# Creeping Jenny: a native ground cover for damp soil

> Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) is a native ground cover 5 to 15 cm tall with yellow flowers. Where it fits, what it costs and how to care for it.

Canonical: https://tuinontwerp.app/en/blog/creeping-jenny
Last updated: 2026-09-28

*Lysimachia nummularia*

![One low mat of wild creeping Jenny in an empty bed of bark mulch in front of a wooden fence in July, with round green leaves and single yellow flowers](https://tuinontwerp.app/images/blog/penningkruid-2263b63e.webp)

Published: 2026-09-28

Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) is a native ground cover with round
leaves like little coins. Its stems creep over the soil and root as they go.
Together they form a low mat, at most 15 centimetres tall. Single yellow flowers
appear in the mat from June to August. The plant likes moist to wet soil.

## Creeping Jenny at a glance

| Feature | Creeping Jenny |
| --- | --- |
| Height | 5 to 15 cm |
| Spread | 0.1 to 0.5 m per plant, then keeps creeping outwards |
| Full grown after | 2 to 5 years |
| Sun | Full sun to partial shade |
| Soil | Moist to wet, not acid |
| Water | Plenty: the soil has to stay moist |
| Maintenance | Low: only cut back the runners |
| Flowers | June to August, yellow |
| For bees | Little: pollen and oil, June to August |
| Hay fever | Not or weakly allergenic |
| Leaves | Stay green |
| Hardy | Yes |
| Native | Yes |
| Poisonous | No |
| Pricks or stings | No |
| Price, young | About €2.65 to €3.50 each, 5-10 cm, in a small pot |
| Price, grown | About €9.02 to €9.75 each, in a pond basket |

- **Leaf**: all year
- **Flower**: June to August
- **Fruit**: no noticeable fruit

![Creeping Jenny shoot tips seen from above, with pairs of almost round green leaves and a young rosette in the middle](https://tuinontwerp.app/images/blog/penningkruid-leaf-e667f53c.webp)
*Leaf*

![Open yellow creeping Jenny flowers with five pointed petals, each on a short stalk between round green leaves](https://tuinontwerp.app/images/blog/penningkruid-bloom-58b001c2.webp)
*Flower*

## How do I recognise creeping Jenny?

Start with the leaves. They grow in opposite pairs along the stem. Each leaf is
almost round, with a blunt tip and a short stalk. Against the light, a leaf
shows tiny red dots. Those gland dots are a reliable feature to go by. The
stems lie flat on the ground and are slightly angular.

The yellow flowers sit singly where a leaf joins the stem. Each flower has a
short, sturdy stalk and measures 1.2 to 3 centimetres across. Most flowers have
five pointed petals. A flower is about as large as a leaf.

> **Did you know?**
>
> Creeping Jenny almost never sets seed. Insects do visit the flowers, but
> pollination rarely succeeds. So the plant spreads almost entirely through its
> creeping stems.

At first glance, yellow pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum) looks similar. The
leaves of yellow pimpernel are oval, taper to a point and have no red dots.
Its flowers sit on a long, thin stalk. Nurseries also sell a cultivated form of
creeping Jenny, 'Aurea'. That cultivar has golden yellow leaves, where the wild
plant has green ones.

## Where does creeping Jenny grow best?

Creeping Jenny grows in full sun or in partial shade. In partial shade, the sun
shines directly on the spot for three to six hours a day around midsummer. The
soil should be moist to wet, and preferably not acid. Light sandy soil and
heavy clay both work, as long as they hold on to moisture. In the wild, the
species grows on road verges, in lawns, parks and woods, and along the water's
edge.

Creeping Jenny is better kept out of these spots:

- **A dry border, or a front garden on sand.** The plant needs moist soil, and
  dry sand holds too little water.
- **Along the lawn or at the front of a border.** There the stems quickly
  creep over the edge and take over the grass or the border.
- **A bed with acid soil, such as a heather garden.** Creeping Jenny avoids
  acid soil.

The leaves stay green through winter, so the ground stays covered then as well.

Along a pond edge or under a hedge, the strip of ground is often narrow. Place
creeping Jenny on the drawing of your own garden in the app. The app draws the
plant at a grown plant's width, not at pot size. Then you can see whether the
strip is wide enough.

## Planting and caring for creeping Jenny

Nurseries offer creeping Jenny as a small plant in a little pot. Plant it in
any month, provided the ground is not frozen. Leave about 30 centimetres
between plants, which fits 8 to 11 on each square metre. Just after planting,
the bed looks bare. The creeping stems then fill the gaps on their own. In the
first summer, water whenever the weather stays dry for a few weeks.

No pruning is needed, only two small jobs:

| When | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| If a runner reaches too far | Cut it back |
| If the mat gets too dense | Lift a piece and plant it somewhere else |

Where the mat grows under a hedge or between shrubs, cut there with care. Many
birds breed from March to the end of July.

## Creeping Jenny problems and what to do

**The mat is growing into the lawn or the border.** Creeping Jenny spreads fast
through its creeping stems. Cut back the runners where they reach too far.

**The leaves hang limp in a dry summer.** By then the soil has become too dry.
Water the plant until the soil is damp again.

**Small brown or orange spots show on the leaves.** That may be rust, or a leaf
spot disease. Both are fungi. Creeping Jenny rarely gets a serious disease, so
there is usually nothing to do.

## Is creeping Jenny good for wildlife?

At the water's edge, creeping Jenny gives cover. In one bird-friendly garden
with a pond in Amsterdam, brown and green frogs hide among the creeping Jenny,
water soldier and hornwort. For dragonflies, creeping Jenny is on the list of
marginal plants that make a pond richer.

