Characteristics

The common kind of wintercreeper euonymus lives up to its name, extending along the ground as a mound-forming plant that is 1 to 2 feet tall and covers an area up to 5 feet wide, depending on its variety. A semi-evergreen plant, its leaves are 1 to 3 inches long, shiny and green or, in some cases, variegated. Foliage on some cultivars turns reddish-purple or bronze when fall arrives. Wintercreeper euonymus blossoms in June or July and has tiny, creamy yellow or lime-colored flowers. They are followed by dry, brown capsules that reveal orange seeds in fall.

Ground-Cover

Wintercreeper euonymus is a fast-growing plant that does well in a mixed bed or border, growing between other plants to develop into a living carpet ground-cover in just a few years. When grouped alone as a massed planting, its foliage can fill a large area of open space. For example, it quickly can cover a soil-filled space between a building foundation and low wall with its solid, bushy greenery, or it can cover a slope or bank, making a low-maintenance, grass alternative that never needs mowing.

Trailing and Trained Feature

Wintercreeper euonymus also can be used as a trailing plant that hangs from a suspended planter or basket. It can be planted in soil at the top of a retaining wall from which its branches and foliage can trail downward and eventually cover the wall. When wintercreeper plants are spaced in a row, they can be trained into a dense, low hedge or a border for a flowerbed. When used in that way, the plants do well with light shearing in spring, responding by producing new, dense growth that forms a solid-green hedge. Some cultivars climb when they encounter a wall or trellis and can be trained to cover such a vertical structure.

Specimen

Some wintercreeper euonymus cultivars are bushy and a bit taller than others, making them useful as upright specimens. For example, the variety "Green Lane" (Euonymus fortnuei "Green Lane") matures to a height of 4 to 6 feet, has a bushy form and is more resistant to winter windburn than some other green-leaved cultivars, making it useful in an open, windy spot. "Emerald Beauty" (Euonymus fortnuei "Emerald Beauty") has especially dark-green foliage throughout the year and can reach a height of 6 feet and a width of 8 to 10 feet. It makes a useful standalone specimen or can stand out as an evergreen in a mixed planting with deciduous shrubs or trees.