Drought Tolerant Ground Cover Plants
- Many ground covers serve as ornamental plants.Design Pics/Valueline/Getty Images
Ground covers serve a special purpose in the garden or yard. They can fill a bare spot in the flowerbed with foliage or flowers or take the place of grass and eliminate the chore of mowing. Drought tolerant ground covers eliminate frequent watering and saving on time, money and valuable resources. - Creeping liriope (Liriope spicata ), a grass-like ground cover for partial shade to full shade areas, grows from rhizomes and spreads in clumps. It reaches a height of 8 to 12 inches and width of 6 to 12 inches. This evergreen plant spreads at a moderate to rapid growth-rate. The fine, dark-green leaves are strap-like in shape with a length of 18 inches and turn bronze-green in the winter months. It produces white flowers during the summer that turn to a blue-black berrylike fruit, a food source for birds. This drought-tolerant plant grows best in USDA plant hardiness zones 4 through 9. Plant hardiness refers to the lowest minimum temperature at which a plant can survive.
- Golden creeper (Ernodea littoralis), a south Florida native ground cover along the coast, produces small, light green, succulent leaves with bright red stems. The pinkish white tubular flowers appear most of the year and turn to golden berries. It reaches a height of 1 to 3 feet. A highly drought tolerant plant, it grows in full sun as an evergreen. Golden creeper is also salt tolerant and exceptional for preventing soil erosion. It does double duty as an ornamental plant for the landscape.
- Creeping thyme requires no maintenance and is a fragrant, drought tolerant ground cover for the yard or garden bed. Thyme requires full sun and thrives in dry conditions and poor soil. The dry conditions help it to grow faster, and the poor soil enables it to increase the aromatic oil production resulting in a highly fragrant plant. Creeping thyme does not do well in high humidity regions. It's best suited to USDA cold hardiness zones 2 through 10. 'Pink Ripple', a thyme cultivar, produces a lemony scent and a profusion of pink flowers. It grows flat with 18 inch foliage which lie in a mat. Creeping thyme fits in well with paving stones, cascading over block walls and in flower beds. Should you happen to step on creeping time, it releases its fragrant scent.