Which insects and birds visit creeping Jenny in the Netherlands has not been
well described.

## Is creeping Jenny poisonous?

Creeping Jenny counts as a plant of little or no toxicity. That still does not
make it edible. The stems and leaves are smooth or barely hairy, so nothing on
creeping Jenny pricks.

The photos on this page were made with AI, based on real photos and descriptions of this plant.

## Frequently asked questions

### How tall does creeping Jenny grow?

The mat stays low, at 5 to 15 centimetres. The creeping stems can grow much longer, but they lie flat on the ground.

### Does creeping Jenny spread quickly?

Yes, creeping Jenny spreads fast. The stems take root wherever they touch the soil. Keep the plant away from a lawn edge or the front of a border, and cut back runners that reach too far.

### Does creeping Jenny grow in shade?

In partial shade, yes. That is a spot where the sun shines directly for three to six hours a day around midsummer. Full sun works as well, as long as the soil stays moist.

### Is creeping Jenny poisonous?

No, creeping Jenny counts as a plant of little or no toxicity. That does not make it edible.

### Is creeping Jenny native to the Netherlands?

Yes. Creeping Jenny is an original native of the Netherlands and a common species. In the wild you find it on road verges, in lawns and parks, and along the water's edge.

## Sources

- [Duistermaat, Sparrius & Denters, Standaardlijst van de Nederlandse flora 2020 (Gorteria 43)](https://natuurtijdschriften.nl/pub/1019223)
- [NDFF Verspreidingsatlas — Lysimachia nummularia](https://www.verspreidingsatlas.nl/0782)
- [Flora van Nederland — Penningkruid](https://www.floravannederland.nl/planten/penningkruid)
- [Flora van Nederland — Boswederik](https://www.floravannederland.nl/planten/boswederik)
- [Wilde planten in Nederland en België — Penningkruid](https://wilde-planten.nl/penningkruid.htm)
- [RHS — Lysimachia nummularia (creeping Jenny)](https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/10632/lysimachia-nummularia/details)
- [RHS — Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'](https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/47321/lysimachia-nummularia-aurea/details)
- [RHS — Shade gardening (definities zon en schaduw)](https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=934)
- [PFAF — Lysimachia nummularia](https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lysimachia+nummularia)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden — Lysimachia nummularia](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=285553)
- [NC State Extension — Lysimachia nummularia](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/lysimachia-nummularia)
- [Pollennieuws / Flora van Nederland — Aandachtspunten hooikoorts vriendelijke tuin](https://www.pollennieuws.nl/post/?permalink=aandachtspunten-hooikoorts-vriendelijke-tuin)
- [Insectenplanten.nl (wildebijen.nl) — Lysimachia nummularia](https://insectenplanten.nl/drachtplant084002.html)
- [Bijenhouden — Solitaire bijen: de gewone slobkousbij](https://library.wur.nl/ojs/index.php/bijenhouden/article/view/11825)
- [De Vlinderstichting — Planten voor libellen](https://vlinderstichting.nl/wat-kan-jij-doen/tuinieren/libellenvijver/planten/)
- [Vogelbescherming — Els is trots op haar vogeltuin](https://www.vogelbescherming.nl/actueel/bericht/els-is-trots-op-haar-vogeltuin)
- [Vogelbescherming — Snoeien in het broedseizoen, mag dat?](https://www.vogelbescherming.nl/actueel/bericht/snoeien-in-het-broedseizoen-mag-dat)
- [Antigifcentrum — Weinig of niet giftige planten](https://www.antigifcentrum.be/Toxinfos/weinig-of-niet-giftige-planten/)
- [Heijnen Planten — Lysimachia nummularia (prijs en planttijd)](https://www.heijnen-planten.nl/penningkruid-lysimachia-nummularia-5-10-pot-p9)
- [Yarinde — Penningkruid (prijs en plantafstand)](https://yarinde.nl/products/penningkruid-lysimachia-nummularia)
- [Tuinplantenbezorgd — Lysimachia nummularia (prijs)](https://www.tuinplantenbezorgd.nl/lysimachia-nummularia.html)
- [Directplant — Penningkruid (prijs)](https://www.directplant.nl/penningkruid-lysimachia-nummularia.html)
- [Vijverplantenland — Lysimachia nummularia (prijs)](https://www.vijverplantenland.nl/shop/lysimachia-nummularia-penningkruid-2/)
- [Biovijver — Penningkruid (uitlopers terugknippen)](https://biovijver.nl/vijverflora/vijverplanten/oeverplanten/penningkruid/)
- [Wikimedia Commons — Leaf: photo by Andy Slater (CC BY 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lysimachia_nummularia_126958550.jpg)
- [Wikimedia Commons — Flower: photo by Denis Otkydach (CC BY 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lysimachia_nummularia_138484656.jpg)

## Read next

- [Common bugle: planting, care and price](https://tuinontwerp.app/en/blog/common-bugle) - Common bugle (Ajuga reptans) is a native ground cover 7 to 30 cm tall that stays green in winter. Where it fits, how to plant it and what a plant costs. (2026-09-28)
- [Ground ivy: where to plant it, care and price](https://tuinontwerp.app/en/blog/ground-ivy) - Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) is a native ground cover 15 to 60 cm tall with blue-violet flowers. Where it fits, what it costs and what can go wrong. (2026-09-27)
- [Common daisy: planting and care for the native lawn flower](https://tuinontwerp.app/en/blog/common-daisy) - The common daisy (Bellis perennis) is a native perennial 5 to 15 cm tall that flowers from March to October. Where it grows, what it costs and what goes wrong. (2026-09-28)
- [More about ground cover](https://tuinontwerp.app/en/blog/category/plants/vaste-planten/bodembedekkers)