This garden tests and demonstrates water-wise groundcover plants that could be used to replace areas of turf, be used to fill in around larger perennials, shrubs or trees and to create edgings along streets and walks. They can function as mulch, reducing evaporation and heating of the soil. Some spread only a little; others spread up to 4’ from one plant. It is not advisable to use only one variety to cover an entire yard; that would create a monoculture, like a lawn, with similar pest and disease problems. Unlike a lawn, these plants will flower, sometimes have fall color and sometimes have evergreen foliage.
This half of the garden uses half the water of bluegrassErigeron glaucus ‘Olga’ Erigeron scopalinus Delosperma ‘Kelaidis’ Sempervivum arachnoides Herniaria glabra Aethionema grandiflora Dianthus petraeus noeanus Scutellaria supina Iberis, dwarf varieties Campanula garganica Aubrieta d. ‘Purple Gem’ Globularia cordifolia Eriogonum umb. ‘Kannah Creek’ Acaena myriophylla Dianthus grat. ‘Painted Lady’ Satureja mont. ssp. Illyrica Phlox sub. ‘Boothman’s Variety’ Linum dolmiticum hybrid Waldsteinia ternata Lamiastrum ‘Herman’s Pride’ Geranium ‘Ballerina’ Geranium cant. ‘Biokovo’ Geranium dalmaticum Geranium ‘Dwarf Purple’ Delosperma ‘John Proffitt’ Scabiosa lucida Gazania linearis Alyssum wulfenianum Prunella grandiflora Saponaria ‘Max Frei’ Cerastium candidissimum Origanum vulg. ‘Humile’ Veronica cuneifolium Alyssum pateri Potentilla neumanniana Nana Dianthus gratianopolitanus |
This half of the garden uses a quarter the water of bluegrassAchillea serbica Penstemon pinifolius ‘Mersea Yellow’ Achillea kellereri Pterocephalus depressus Teucrium cham. compactum Marrubium rotundifolium Tanacetum densum var. amani Veronica pectinata Dianthus grat. ‘Tiny Rubies’ Marrubium rotundifolium (silver edge) Reiter Thyme Anacyclus depressus Thymus languinosus Thymus ‘Back Wall’ Dianthus freynii Dianthus simulans Veronica liwanensis Veronica oltensis Veronica allioni Veronica tauricola Thymus baeticus Thymus ‘Red Creeping’ Clear Gold Thyme Tuffet Thyme Goldstream Lemon Thyme Thymus neiceffii Woolly Thyme Thymus minus Sedum ‘Bronze Carpet’ Sedum ‘ Dragon’s Blood’ Sedum hybridum Sedum album |
For a description of these plants, go here.