Explore Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Can't find the answer in our existing FAQs, submit a question to Mr. Smarty Plants.
Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.
rate this answer
Saturday - April 16, 2011
From: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Region: California
Topic: Groundcovers
Title: Drought resistant ground cover for Rancho Cucamonga CA
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I live in Southern California. Could you please recommend a low maintenance, drought resistant ground cover that does not attract rodents to create as their home (more than one suggestion would be GREAT!)? I would like to place this on the slope in my backyard that faces South, which gets a lot of sun.ANSWER:
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is dedicated to the growth, propagation and protection pf plants native not only to North America but to the areas in which those plants grow natively. While we could go through our Native Plant Database and find some suggestions for plants that might be appropriate for ground covers, we know of an excellent nursery in Southern California, Las Pilitas, that has a list of ground covers native to your area, not all of which have made it into our database, which is always a work in progress. There are good pictures and growing suggestions and, even if it is not convenient for you to visit that nursery, you will have information for your garden.
Las Pilitas - California native plants less than 1 ft. high.
More Groundcovers Questions
Groundcovers for Miami FL
March 27, 2013 - What is a ground cover that does not need mowing or a lot of water and survives in South Florida heat and is also native to the area? I would like to turn my lawn into a more natural self-sustaining a...
view the full question and answer
Habiturf for East Texas
May 14, 2012 - We live in east Texas, right on the beginning of the piney words, the soil is a little sandy. We have taken up a wooden walkway but can't get anything to grow there. Could the soil be dead from year ...
view the full question and answer
Ground covers to enrich soil over winter in Austin
September 03, 2006 - I am about to have a baby so will not be working my vegetable garden from about now (September) through the winter or spring. Is there something (a grass, maybe?) that I can plant now that will benefi...
view the full question and answer
Low native groundcover for Wicksburg/Newton AL
July 29, 2009 - I am laying a rather wide-set flagstone pathway in our back weeds (planning some native grass and wildflowers in the fall on either side of the path). I am looking for some very low native groundcover...
view the full question and answer
Native ground cover for Fort Lauderdale, FL.
November 02, 2010 - I just moved into a duplex with a narrow back yard with dark sandy soil and no irrigation system. I travel and am looking for a hardy ground cover that can take heat, drought and limited sun between 1...
view the full question and answer
 |
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. Mr. Smarty Plants wants you to be his Facebook friend. Click the Facebook icon to add yourself to Mr. Smarty Plants list of friends. |
