, and red for a multicolored carpet.
'Elegant' / dwarf forms
These lower, tighter selections give you a fine-textured dwarf groundcover wherever you'd rather have less height.
How to propagate
Asiatic jasmine is easy to make more of, and honestly it pretty much handles the work itself anywhere a stem touches the ground.
LayeringEasy
Growing season · Several weeks to months
Layering is the simplest way to get more plants, since those trailing stems root all on their own wherever they hit moist soil. Just pin a stem down during the growing season and it'll grab hold over the next several weeks to months, ready to clip free as its own plant.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Summer · Several weeks to a couple of months
Want another route? Root semi-hardwood stem cuttings taken in summer, though that takes a little more fuss than layering. Allow several weeks to a couple of months for roots before you pot them up.
Myths
Asiatic jasmine is a true jasmine.
The name fools a lot of people, but this is Trachelospermum asiaticum in the dogbane family, not an actual jasmine, which sits in the genus Jasminum over in the olive family. The common name is misleading, and the two aren't even close kin.
Asiatic jasmine is the same as star jasmine and is grown for its flowers.
It's a separate plant from star or Confederate jasmine, keeping lower, denser, and smaller-leaved with a lot fewer blooms. It rarely flowers and is grown as a foliage groundcover, not for the show.